Raft Review: Survive on a Small Floating Islet

Raft is a 1st person survival RPG by Axolot Games and Redbeet Interactive. In this game, you have to play as two children who somehow survived on a stranded raft in the middle of the ocean. Your mission is to help the kids to find and produce provisions, craft useful items, and expand the square of their raft to make it more spacious and safe. You can download Raft for your Xbox One on Xbox Live.

Graphics – 5/5

Similarly to the vast majority of indie titles, Raft game is powered by the Unity engine. Guys from Redbeet Interactive did their best to make things look realistic. The water physics and dynamic lighting make this game a picturesque journey through boundless waters.

Gameplay – 5/5

Raft gameplay is based on looting, crafting, farming, and constructing. You always have to be on the alert to beat off shark attacks and catch nasty seagulls that struggle to steal your food. The system of looting in the game requires you to pick up random objects that float in the water. Both characters have universal hooks for that purpose. Some loot-boxes may contain seeds, so you can plant them in improvised garden beds made of planks and ground from tiny deserted islands. When you build a big raft, you can even take coconut palms from islands to grow them on the vessel.

Average chores in the game include fights with sharks, underwater hunting and looting, crafting of new raft elements, and expanding of the square with new segments or floors. The more objects you find, the more your raft becomes a comfortable human dwelling. In the beginning, you can eat only canned food, but soon you learn to grill fish, birds, and shark stakes. The opportunities for building are nearly infinite. You can build enormous vessels with many floors and invite friends to keep the house and explore the ocean.

Controls – 5/5

Raft latest version controls are brilliantly optimized for Xbox gamepad layout. The way of interacting with the terrain is very similar to traditional 1st person shooters. You have to use the left stick to move and the right stick to aim at objects. Action buttons are used for fighting, hunting, and item crafting.

Replay Value – 5/5

Raft full game has no actual ending. You can continue expanding the craft forever. The cool thing is that you can play on the same raft alone or with friends without the need to create a separate multiplayer session. It means that all collaborators can enter the game anytime.

Conclusion

Raft is a unique survival game that puts you against a realistic ocean nature. Starting with a dilapidated floating shack, you can upgrade to a massive wooden island with all tools that a human may need for convenient living. This game is highly recommended to all fans of surviving RPGs, and to those who look for a fun multiplayer title.