2013-07-13



Rust is the newest sandbox game to hit the PC from Facepunch Studios. The game comes from the creative mind of Garry Newman who is most known for the hit PC title Garry's Mod, which is currently available as part of the Steam Summer Sale. Rust has been compared to other hit games such as the Arma II mod DayZ and the survival horror shooter title STALKER by the game's developers. The game features many survival gameplay mechanics that forces players to find and collect resources, build shelters to keep out zombies and other players and do whatever it takes to survive in the zombie apocalypse. Rust is currently available in closed beta form that requires a beta key to access, but we were lucky enough to get our hands on the game to try it out in its early stage of development.

Rust thrusts players in a post-apocalyptic world armed only with a hatchet, flare and medical emergency kit. Players will quickly want to begin harvesting wood from nearby trees and finding somewhere safe to hunker down and escape from zombies and dangerous survivors that lurk in the shadows of the forest. Though the game is still early in development, there are many important aspects of the game available for the player in the closed beta. After gathering enough resources, players can begin crafting new items including foundations, walls, studs, doorways and doors to create their first house. This will give players a safe haven to set up sleeping bags to reset spawn points, chests to store unwanted or heavy items and a fire to smelt resources and craft new items such as guns, armor and ammunition. Realism and survival play major parts in the basic game mechanics of Rust and beginning players will have a tough time when not adhering by the game's unwritten rules.



The world of Rust is incredibly dangerous, and players will need to gain access to a gun and ammo quickly to have a good chance to survive. Zombies aren't too plentiful, but a single undead can easily take a player down in just a few hits. It's unclear if zombies were purposely designed to be this powerful, but players will want to avoid the undead as much as possible to ensure survival either way. Other players are a whole other monster however. Sometimes players will be friendly, while others will run in packs armed to the teeth just to get a kick out of gunning down beginning players with ease. This can create a real sense of frustration when you're just trying to learn how to play the game for the first time, though the developer encourages you to play with others and try and form safe communities to prevent these situations from ever occurring.

The quote from Garry Newman's official website states, "So what’s to stop you from going around killing anyone you want and taking their shit and becoming more powerful? Nothing. What’s stopping it from becoming a PVP killfest? You. Our job should be to give the players the tools they need. If you’re sick of getting killed – start a town. Build town walls. Give all the town members red clothes. Put warning signs up outside the town. Set up trip wires and alarms. Watch each others back."

Well good luck with that players! Still, it's a really cool theory that the developer is strongly supporting living and thriving communities within the game world, and it's a little reassuring to know you can always respawn, stalk enemy players through the woods and land a few quick hatchet blows to the back while the enemy is in a menu to get a quick kill and retrieve all of your stolen items. Another worrisome feature allows other players to break down doors to other player's homes and loot all of their hard earned items. This ensures the items you have spent hours working to create are never safe unless they are in the player's inventory when they save and leave the game.

Rust also involves exploration to see out other sites and find some nice resources and loot. Players will occasionally come across old abandoned factories and other structures that will be completely radiated and dangerous to stay in for long periods of time. These desperate runs will force players to get in, get the loot and get out of harm's way as quickly as possible to ensure survival. Scavenging in these locations will often times turn up some great items or even necessary blueprints that can be used to craft the game's best items. Some of the best blueprints we've found so far allow players to create M4 rifles, machine guns, pistols and even attachments such as laser sights that are sure to come in handy when surviving in Rust.



The game itself looks pretty good. There are plenty of graphical glitches and other problems with the game that can be expected in a closed beta; players can sometimes glitch through walls, mysterious, transparent figures will appear out of nowhere, zombies will fall through the ground and blood will squirt from wooden walls and rocks fairly often. The game still looks nice overall though and offers a promising look at what the future of Rust will look like. The map in the game seems to be quite large during exploration, though there is no way to find out where exactly the player is in the world or mark key locations with ease. With a bit more polish and some unique environments, Rust could quickly become one of the better looking PC game of its type to ever be released.

Rust is a fine game in its current state and will only get better as development on the game progresses. If you're the type of player that enjoys surviving and fighting monsters in games such as Minecraft and DayZ, you'll feel right at home in Rust. The game offers one of the truly unique zombie apocalypse gaming experiences that encourages community support and playing together nicely with others (or not) in order to survive. The game can be frustrating at times depending on which server and other players you're connected to, but that much can be said for nearly any online game. We can't wait to get our hands on the finished version of Rust sometime in the near future, much like an undead horde can't wait to rip the flesh off of a survivor in the post-apocalyptic world presented in Rust!

For more information on the game, check out the official Rust website.

Game Features:

Massively Online Multiplayer

Survive an Open World, Zombie Wilderness

Build Homes and Reset Spawn Points

Craft New Weapons, Armor and Items

Team with Other Players or Make Enemies

Game Information:

Developer & Publisher: Facepunch Studios

Available exclusively for PC

Release Date: TBA

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