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Rust Review 2023

Background

Rust has been out a while(2018 launch) but  we found the game to still have a very active player base. This alone should tell you the game has a lot to offer. The Devs Facepunch also still seem very active as large updates with new content are still being rolled out.

          So if you havnt heard of rust youre probably not  someone who actively looks for open world survival games. Its pretty famous (or imfamous) and has sold over 12 million copies. A brief look at most of the reviews out there will paint a picture of a game thats brutal and  unforgiving yet fun and rewarding. If costant pvp and raiding other players bases is not your thing…worry not. Sure if you join a busy server you will run into other players constantly and the majority of those meetings will result in one of you dying and losing all your items. While the surviving players makes off triumphantly with the loot. If you are looking for a lot of pvp action and raiding, join a busy (100+ player) server.

   If you are looking for a more mellow , slow paced well made survival game with many excellent crafting and base building options rust can be that also. There are so many ways to play rust.

SERVER POPULATION IS LIKE A PVP SLIDER. So choose your server based on your play style and the type of gaming experience you want to have (you can search servers by population). The great the population the more pvp you will get.

To learn the ropes we recomend to start playing on a server with a low population. We choose one where only one or two other players on the server. Some may like playing the game like this permenately but after a few days with a lack of threats and no sence of danger the game became less appealing over time. At one point while looting a supermarket i felt like i was playing 7 days to die. That game has the constant threat of a zombie attack around every corner. Here there was no one else on my server so no real danger. Wildlife in the form of bears , boars and wolves do add some threat but not enough for me. There are greater pVe challenges out there , like raiding an oil rig or taking on a military base but at this point i craved that sence of danger. So i moved to a community server map with around 20-30 people on it. This felt just right for me. Later after getting plenty of experience I also tried an official server with around 100 player online most of the time. This was a very diferent experience. Before you can really judge rust i think you have to try it on a low population community server , a medium server pop and an official server with a larger population.

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Intro

The basic premise of rust is to collect materials and items to help you survive and become stronger while trying not to get killed by other players and the enviroment. You start with a rock for bashing things and a fire torch for light(and for bashing things if you are out of rocks).  As you progress up the food chain you will gain the weapons/armor/gear that will allow you to defend yourself better or hunt other players or even raid their bases. Early on its just about survival and getting a simple starter base built to store your loot and offer protection when you log out. You can play rust solo or with a group or even in a large clan/guild. Rust can be played in many ways.

Bashing trees with your rock slowly produces wood. Hitting stone with your rock will result in you collecting stone. You can now craft a stone pick for faster resourse mining. Or craft a stone axe for chopping wood or chopping other players. You can also craft other primative weapons from the start once you have enough resources, such as a bow or spear. Soon you will need to start thinking about crafting a base to store all your stuff and provide a safe space to log off..

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Pic 3 (intro)
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The Open World

The open world of Rust is set on a beautiful island which has 3 distinct biome. Desert , Forest or Snow. Unlike some games where you really have to have the right gear to visit each type of biome in rust its pretty forgiving but it does help to have a warm coat when you visit a snowy region (who knew?). Hunger / warmth do play a part in rust but its not the main challenge you will face.

We really like the way loot is handled in rust. Every crate / container seems to have a small chance of very useful loot. If you follow a road there tends to be a decent amount of loot on the road side. “Road farming” is a decent way to safely farm for items/mats early on. If you want the best loot then you will need to head to one of the monuments or look out for an air drop create.

Monuments are points of interest (such as a milatrary base or water treatment plant or an oil rig) that have a higher concentration of loot and often have simple puzzles that involve key cards that lead to some of the best loot boxes in game where you might recieve an high tier machine gun or explosives which allow you to raid other bases. Some of these loot boxes are called locked crates. When you activate them it starts a 15minute timer. After 15 mins you can take the loot but expect a fight with other players while waiting as locked crates to open.

Airdrops are also a lot of fun and again give you a great chance of receiving  good high tier guns or explosives. A great way to get a head start without going through the work of collecting mats and crafting via a workbench. AIRDROP INBOUND appears on your screen to alert you and other players to watch the skies (ideally with a pair of binoculars). Airdrops are handled perfectly in rust. Just the right level of loot plus the right level of frequency. Rust has clearly been made by gamers for gamers.

If you want to avoid the high player dencity areas where the best loot can be found, going down the crafting route is a viable option. The level of grind vs reward is just right.

Theres so much to do in the world of rust i feel like theres  too much to mention. I still have yet to explore the ocean where you can go deep sea diving for treasure with flippers , a spear gun and a breathing tank. <reminises about a game called scuba diver>.  Ive been gaming for many decades but i dont remember building many submarine bases for my personal sub. You get to do that in rust. I did, it didnt take long 😀 .I have yet to fly around in a mini copter. Its no airwolf but it looks like fun.

Base Building

The important base building aspect of rust is brilliant. If you just like building and crafting rust is a game you should try even if you dont like pvp. There is a very good level of depth to it. You can build your house/shelter/base out of either wood , stone , sheet metal or armored metal. Armored metal offering the best defence against base raiders but you will need high quality metal also you will need to have a level 3 workbench  to craft armored doors. This takes time and resourses to aquire.  Bases made of wood wont last long as they are easy for other players to break into. Collecting stone in rust is pretty easy and upgrading your wooden walls to stone should be done asap when starting out (along with upgrading your wooden doors to sheet metal and then placing locks on the doors). Stone bases are not easy to break into. You can create complex systems that provide power for your base either via solar or wind power for example. Or you can keep it simple and just burn wood for warmth , cooking and smelting. If you go down the electrical route in rust the amount of options you get are mind bogling. You can create intricate base defence systems with auto turret and cctv monitoring. You can even create an alarm that sends an alert to your real life mobile phone to let you know someones trying to break into your base while you are not playing the game <mind blown>. Im not sure how i feel about this option! Its good that its there but personally… well im not sure. I write a seperate article on this option and im interest to hear what others think about it. There are three levels of work bench which increase your crafting options. Each workbench requires the previous level of workbench and a fair amount of collected resourses. Each workbench has its own tech tree and allows you to spend scrap metal (the in game curency if you like) to unlock the blueprint for new and better craftable items. Scrap metal is pretty easy to come by but will require a little grinding.

You do have to pay a daily upkeep for your base depending on what you built it from. If you dont pay it your base will start to degrade/fall apart. A small stone base will require only a very small amount of stone as upkeep. You place the stone in a tool cupboard which tells you the upkeep  cost of your base. The tool cupboard is the item that gives you build previleges for your build plot. If someone uses explosives to break into your base they will try to locate your toolbox to remove your ownership of the base. So building a base that makes it dificult to get to the toolcupboard is all important and one of the main goals of the game. There are plenty of youtube vids on this. Honeycombing the walls around the toolcupboard is a good move. Its a good idea to have a number of back up small bases dotted around the map as they dont take much time to build and dont cost much resourses in terms of upkeep. When you start building much larger bases then you will find the upkeep a more demanding part of the game. I dont like upkeep in games<cough> New World when it 1st came out<cough> but rust handles it pretty well.

Grinding for stuff in rust is just right , not too much but some. Kudos facepunch its so important to get this right. There are a lot of places to get loot which is nececery as it gives a chance for players who dont want constant pvp to get gear/resourses at the less popular spots on the map.

Right now while writing this review im wondering if my main base has been raided. One of the nice things you will hopefully experience when you play rust is logging on and seeing your base hasnt been raided overnight while you slept in real life. If youre unluckly you might log in and see you have been killed by someone  whos raided the base after you logged out in. My main base never got raided in 300hours plus of playing rust. I was lucky but i will also share some tips after this review on how to avoid being raided.

Rusts tech tree is excellent. On a more active sever there will be an arms race with players looking to unlock c4 and other explosives as soon as possible to raid other players bases. Often you will find yourself saying, just one more hour playing i will unlock an item i really want/need. It might be a blueprint for an armored door to make your base more secure against other players raiding you. Or a weapons sight attachment to makes you more proficient in combat. Rust isnt a statergy game but i have to give facepunch credit for producing a tech tree thats very rewarding to unlock and forces you to make stategic decisions on which tech/item you need/want the most.

Each server/map has its own rules , i choose one that wiped (a reboot/fresh start for all players that clears the map of all player owned items and bases) every 2 weeks but did not remove players learned blueprints. Which meant less scrap grinding for blueprints next time the server wipes and starts a fresh. There are a huge amount of very active servers to choose from. Official servers are generally  busy and highly populated. We enjoyed the well run community  servers which offer a lot of choice espcially if you wanted a less populated server.

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Gameplay

Rusts game play is brilliantly balanced. As i mentioned earlier the game feels like its been made by gamers for gamers. A rare thing these days when it comes to bigger budget games. You can play the game how you want to as long as you pick the right server for your play style. Slow pace or action packed pvp , you decide. Combat is simple yet satisfying. It doesnt take that long to get a decent gun that gives you a fighting chance against other players who may be armed with a better gun. Dont like shooting other players , no problem , you can focus on peacefully building a huge base and grow crops so you dont have to go outside to hunt for food. That constant threat of another player raiding your base adds a great sence of danger which keeps you on your toes. Theres a unmistakable sound(BOOM) you here where someone on the map is raiding. When you hear it you might wonder should i go and investigate (counter raid) or shall i keep my head down and hope noone raids me. You dont have to grind for mats too much in rust unless you want to build a huge base. You could get those mats(for building and upkeep) from raiding other players bases or peacefully mine the mats you need. Your choice. The risk/challenge to reward ratio is so well thought out. Also Inventory management(my pet hate) is no chore here! You can build as many loot storage boxes as you like as long as theres space for them in your base. Hallelujah!  Incredibly you can even automate your storage boxes to sort your loot into the correct storage box automatically allowing you to focus on what you enjoy doing in rust. So you could have one storage box near where you enter your base. When you return from hunting/collecting/looting/mining  you can dump all your loot into one box and it will automatically be moved to an allocated storage box. I.E all your ore will be moved to a  labeled ore storage box. While any guns you found will be moved to your allocated gun storage box for easy access later. The pvp is well balanced and easy to get into. There are safezones, like a bandit outpost or fishing village, on the map where noone can pvp. Here you can trade some of your items with npcs or even other players. You can also gamble at outposts (play poker with other players or theres a wheel of fortune game). The outpost is a nice place to hang out if you want to get away from the pvp side of things. A limited amount of simple quests can also be aquired via npcs at outposts/villages etc. Travel is well handled in rust as there is a HUGE amount of ways to traverse the map and there are smaller map options also.

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Travel / Vehicles

Rust deserves a sections dedicated to vehicles…

Where do i start .. well you can use your legs to run from your  base A to base B. This works well. Or you can ride a horse which you can find in the open world or buy from a cowboy ranch(ok i dont think its a cowboy ranch but thats how i like to think of it). Or you could find the components to put into making a usable car / truck /camper van as long as you have fuel. This will attract attention from other players. Or you could fly in a mini copter which you can buy from the bandit camp. Or you could catch a train in the underground system which i have yet to explore. Or you could visit a fishing village and buy a submarine which fires torpedos. Or you could use a kayake as long as you have a paddle. Or you could use a small boat with an on board engine. Or you could visit the newly added harbour monument and get a large tugboat which doubles as a mobile base (this great option is a recent addition via a large free update). I have yet to explore this part of the game fully but i have used tugboat and i really like the idea of a life at sea on a mobile base.

“I have yet to explore this”…dispite putting over 300 hours into the game. Theres so much to do in rust. I kinda like sitting in my base admiring my large collection of high tier weapons and gear that im unlikely to use as i like sitting in my well fortified base.

Maybe it would have been fastest to list the vehicles not in rust … You cannot ride an emu. <sad face>

Wow i just realised i forgot to mention you can fill a hot air ballon and go for a ride… i didnt work out how to control the direction i went in when i tried it but it was fun.

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Closing Thoughts

Did i mention  theres fishing in the game if you wonna chill out. Sadly theres no fishing in the upcoming game Starfield. <read more here>. You can play rust in so many ways. I enjoyed playing the game as a peaceful solo dude trying to stay out of trouble in a lawless land. I saw the other players as a threat but managed to semi befriend some of them who lived near my base on one play through which added a feeling of extra security. Many players just kill other players on sight but not all.

Im in the process of adding reviews to this site and i felt i had to play rust as it was one of the few survival games that i havnt played. The online reviews which only spoke about the game like it was just for  pvp fans put me off playing it. Also a few videos on youtube with kids talking smack to each other put me off playing it. I bought rust many years ago and played it briefly … the game didnt seem well optimised back then. It is now. It now runs fine on my outdated  6gig 1060 gpu.

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Conclusion

We came to rust expecting a sweaty pvp experience. Its reputation led me to believe the world of rust would not a fun place to spend time. I thought rust would be full  of naked people trying to hit each other with rocks. Its not (most of the time). I expected a bunch of kids trolling each other.  Nearly all of the players i encountered were pretty polite. Lots of “good game” or “nice shot”. Maybe the comunities mellowed or maybe i got lucky with the servers i joined or maybe reports of rusts toxicity were hugely exajorated.

  I would say that the experience you have playing rust will vary due to the unpridictabilty of what other players do. I tended to build one small base then one large main base followed by more smaller bases dotted around the map. A main base takes time and resorces to build ,well a few hours game play. I do wonder how i would feel about the game if my main base(with my best loot) got raided while i was offline lets say a day after i built it. If that happened every time i built a main base lets say 10 times a in a row how would i feel about rust? None of my main bases got raided despite playing multiple wipe cycles on multiple servers maybe because i did things to put raiders off. Maybe i was lucky. I did hear a lot of late night offline raiding. One guy tried to raid my main base when i was online but he got fried 😀 , mmm he had some good loot on him. Rust will give you a lot of good gaming moments like that if you stick at it. I have over 340 hours played in hurtworld which is similar (rust is a much much better game with way more depth ,polish , detail and things to do). In  hurtworld my mainbase got raided very often no matter where i placed it or how low the server pop was. Hurtworld had lots of exploits, glitches and hackers allegedly. We saw none in Rust. 

I guess what im trying to say is expect to you lose all the gear you are wearing/carrying when you get killed. It will happen but it wont be because of hackers/glitchs. Rust have banned 100000s of people for abusive behaviour. Dont be disheartened if your main base gets raided. Its what makes rust rust.  Or is it oxidisation caused by water and air…

Give rust a chance and then another chance if things dont go well, then maybe try another server. You will be rewarded with some great gaming moments. But remember my friend, all these moments are fleeting…until the next server wipe.

By Survival Siv

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Scores

Gameplay

Rusts game play is brilliantly balanced. You can play the game how you want to as long as you pick the right server for your play style. Slow pace or action packed you decide. That constant threat of another player raiding your base adds a great sence of danger. You dont have to grind for mats too much unless you want to build a huge base. The risk/rewards to gaining good loot is spot on. Inventory management is no chore here! The pvp is well balanced and easy to get into.

Open World

We really liked the large open world that you get to explore in rust. So much to see and do. Loot and action are never too much of a trek away. Good overall graphically but you might be too busy in rust to take in all the views.

Graphics

A mixed bag. In places the graphics are excellent but also looks a little dated in some area like the desert for example. The foresty area are beautiful in places. Once i upgrade my gpu i will revisit this score.

Sound / Music

The ambient sounds are excellent. The sound effects are good but the music isnt for everyone :D. It is catchy as i can hear it going round and round in my head atm. Not sure how i feel about the music! Serious players will turn off the music as they will want to hear other players approaching.

Game Play 9/10
Open World 8/10
Graphics 7/10
Sound/Music 7.5/10
Adictiveness (Just 1 more hour) 9/10
Value for Money 9.5/10
Overall 9/10
Addictiveness

The gameplay in this game is so good that its very addictive. You will find yourself staying up too late because of this game. Once you build a base in a spot you like , theres a strong desire to defend and upgrade that base that makes it tricky to log out! The game clevearly allows you to decide how much grind you want to put in. Also you can choose to play in a style that you enjoy.

Value for Money

We dont give 9.5/10 out of tens often but rust allows you to play the game in so many ways that its like you get 10 games in one. The replayability of the game is off the charts due to the amount of things you can do and how you can approach the game. You can role play as a sea captain on a tug boat. Or you can play it in a large clan focused on dominating the map via pvp and raiding. Or you could be a clan farmer. Or you could build a huge base and powered by solar/wind that is full of electrical traps. There are so many things you can do in rust. If decide you have had enough of base building you can build a tiny stone base in no time. Then focus on pvp for kicks. Or you could put on posh British accent and invite people round your base for tea and imaginary scones. Or you could kill everything that moves. The unpredictablity of what other players do means it has so much replayability , every game is diferent . Its the sort of game where after playing it for a long time you might feel you have to buy a store cosmetic item to make you feel less guilty for getting so much value for money out of it. I can see myself comeing back to this game over and over. Rust is often on sale at steam but even when its not its still great value for money (you could get 1000s of hours out of it). Maybe it deserves 10/10 but we dont like giving 10/10s

Overal Score

There have been a few games that have tried to do what rust does. Ive tried some of them and not enjoyed them. Rust does it better then any other similar game. The devs havnt taken the money and run. They are still adding more interesting content. It has almost endless replayability and is dangerously addictive. It has so many elements to the game and almost all the element are done very well. You can play focused on just one element (eg base building) if you like and you will still have a great time. Our advice , try rust and play it how you want to.

Afterthoughts

Here im adding notes to comeback to when i tidy up and finalise my review

1 talk about cosmetic items / pay to win (there isnt any) / use picture of that green sweat shirt you took of the raided]

2 shorten some parts of the review. u repeat tugboat plan more then once plus care ful how many time you say you can play rust many ways.

Things we would like to see added or changed.

(constuctive crit)

1 cooking very limited. i would like to see cooking recipes added which give a very small bonus to health or maybe regen.

2 armor provides very little protection