Pets have been added, and they follow you around until bad things happen, at which point they can be re-summoned. The other updates aren't quite so game-altering, but are still (mostly) nice. The slight awkwardness meant I usually found it more efficient to hit monsters with the pick-axe than to switch to a sword. Unfortunately switching between tools is clunky, albeit serviceable, relying on the shoulder buttons to cycle through the active item list. While manual ends up being the normal targeting method, automatic definitely has its place, and switching between the two makes navigating the world quick and easy. One version auto-targets the most logical block, which is great for opening doors or digging a horizontal tunnel, while the other method give manual cursor control. The console version simplifies the process by having two targeting methods that can be switched between with a click of the right joystick. While swinging a sword has a straightforward effect, in that anything in its arc gets smacked, targeting with the other tools relies on more precise cursor control. The other big change to Terraria is the move to gampead controls. On the one hand the map's extra view distance feels like cheating, while on the other every little bit helps. Now we've got one and it's a definite improvement to the game, although it has a tendency to show areas that are a little bit beyond where the light from your torches can reach. Fortunately this only meant the loss of some money, and you wake up safe in bed to try again, but a simple map would have helped avoid the whole issue. A few runs from surface to the depths will imprint the course in memory, but in the meantime Death By Monster in an obscure side-cavern that looked like the way home was a little too frequent. As you explore deep into the earth and the caverns get more and more complicated, it's very easy to get completely lost. First and most notable is the addition of a map, which is a feature the original version desperately needs added. This is an adaptation of a PC game, though, and the new format brings its share of gameplay tweaks, additions, and quirks. You'll run, jump, slash, shoot, explode, excavate, and occasionally build a mini-base deep under the earth so you don't have climb quite so high in order to stash your latest haul. Once you've built and decorated your home base Terraria becomes an action platformer where exploring the world yields better resources to create stronger weapons and armor so you can clear the boss battles and explore even farther. Creation, which is the heart and soul of Minecraft, is more an entertaining diversion in Terraria. Yes, you collect resources and create stuff with them, but Terraria is far more an action game than Minecraft will ever be. It's easy to compare to Minecraft but, honestly, it's a cheap comparison that's also wildly inaccurate. You start with nothing and harvest your way to badassery. The basics are the same for Terraria as they are for any game in its genre. The balance of combat to building to exploration is just right, leading you deeper and deeper into your unique procedurally-generated world. You're above ground and all this neat stuff is below it, so you need to harvest resources, create weapons and armor, build a house for the NPCs who will eventually wander by, and beat the living hell out of every monster, creature, beast, and boss in your way. There's no plot to Terraria, but rather a situation. ![]() How on earth all that fits into a microscopic 33MB download is anyone's guess. Terraria is still a ridiculously compulsive procedurally generated 2D free-scrolling creative platform/mining construction game. Would I be bored with it, having already played Terraria to death? Would the magic be less magical? And how on earth will all those keyboard commands fit on a controller? The answers to these questions are, in order, no, no, and a little clunky but good enough. After sinking dozens of hours into Terraria on PC, I was a little worried about heading back into the game.
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