By Bryan King (Bryan), OnRPG Journalist
Do you remember being a kid and messing around with your Lego set? Painstakingly fitting your pieces together in order to make a model you’ve been dreaming about forever? Roblox Corp. presents Roblox, a free-to-play casual game aimed towards players 4-124, giving them their chance to express their creative juices by playing, creating, and socializing with players young and old.
Gameplay
Unlike other games, you run Roblox from a browser they give you. You log onto your character from the tool and then enter to the games section. Located here is a list of tons of different little games you could play. You select the one you want, and then it takes you to a server area. Each game usually has lots of servers, holding up to 12 people. Once you pick a server and hit join, the actual game opens up and loads that level, and then you play! This system is pretty interesting, and actually works very well for this game.
Roblox provides something for everyone. From built obstacle courses, to Call of Duty 4 remakes, to Cops vs. Robbers RPGs, Roblox has it all. Using an extensive .LUA scripting system, developers can make scripts that literally can be used to make any possible action in-game. Gameplay is unique not only in the fact that there are millions of combinations of gameplay (Teamwork, Single-Player, Objective-Based, and too many more) and that you can basically tailor what you want to do on Roblox. Players of many tastes will enjoy the various gameplay types of Roblox, not only because the limitless variety of games available, but because of the fact that Roblox can stimulate your inner desires as a gamer.
Those desires are hindered easily, though. Roblox has an obscene amount of glitches and bugs. For example, when playing in a room in which players took command of several ground, air, and sea units, extreme lag pressured players as many of these vehicles were all active at once. Another example of this was being in a room where the goal was to avoid stepping on disappearing bricks. For some reason, being spawned on a regular brick made my character pop into the air, and fly off the map and die. That was not the brick’s original purpose.
Overall, Roblox provides an experience for all to enjoy. This experience is hindered by many bugs and glitches, though.
Graphics
Roblox’s graphics vary. If you think about it, every single model you know of could be used; it’s all up to the developer of the room. The graphics of character models, however, are not all too impressive. Imagine the average Lego man, except with customizable parts. There are a variety of models and animations that developers can sort through, each of which aren’t always so low-res. Custom weapon models, vehicles, and every component to games can be found on Roblox, each of which have unique resolutions and looks. In conclusion, Roblox offers a well-brewed mix of models and animations for developers to sort through on their own preference.
Customization
Roblox offers a level of itemization and personal personality that packs a punch and puts it above most modern MMOs; it offers a system where you can completely customize your character’s T-Shirt, Head, Arms, Legs, Pants, Hats, and every body part you can possibly imagine. You can upload (verified) images to use as your character’s T-Shirt. Characters can use Robux and Tickets. Tickets are earned by receiving Awards (in-game achievements), selling T-Shirts and other crafts, and having a high amount of concurrent users within owned rooms. 10 tickets are earned per day.
Robux on the other hand, is offered only to those in the “Builders Club”. Those people pay a monthly price for more features. Both of these selling points both add a new factor of fun to Roblox, allowing the user to create items that can be sold for very well usable currency. The downside to this is the fact that some people only offer better items for Robux, kind of a letdown for normal members, but, this is one of Roblox Corp.’s only forms of profit.
Building
Building things in the Roblox world is pretty easy, just can consume a little time. You can do most of the basic editing in game! With tools such as move, delete, and copy. If you require a more advanced editor, you can move into the Studio. It looks a lot like Visual Basic editor, and lets you do a wide variety of things to your level. It’s usually a better idea to do most level designing in here. Some examples are being able to resize bricks and script events like “lava” bricks, or helicopter flights.
The building system may not catch everyone’s eye though, as the only way to build advanced rooms (better shooting games, obstacle courses) requires a crash course with learning .LUA in order to get a full building experience that will keep Robloxians coming back for more. This does not defy the fact that both novice and advanced .LUA scripters busy with the extensive studio system.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Roblox provides a casual and fun experience for everyone to play, for new and old alike.
Pros:
– Handy Browser tool
– Variety of game types
– Endless models
– Limitless Customization
– Extensive Building Tool.
Cons:
– Glitchy gameplay
– Boring textures
– Some items are only able for purchase through membership system
– Non-noob-friendly building system.
