Written by Matthew Escalante, Entertainment Writer
Silently you roam the still forest, half a dozen bodies carefully follow.
Each tired and demoralized.
Most wear salvaged metal armor, scraped together from broken down cars and sheet metal.
One man in the convoy groans in pain.
Another begins to wrap his wounds with a dirty bandage.
Behind you a fire blazes, the silhouette of a building hides within the flames.
Screams and gunfire can be heard above the sounds of crackling debris.
Within the burning walls you see darkened figures, those who were unable to leave were abandoned without a second thought.
Your home, destroyed.
Your comrades, slaughtered.
Your morale, shattered.
Frustration and rage fill your eyes.
The laughter of raiders fills the night.
Turning away from the carnage you and what’s left of your clanmates slip into the night.
The idea of revenge fresh on your mind.
Rust is an MMO (massively multi-player online) survival game developed by Facepunch studios, released on Feb. 8, 2018. The game is currently available on Steam for pc, though concepts of Rust spreading to console remains debatable. You’ve most likely heard of the game Rust, there are hundreds of youtube channels and clips associated with the game, and I plan on explaining what you need to know about the game.
Rust has a single goal for a player, survive. There are aspects that you expect in every other survival game such as hunger, thirst, and climate. But what makes Rust special is the players.
You along with HUNDREDS of other players are dropped on an island and are expected to survive. With so many people and so few resources to go around, you can quickly see what the game is like.
Rust has one of, if not the most toxic and unforgiving communities to ever exist in a video game. Most players won’t support someone who is new to the game, and the majority of players kill whoever they see. The spectrum of profound language spoken by the community will put old Call of Duty lobbies to shame. People will backstab, taunt and harass each other for the simple enjoyment of it. That being said, friendly players do exist, just in much smaller numbers. Finding the occasional friendly players is always a pleasant surprise and nice change of pace. But that doesn’t change the fact that Rust is the definition of a society with no rules.
This being said Rust can be very flexible on your playstyle. You can run around and fight other players like a shooter game. You could build massive fortresses or try your best to socialize with your fellow survivors in safe zones or other awkward situations.
Though Rust doesn’t really have a story, it makes a great game to experience your own stories. Through backstabbing or trust, redemption or revenge.
Resources are the reason almost anything happens. Raids and fights allow players to take them from each other. These are naturally one of the more important things that happen in game. Scraps, weapons and vehicles can be found in various locations around the map, making them hotspots for player activity and fighting. Something that new players may not understand is how valuable these resources are, every shot, every weapon and every building was made by resources farmed by players. You could either gather these resources yourself or kill those who gather them and take it for yourself.
Dying in game will cause you to drop all your held items, and unless you have a sleeping bag or bed, you will end up spawning in a random location, potentially hundreds of meters away from your kill site. That gives other players more than enough time to take everything and disappear without a trace.
Frustration and satisfaction go toe to toe constantly as you play. It takes just one other player to completely ruin all that you worked for. That being said, being able to keep yourself composed is crucial. You can’t just get angry at other players for a single incident or a minor insult. Keep calm and carry on.
Building is also a massive part of the game; without a base everything that you have on your person is at risk. A massive amount of customization is allowed when creating a base. You can add garages, electrical systems, and farms. But remember the most important aspect of a base is its security. There is no point in having a base if it isn’t safe inside.
Some additional advice I can give to new players is…
- Never trust anyone, unless you have some sort of safeguard or nothing to lose.
- There is strength in numbers, use that to your advantage.
- Novice servers exist, try them first before main servers(People on these servers tend to be friendlier than other servers).
Rust is a game you love to hate. It can give you both the best experience you’ve had in a video game and the absolute worst ones as well. With a lively yet toxic community, Rust stands as one of the most popular games within its respective genre. But if you are willing to give Rust a shot, I wish you the best of luck. You’re going to need it.