Valheim Fixes The Worst Part About Rust | Screen Rant
Valheim sent waves through the survival game genre when it was released on Steam Early Access on February 2. The Viking-themed adventure has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from PC gamers following its debut. While the developer Iron Gate is still actively working on the title, Valheim has already succeeded at differentiating itself from competitors like Rust, DayZ, and Ark: Survival Evolved.
It's not only the Vikings that set the release apart from its rivals; it's the type of combat it prioritizes. While Rust, DayZ, and Ark have all pitted players against one another by allowing unfettered player-versus-player gameplay, Valheim has done the opposite. The title is almost exclusively focused on co-op, player-versus-environment combat, eliminating the most frustrating part about survival games, being griefed by other players.
Building expansive forts and collecting crates-worth of materials can take days in Rust and similar titles. Yet, all of that can be taken away from players in minutes if an enemy player decides to hunt them down or attack their base. Staying militantly aware of other players and brokering alliances was once a de facto part of survival games. Now, Iron Gate has proven how much more satisfying the genre can be without them.
Valheim's main objective is simple but well-executed. As many as ten players are put in the boots of slain Viking warriors who are transported to a mysterious realm and ordered by Odin to rid the dominion of its plague of monsters and beasts. The main gameplay loop consists of exploring to find materials to build weapons and armor and then challenging bosses, like the possessed stag Eikthyr. This is repeated until players have amassed the tools and resources necessary to not only challenge the game's strongest bosses, but also have a base they're proud of.
Valheim does have a PvP option, but it needs to be toggled so players can choose when they want to fight others. That eliminates the possibility of a strong player roaming the map and preying on weaker Vikings for fun. Issues like that are a big reason why Rust is so difficult to get into as a newcomer - many servers are rife with players who kill newbies who spawn into the world for fun.
Valheim is still far from complete, but Iron Gate has already carved a lane for itself in a heavily contested market. World PvP has made Rust and other survival games cutthroat and toxic. In contrast, Iron Gate's has given its survival title a satisfying path towards progression that can't be interrupted by bad faith players.
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