So let me start this post by saying this, I freakin love dinosaurs. Always have, always will. I was that “dinosaur” kid as a child, the one that I feel every group has that no matter what game is being played chooses to be the dinosaur. Cops and robbers, I was a dinosaur. Tag, Dinosaur. Power Rangers, dinosaur. Baseball, dinosaur. The thought never occurred to me that there wouldn’t be a place for a dino in anything and everything my childhood self did, and although my obsession has been tempered somewhat in my becoming an adult, there is still that little piece of me that flips out whenever there is a new game/movie with a dinosaur involved. So with that being said, it comes as no surprise that I have been dying to get my hands on this game since it was first announced because, once again:
Mufucken DINOSAURS
Now, all dinosaur fandom aside this is just a solid game. So far it has received great reviews and has not even had a full release yet, although the early access is already a booming success at over 2 million copies sold. This is especially surprising since it is a survival game and typically those follow the track of a slow and steady wins the race type of release where their initial numbers are not as strong, but that they steadily build subscribers over time due to word of mouth. Not only is the gameplay solid, but there have been some interesting stories cropping up regarding some of the things that developers have put into the game or have allowed to happen. It’s a little known secret that this is one of the first games that allows your character to randomly poop and then makes said poop a useful and almost critical tool in growing plants at your home base. I can respect a developer who is dedicated enough to sell the whole hey you are surviving in the wild and need to grow stuff, so here is some free butt fertilizer for you complete with the gross pooping sound effect for realism. No need to take a high road here.
There was also this cool story about players taking it upon themselves to punish a toll who had been making life hell for players in the game. Not only was he imprisoned but he was forced to do community service for new players until his captors deemed he had paid his dues and released him. This wasn’t just something that was allowed to happen it was actually built into the game by the developers as a way of allowing the community to police themselves and, in this case at least, paid off handsomely for everyone (the troll was eventually welcomed into the tribe that had captured him and they all ended up becoming buddies). Overall, this does seem like a fun new twist on the survival genre with some genuinely good ideas on how to build a realistic experience where everything has a purpose. It is keeping the whimsy of a fantastical world filled with humans and dinosaurs alive while keeping itself grounded as best it can. The early access seems to be going over great, and I CANNOT wait until it is finally released in summer 2016.
-CDL
Anyone else looking forward to this game? Let me hear from you in the comments section.
Geek Gone Rogue 