I do recommend this game.

Since my original review, Rust has gone through yet another iteration, and most of my primary criticisms have either been addressed or are heading in the right direction. Rust still needs some work on PVE (spoiled meat mechanics, more requirements on hydration), game mechanics (electricity? vehicles?) and customization for people who run servers. Not everyone wants to play Rust 8 hours a day and PVE can be a huge grind, but Facepunch responds and iterates on player feedback. PVP seems solid right now. Base building and raiding seem "fun" and good enough for now. Pathfinding and AI is being fixed, which should resolve many complaints and perhaps lead to other fun things. I can say the game continues to strike a balance between beautiful and performant, fun and strategic, and even though it goes down directions that I think aren't fun, overall (3/4 years) it has been well worth the money and time spent playing. I recommend this game because the developers do respond to the mountain of feedback they get from the community, and seem to care about the game being successful.

Forced monthly wipes are still a problem to me, but if you want a faster game that's more casual, two week and one month wipe cycles are good. However, this limits the scope of this game's true potential. All the other game mechanics have been seen in other games like Ark and 7DTD. Unlike those games, Rust has better PVP and is at least on average, more performant and beautiful.

I do recommend this game. Since my original review, Rust has gone through yet another iteration, and most of my primary criticisms have either been addressed or are heading in the right direction. Rust still needs some work on PVE (spoiled meat mechanics, more requirements on hydration), game mechanics (electricity? vehicles?) and customization for people who run servers. Not everyone wants to play Rust 8 hours a day and PVE can be a huge grind, but Facepunch responds and iterates on player feedback. PVP seems solid right now. Base building and raiding seem "fun" and good enough for now. Pathfinding and AI is being fixed, which should resolve many complaints and perhaps lead to other fun things. I can say the game continues to strike a balance between beautiful and performant, fun and strategic, and even though it goes down directions that I think aren't fun, overall (3/4 years) it has been well worth the money and time spent playing. I recommend this game because the developers do respond to the mountain of feedback they get from the community, and seem to care about the game being successful. Forced monthly wipes are still a problem to me, but if you want a faster game that's more casual, two week and one month wipe cycles are good. However, this limits the scope of this game's true potential. All the other game mechanics have been seen in other games like Ark and 7DTD. Unlike those games, Rust has better PVP and is at least on average, more performant and beautiful.