The Minecraft phenomenon has tempted many to create games using square blocks and simple graphics. Most of them are clones that were either too ambitious for the mechanics or extremely ineptly copied the ones used in the original. So can you do it right?
The climate is known and liked
After starting the game, I automatically knew what to do. I raised to the nearest tree and started hitting it with my fist. This is how I played Minecraft . A very enjoyable game. Coming back to PixARK – this is a production created in the world of ARK: Survival Evolved and you can see it at first glance. It was developed by Snail Games USA studio, which previously prepared ARK Park (intended for VR), so there is experience in the universe. Dinosaurs? Are. A strange crystal in your hand? Present! Mixing technology and traditional tools? That’s right! After knitting the wood, I made the first tools, from the grasses that grew here and there, I knitted the first shorts and shirts. And now it is necessary to try to embrace several dozen different possibilities.
Lots of crafting , information and all kinds of creatures
The game at the start offers a lot of possibilities. Dozens of creatures are running around – dragons, unicorns and dinosaurs. Almost all of them can be properly domesticated. The dodo birds will give us eggs and the triceratops will become a formidable combat mount. Animals have stats and are suitable for a variety of tasks. The crafting itself it is soooooo extensive. We can find here weapons, tools, but also tables for creating decorations or elements of construction of more advanced buildings made of stronger materials. After all, the ubiquitous dinosaurs can damage and even destroy our objects. In order to unlock the next development trees, you need to level up your character. Together with them, we get points for which we unlock further technological paths. We also increase our statistics, such as health and endurance against hunger. We receive valuable experience points for completing tasks, exploring the area or for fighting various creatures. Tasks are assigned by special devices that drop a reward after completing the task. These are also randomly generated and can be anything from finding ruins to hunting a specific species of creature. I happened to encounter a whole horde of skeletons and a plant that spewed fireballs from itself. A great place to relax!
A huge world awaits
Worlds are procedurally generated and we’ll never end up with the same map layout. There are several biomes to which we will end up – from swamps to snowy lands. This is where the real fun begins. After all, our camp is a place from which we will set off into the unknown. All trips are extremely pleasant, but also dangerous. In the very place where we start, we won’t meet any hostile beings. However, it is enough for us to move a bit away from the starting area and quickly understand that most creatures are not positive about our persona. And at this point, the game makes it clear that it is prepared for a multiplayer game. The creatures are quite strong, although a skilled player will probably handle it without any problems. The choice of weapons and possibilities is so wide that it is difficult not to find a solution even in the worst problems.PixARK takes on a flavor together with other companions. There are many mysterious ruins on the map that hide treasures and a lot of enemies to defeat to get them. A single daredevil can quickly move to a pixelated sky.
The pixelated dinosaur lacks an eye
What is irritating about this game is the information chaos on the screen. The moment I started the game, my screen was attacked by a mass of pop-up messages. At every step, I was notified of some new opportunities or that I had not spent any experience points. I love how the game keeps me updated, but at PixARK it’s just spam!
There are also mistakes. I was bugged by the task of hunting local game. I knocked everything out within a kilometer of the order, but the box ordering this thrilling task did not want to recognize my victory. Several times my character got stuck in some place and only the arrival of some predator gave me the solace in the form of death.
But the worst thing is … the language version. The native edition is totally unplayable! The number of errors will make each corrector a heart attack. It was probably made in Google Translator. The word “chest” (referring to the chest) was translated in the character creator as … “chest”. My hero also had a very wide chest.
If you play this title, please switch to English version immediately. At least your eyes will not suffer trying to understand a text written in poor Polish.
And let’s face it, this is a production aimed more at younger customers, which can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. We will not find any deep plot or extremely addictive gameplay here. We may spend several dozen hours with the team here, but alone – I doubt it. Well, unless someone was a huge fan of Minecraft and was looking for something similar, but with dinosaurs.
I set these blocks a plus
PixARK is an interestingly realized game, based on the well-established Minercraft scheme. I have a slight weakness for pixel graphics, so being in this block-like world was pleasant. However, in the long run, there is no point in playing alone. It is a solid proposition with a strong emphasis on creativity and multiplayer. If you are looking for these two aspects, it is worth taking an interest in this title.
We would like to thank CDP for making a PC copy of the game available for review.
