The result of my rafting experience for about 40 hours and gives a hate-love relationship to the game.
Introduction First
This game launch at May 2018. Name of the developer is Redbeet Interactive. When this review was written, the developer only has 1 game and that is raft. The developer still actively updating this game, fro his last twitter 23 Nov 2021 (now January 2022).
The game genre is survival, if you have ever played this genre, you will know the characteristics of the game, but if you haven’t, the gameplay is easy, we as players have to look for materials to build either buildings or equipment that we will use later. You could say it’s kind of rpg but what develops is not our status or level, but the equipment we make.
The game is still early access, but I think it can provide a full experience as a game.
Technical Aspect
I’ve played survival games, I’ve played Vallheim, Astroneer and Grounded and I spent about 200-250 hours in survival games, but not 500 hours. You could say I’m quite happy playing the survival genre especially with friends. I’ve also played Animal Crossing for about 100 hours+ but I think animal crossing doesn’t include survival, or does it include?, lets say it doesn’t.
At first glance, to be honest, the graphics aren’t that great. I don’t know what engine this game uses, but it’s definitely not unreal. (note: it turns out to be unity). In terms of appearance, the 3d model is okay, the shapes of the objects can be recognized well.
Lighting & Texture
The game lighting is rendered quite ordinary, not to the point of being very beautiful, the texture of the object is also more of a solid color. Hardly any object has astonishingly fine textures and detail like an RPG game of fantastic size. When playing we will more often see water, water and water. The depiction of water and wood in this game is okay, not bad either.
The problem I sometimes find about objects is that when we collect sand and clay/mud , it’s a bit difficult to distinguish because the shapes and colors are similar. Iron ore and stone are also a bit difficult to distinguish, but if you’ve played for a long time you’ll be able to tell the difference.
Another problem is the lighting, at least it’s hard to see at night in the game, especially at the beginning of the game, we don’t have lights. But it’s also called night. Seeing my friends experience, players with limited screen brightness will have a hard time seeing. But if it’s midnight and when there is a moon, it will be quite bright.
Music & Sound Effect
As for the music, to be honest, the music tracks in the game feel a bit monotonous and boring after several tens of hours of listening. At the beginning, the music was really good, but it didn’t take long for me to get bored, I often turned the music down so I could hear my friends’ voices on discord.
For the sound effect, the sound effect is very helpful here. The sound of animal attacks can be recognized well, the sound effects are very distinctive. Sometimes I laugh at a friend who is being bitten by a shark, the sound of the bite is very distinctive.
In terms of specs, this game requires 2 core cpu, 4gb ram, nvidia vga 50 series, direct x 11, and around 6gb of space. In terms of specs, I don’t think it’s too demanding.
My Rafting Experience
Well, here comes the rather interesting part. The raw material gathering in Raft is quite unique. Usually we as players in survival games have to walk around looking for materials and then return to headquarters to build. In this game, it’s a bit strange because our base is traveling too.
Game Play
The main gameplay is that we are on a floating raft in the middle of the ocean, we are given 1 hook and have to collect floating materials. Every now and then we’ll find an island that we can gather out of its contents, then we’ll go back for a walk in the sea again, as the title says Raft. What’s unique here is that the shape of the raft we can build is up to us. Did you want to extend straight like a ship? Did you want box shape like an apartment? or flowers? Or a floating castle in the middle of the sea? just like other survival games, the shape of the house likes the maker.
Story
Well, apart from the survival aspect, which is building and exploring, this game actually has a storyline, namely an event where the game is considered over. But after finishing the story, you can continue again. In my opinion, the story aspect is also unique. We float / sail to an island, now in this game there is an item called radar. If we enter certain coordinates we can be given the position of a special place, in this special place we can get a story that continues. To arrive at a story point, we must have a certain building / item in order to get through it.
In terms of story, I don’t think it’s too special, but in terms of gameplay. The gameplay is what makes it different from other survival games. Usually, players are provided with a very large map and we have to explore looking for materials, make one or more bases, then provide portal items so we can return to the main headquarters. If in the raft, our base is walking in the middle of the sea, then the materials are sent to us by floating, occasionally we are given an island to be gathered.
My Impression
What do I think about this? As a survival game player, I’m actually just happy. Finally there is a different gameplay than usual. It’s said that the ingredients come to the players too, as players we still have to collect the ingredients, so it’s the same as staying busy.
Game Challange
Challenge-wise, this game isn’t just about getting up and finding materials. There are also challenges, in the sea there are sharks that can attack at any time, on the island there are pigs and birds that hate us, on another island there are bears. Each has a way of hurting players.
Yes, this game is very nice when you play with friends. The experience of playing when we are alone and with friends feels very different. In the game, you can be hungry and thirsty, although it’s not too painful, but it is very influential. If we’re alone, we just have to concentrate on surviving, while if we’re with friends, the process of looking for food and drink becomes easier, we have time to explore or collect materials under the sea, if we die, someone will also help. It is highly recommended to play this game more than one person. More is better.
How Long is The Game ?
Exploring the island is very interesting, the build part is also interesting, even 30 hours can swell to 100 hours. In the end, it depends on friends who accompany you to play too, if you feel fun suddenly its 3am, be careful, work can be distrubed because of this game.
My Message for other Player
Do I have a pleasant experience while playing this game? the answer is yes. Is the price expensive compared to the fun hours? not really. When the article was written the price was around 10$. Is this game better than other survival games? of course not. Each survival game gives its own fun. So, the conclusion ? if you enjoy survival games? This game is a must try, especially with friends. If you’ve never played a survival game and decided to look for a new game? yes, just try it, I’m sure the game will give you sweet memories in your life as gamer. 155 thousand reviews on Steam and almost all of them are positive can be proof in itself.
If you like this game just go to this link :
