3 Things You Need To Know About Virtual Earth Online (Review)
What is Virtual Earth Online? You probably are hearing it for the first time, and for good reason. VEO is a fairly newcomer indie MMO that is offering players the freedom to build, farm and explore a world like our own virtually. As all good sandbox building games do, you start with selecting a “home” area in any part of the world to start building. The game’s main attraction is obviously centered around just how much you can do in the world – either solo or with friends – and that’s where the money is these days. So why should you care?
It Has The Minecraft Goodness You Know
Well, if you love Minecraft, chances are you’ll really like Virtual Earth Online. Your opening steps in the game is a brief introduction on how to build a home using blocks. This involves picking an area – and each player will be given the choice to select theirs – and start laying down blocks. Speaking of which, there are tons upon tons of block options to choose from. Think for grand houses, resorts, hotels, commercial buildings and they can all be built.
Gameplay is super familiar to anyone that has experience with world building games. You move around with WASD and the controls to look, build and explore are all simple and easy to use. Of course, it can be time consuming if you’re super particular about details, which is why the creative folks out there would love it. Furthermore, it’s our world, and it’s a lot less pixelated. You can start off in Paris, and make your way to Australia using portals to see what other players are building. It’s a fun experience and can be hostile too, especially if you encroach lands that aren’t yours to build on.
It’s Greenlit By Steam
VEO is indie game, and one that’s come fresh out of Steam’s Greenlight program. It simply means that there’s a demand for it, and players approve of the world-building that VEO is trying to offer. So what exactly does it offer that stands out from what’s already out there today? For starters, the graphics are definitely a step up in quality compared to others in the genre. Environments look as real as possible and a fully built town or hub looks fantastic on the highest graphic settings.
Players will definitely enjoy exploring a world that very closely resembles our own, with less pixels. What’s really exciting is the endless possibilities of creation. If you can think it and imagine it, you can certainly build it.
You Can Make Money If You’re Good
While Virtual Earth Online is still in its early days, players can buy their way in for a meagre $20 dollars. That offers up hours of building, exploring and sandbox fun on its own. But the developers are giving back too. As of right now, there’s even a build a resort competition that offers a total of $600 or more to up to 10 winners. It’s initiatives like that which will help foster the game’s community down the line, and encourages players to give it their best. Overall, Virtual Earth Online is definitely worth a look in if you need a new sandbox world building adventure.
