Crea
Developer: Siege Games
Publisher: Siege Games
Platforms: PC (Reviewed), Mac, Linux
Release Date: June 3rd, 2014 – Early Access
Price: $14.99 – Available Here
Overview
Crea is an incredibly interesting 2D Sandbox RPG title, drawing its influences from more popular Sandbox titles like Minecraft and Terraria. Developer and publisher Siege Games has been working hard at creating a game that can be played in any way you want for over two years before releasing this Early Access version on Steam. One of the main selling points for Crea is its heavily moddable ability, providing players a completely new aspect of gameplay to look at. Whether you want to re-texture all of the skins or make new gear, Crea gives you endless possibilities to move forward with your progression and to create something amazing out of nothing. The game is very user friendly and it really sets a player up into discovering the full capabilities of their abilities.
Gameplay
The game plays very similarly to Terraria. While it has its differences, the movement and style of gameplay is similar. The main difference that Crea offers is that it was created with the intention of providing a more adventure-oriented gameplay experience. Players who enjoyed creating fortresses and battling the various monsters and creeps in other sandbox games will thoroughly enjoy the experience Crea provides. Battling monsters with swords, bows and arrows, magic, or even wands will yield you loot and materials to create even stronger items. Character creation in this game is slightly limited at the moment, but because this game is an easily moddable title, I’m sure someone will be creating more cosmetic options for people to choose from, all of which can be accessed through Steam Workshop.
Something that I’ve come to enjoy out of Crea is how accessible everything is, especially when looking for new patterns to create other items. Players can research different materials to uncover new patterns. For example, different weapons require different materials, but you don’t have any of the patterns until you use Research a material that is required for it. Researching a piece of wood can yield you different results under the separate branches of crafting, whether it’s in weapons, armor, basics, or alchemy. There are also costumes that you can create that provide you with different cosmetic options for gear, but they won’t provide any defensive benefits. When you craft items, they can be made to be more powerful and proficient than their original counterparts, and all of these options can be unlocked through the talent tree in-game.
Another awesome little feature that Crea has in-store for its players is the talent tree, which provides boosts and new abilities in separate trees. There is a tree for Arms, Arcane, Divine, Gather, and Craft. Each of these provide different benefits that you can upgrade with your Talent Points. You earn talent points by engaging in activities within each of these trees. Breaking down materials to collect will give you talent points in Gather, while using spells that damage mobs will give you talent points in Arcane. Each of these trees can level up, which will unlock even further abilities for your disposal. The game makes it quite easy to get adapted to the in-game mechanics, much more so than other sandbox titles like Minecraft where it’s a bit difficult to learn all the patterns for crafting. The game also creates a much more RPG oriented atmosphere, making the players want to level and progress towards better gear and materials. EXP is given for everything you do, so regardless of what activities you choose to partake in, you will constantly be leveling and making progress towards the next step in your journey.
The movement in the game is nothing spectacular, though they do have a little dash maneuver that you can utilize to speed up your travels. The combat isn’t perfect either, but it works in a game like this. Casting spells will end up at your mouse pointer, and melee attacks with the sword is directed towards whichever way your avatar is facing. You can dodge enemy attacks, which adds a whole new level of skill and challenge to the game. Getting hit by a mob will chip away at your health bar. While you do have a Heal skill, it’s on a cooldown and it heals for a relatively low amount in the beginning. Being aware of how much MP, or mana, you have is important during a do-or-die situation in the game. It’s things like this that makes this title so much more rewarding for players who enjoy the RPG aspect of games, especially in a sandbox environment.
Visuals & Audio
The graphics really match the tone and atmosphere of the title. The game is pleasant to look at and none of the graphics clash with other aspects of the game. The character customization wasn’t up to par with my expectations, however, and the design for the avatar actually turned me off slightly with how it was built. The audio, while decent, did not stand out to me at all. It fit the game and worked well in meshing with the gameplay, but I wasn’t “wow-ed” by any of the tracks or sounds that the game provided. Still, it fit the bill for what I’d imagine the game developers were looking for, and I commend them for that.
Overall
Crea is an amazing title that has a lot of potential. When Siege Games releases the game fully and the mod community grows a lot more, I’m sure that players will be taken aback with the level of depth and entertainment that this game provides. Even though Crea is in early access and has small bugs and content issues, the game is completely playable. This is probably the most enjoyable Early Access title I’ve played so far, and I can guarantee everyone that this game will knock your socks off. Give it a try and get ready to spend a lot of time building up your strength and defeating the evil terrors that lurk in this sandbox world.
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