Crayta, Stadia’s latest exclusive title, is perhaps the most ambitious project to reach Google’s cloud gaming platform since the service launched in late 2019. Rather than be guided by a core story or rigid set of Mechanisms, Crayta is an “anything goes” MMO where players can play and build their own unique games. Like any good multiplayer experience, Crayta needs a solid player base from the start to be successful, a bet that has risen further amid the limitations of this title’s release day. I have been playing Crayta for a full week, and here are my thoughts.
What Crayta does well
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTo8TiOoABk
Crayta’s biggest draw is that it supports a variety of content, each type targeting different types of players. It comes with seven unique games that include cooking dishes as a team, climbing the “wall of super doom” armed with nothing more than a high-powered hand cannon, and hunting live opponents dressed as office gear.
Each of these mini-games is based on its own unique worlds and is included within Crayta at no additional cost. Better yet, more content will be added over time (for free), expanding Crayta’s appeal to a wide range of gamers.
However, Crayta’s biggest asset is the games you can build yourself, more on that after the negatives.
Dazzling limitations of Crayta
Although Crayta shines when playing with friends, all multiplayer games are currently limited to 20 players per session, making it impossible to organize large multiplayer efforts. Some games support up to four players per session, depending on the parameters set by the developer.
Despite its flexibility, there are things players are currently unable to do in Crayta, such as driving a car, flying an airplane, or sailing a ship, but the developers haven’t ruled out those possibilities in future updates.
Finally, while the minigames available at launch are quirky and fun to play in their own right, only a handful of them are available (for now). To help Crayta feel fresh, players will need to create their own games or wait for developers to contribute additional titles in the future.
Perhaps the most captivating part of Crayta, at least at launch, is not playing games, but designing them. Somehow, the Crayta team managed to include a complete development platform in their offerings.
The creation side takes advantage of Unreal Engine 4, the same game engine that drives punches like Fortnite, Borderlands 3, and even Crayta. Once inside, creators can access a wide range of pre-installed resources, including map templates, materials, mesh objects, shapes, patterns, lighting, textures, atmospheric manipulation tools, and so much more. Custom assets can even be uploaded to the system for a more unique design.
Thanks to the power and flexibility of Crayta’s game development platform, community members and professional developers can build their own games and publish them for everyone to play, thus cultivating a kingdom of infinite possibilities.
Is Crayta worth playing?
Unlike the small (but growing) number of Stadia titles that support cross-save and cross-play, Crayta doesn’t exist anywhere else on consoles or PC. Not only do you need a solid base of Stadia players to survive, but a large part of their continued development depends on other players and developers building their own games for the community to play together.
The biggest problem with Crayta today is that it doesn’t offer a ton to play in advance. On the surface, it’s just a handful of simple, yet entertaining, mini-games. But on the creation side, players can do almost anything: basic battle royale, first-person shooters, rugged landscapes, and much more. You will need the Stadia community to build their own maps and games for other players to try out, or Crayta will go down completely.
Like Stadia, Crayta’s biggest draw is not what he can do today, but the potential of what can be tomorrow. Personally, I had a lot of fun testing the game alongside my friends across the Stadia community, and Unit 2 Games, the developers behind Crayta, are as passionate about their ambitious title as they are brilliant.
If you’re a Stadia Pro subscriber, claiming Crayta for free in July is obvious. As for free Stadia players, I’d at least recommend choosing the base version of the game, especially if you’ve ever been interested in building your own games – Crayta’s developer tools are too cool to pass up. For non-game creators, Crayta can still be exciting, but be sure to bring some friends with you, or your experience will be thwarted.
How to play Crayta in Stadia
There are several ways that players will be able to dive into Crayta on launch day:
Stadia Pro subscribers can claim the Premium Edition as part of the July Pro giveaways. This version includes the base game, access to seasonal content, and a pack of 500 Crayta credits that can be used to purchase cosmetic upgrades in the game. for your character.
Non-professional subscribers, on the other hand, will need to purchase Crayta at the Stadia store. The Premium Edition will cost $ 39.99, while the Deluxe Edition comes at $ 59.99. The most expensive version includes everything in the Premium Edition, plus exclusive cosmetics, a permanent XP boost, and a 1,000-pack of Crayta Credits. Alternatively, players who purchase the Premium version can upgrade to Deluxe for an additional $ 24.99 if they desire the additional benefits.
Crayta is available to purchase and claim on July 1, 2020.
