Terraria: Will it be as Succesful as Minecraft?

I follow the torch-lit path down, down, down. And then down some more, swinging my trusty flaming sword to slaughter the occasional demonic adversary as I descended. How much bigger could this map be? And what will I find when I get there?
The answer to both questions, it turns out, will either terrify or excite you. I’m playing on a map that 505 Games Community Manager Logan Rosenstein has already spent dozens of hours building and editing – and not only is there still a whole lot of vacant space yet to be built-out, but this is the smallest of the three canvas sizes you’re given the option to play with when you begin the game.
Such is the open-ended reality of Terraria, a game already known to PC players. The craft-heavy, let-your-imagination-run-wild 2D side-scrolling sandbox adventure is a bona fide indie hit on PC, where it’s sold over two million copies since releasing nearly two years ago. Console players are about to get their first taste, as publisher 505 and Dutch developer Engine Software bring Re-Logic’s hit to Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network at the end of February, complete with much-needed tutorials and gamepad-friendly controls.

“The tutorial is really important,” admits Rosenstein, noting that, again like Minecraft, you practically require wikis to learn the ins and outs of the PC version. For Terraria on XBLA and PSN, it’s all built-in via a how-to menu.
But what do you actually do in Terraria?
In my case, playing on Rosenstein’s map (worlds are randomly generated when you begin a new game), I am heading towards the literal hell pit at the bottom of the world. Eventually, lava begins to appear where benign dirt had before and, under attack by enemies, I succumb to the scalding third-degree burns of the hot magma after mistiming a couple of jumps. If I’d made it, though, I could’ve tossed a particular mineral into the lava to spawn a boss to fight. Had I defeated it, I would’ve earned better gear to keep the cycle moving. You’ll level up and, again like Minecraft, you make your own fun.
Refreshingly, Rosenstein doesn’t back down from the comparisons, even when asked if Terraria shares the same loose, mission-less structure as Notch’s cash-cow. “There are no set missions,” he explains. “You decide how you want to do it. You build a shelter, you explore, and you find elements you use to build your house [and] equipment.”


Minecraft meets Castlevania!? Where do we sign up?
Monsters even come out at night, just like in Mojang’s money-making monster. Otherwise, when daybreak hits, it’s all up to you. After starting with a shelter, you can build out toward the left or right edge of the screen (be warned: it’ll take a while) until you hit the ocean and face-off against the fabled Terraria orca. Or go down until you get to…whatever it is you want to put down there. New bosses, armor, weapons, and pets (like the pet rabbit that’s proven popular in the UK release of the PC version) are bonus extras for this console edition as well.
Perhaps more interestingly, up to eight online players or four on a single-console split-screen can play around in a world together, cooperatively building out the land of their dreams or engaging in a versus mode too. It’s potentially hundreds of hours’ worth of imagination-flexing fun, and if it’s even half as gripping as Minecraft, then it’s going to be almost impossible to put down.