While Red Dead Redemption 2 is a beloved video game, there is one criticism about it that has come up time and time again over the years: its multiplayer component has never been given the support it deserves. Compared to the endlessly growing GTA Online, it didn’t take long for Red Dead Online players to argue that there was a lack of content for their preferred crime-focused Rockstar adventure game, with small updates doing little to dissuade these detractors.
With Grand Theft Auto 6’s launch imminent, and support for RDO officially ending a while back, gamers could be seeking a new Wild West experience with their posse: an experience that Steam’s Red Rust Pioneers will hopefully provide. Red Rust Pioneers takes players back to the prime days of the Wild West as opposed to the final days of the era that Red Dead Redemption explored: its abundance of cowboy getups and eye-catching, open land to explore will feel hugely familiar. Mechanically, though, this Steam title will actually be more comparable to games like Valheim, with Valheim and The Forest even specifically referenced by its developers as inspirations.
Players, either solo or in a group, will travel from region to region, transforming camps into full-blown homesteads. As they hunt, fish, and farm, they’ll have to overcome dangerous environments, adding a survival element to every co-op session.
Red Rust Pioneers Looks Like Red Dead and Plays Like Valheim
While Red Rust Pioneers boasts a grounded 1800s setting with no fantastical creatures, environments, or rules to play by, Valheim players should feel right at home in the game, especially if they swap the camera from first to third person, which is thankfully an option. Players will be let loose to explore the world, making discoveries and searching for the ideal place to settle down. They’ll travel across the Wild West by wagon, stopping to unload their loot and build a camp whenever they need food or water. Said camp will start small, being nothing but a collection of tents and a campfire, but players will eventually build up to ranch houses and a true homestead wherever they decide to settle.
- EXPLORE an open world either solo or in a four-player co-op session.
- BUILD your homestead up from a simple tent to a proper ranch.
- CRAFT new tools, weapons, and gear to make exploration more rewarding.
- COMPLETE ACTIVITIES like farming, fishing, and hunting to keep the group fed.
- SURVIVE hostile environments like blizzards and rainstorms.
Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero.
In the meantime, they’ll need to stay alive, and to do that, the usual open-world survival-crafting game loop comes into play. Groups will explore for resources that they can use to craft hunting and traversal tools, with this gear needing to be managed carefully, just like each player’s hunger. To satiate their cravings, players will be able to hunt big and small game, fish for a range of fish to eat, and farm their choice of fruit and vegetables. However, players won’t just have to manage their hunger, as dangerous weather could leave them at a disadvantage in this particular survival crafting game.
As players take in gorgeous vistas in hopes of finding some land to make their own, they’ll occasionally find themselves dealing with problematic weather. Sometimes, the heat from the sun will be blistering, forcing groups to cool down. Frontier wingers could be problematic, too, causing opposite issues, while thunderstorms will also have to be contended with. So long as groups prepare for the environment to fight back, though, they should find the gameplay loop of filling the wagon with resources and trekking to and from their homesteads hugely enjoyable. “Beauty, danger, and discovery” are promised, as is a balance of challenge and reward, making Red Rust Frontiers sound like the ideal co-op game for groups used to working alongside each other.
Build a new life in the Wild West open world of Red Rust Valley, alone or with up to 4 players in co-op. Hunt, farm, raise animals and craft through the changing seasons in this survival game as your camp grows from a canvas tent to a homestead. Free land, open skies, and a world worth exploring.
Red Rust Pioneers’ Early Access Launch is Just the Tip of the Iceberg
Red Rust Pioneers is one of many games to take the Steam early access approach, and its stint in early access could turn out to be a fairly lengthy one. Developer fish in a bottle [sic] believes the only way to make survival crafting games work is with a lot of player feedback, and early access is a clear route to a wide range of responses. And, beyond this feedback, the studio has an “ambitious” update roadmap that it wants to work its way through across the planned 18- to 24-month early access period. Monthly updates will be released that regularly expand upon the game’s content, and the price will steadily increase alongside them, so interested groups should consider purchasing the game sooner rather than later if they want to be met with the lowest possible price tag.
With up to two years in early access, it’s no surprise that virtually every element of this Steam game is set to be expanded upon. New regions and points of interest will be added to the frontier world, the crafting system will be deepened with additional recipes and workstations, and building will be expanded with more decorative choices and complex structures. More animal species and deeper behaviors for existing ones are on the docket, while player-specific roles and expansive skill trees will be honed in on. A proper story is even planned for the full version of the game, as are seasonal events and evolving survival mechanics. While these updates (and a lot more polish) will come over time, fish in a bottle has promised that all the core features will be available as soon as early access kicks off, from crafting and building to a handy Pioneer’s Journal for tracking discoveries. So, for outlaws seeking a new western game to dig into soon, even the earliest version of Red Rust Pioneers should provide hours of entertainment.
