When comparing Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead vs Rust, the Slant community recommends Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead for most people. In the question“What are the best roguelike wilderness survival games for PC with fun crafting mechanics?” Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead is ranked 2nd while Rust is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead is:
Get taken back to when games were completely made of ascii letters and your imagination. Venture forth as an @ and survive the wild. With the classic ascii art, it is hard to ignore that this is not a graphical powerhouse, but of course that is part of the fun, allowing your imagination to fill in this void.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Classic computer gameplay that offers a lot of nostalgia
Get taken back to when games were completely made of ascii letters and your imagination. Venture forth as an @ and survive the wild. With the classic ascii art, it is hard to ignore that this is not a graphical powerhouse, but of course that is part of the fun, allowing your imagination to fill in this void.
Pro Open source and very moddable, making for a game that anyone can change to their liking
The mod community is pretty active on this game, and you can create some really cool things with the tools they already provide. This way anyone can change their game to how they like.
Pro Super involved gameplay that allows the user to dive deep into the mechanics of the game
Everything from weather to crafting to martial arts are accounted for in Cataclysm. You can spend hours mastering the depths of this games systems that allow you to play however you want.
Pro Being in constant active developed allows the game to constantly grow
Experimental releases exit a few times in a single day. Many people are working on finding bugs, and developers are quickly fixing them and adding new features. This makes for a situation where the game is constantly growing and improving.
Pro Free for anyone to download and try, which leave no one out
The game is free of cost as well as open-source, meaning that anyone can download the game, install it and play it.
Pro Graphics can be used instead of ASCII, for those that would enjoy something more visual
Not supported on every version of the game, but you can have a graphical experience if you want by using a graphical tileset for the game. This will need to be done manually.
Pro Non-PvP servers are available
If worrying that another player might kill you and loot your corpse is not your thing, or if you don't want to deal with someone constantly harassing your base, there are servers available that take away the risk of other player's malicious behavior.
Pro Building system is simple, efficient and intuitive
Hold a key while holding a hammer, and with your cursor, select the piece you want to build.
Upgrading a piece of building is done in the same fashion.
Pro Game's multiplayer nature creates psychological tension
While there's obviously potential for working together with other players towards achieving certain goals, the more likely scenario is someone trying to kill you to get your stuff. Or even worse, deceiving you in working together to achieve a particularly difficult goal only to stab you in the back when you're not needed anymore. It's easier to take stuff from someone else than gather it yourself. And since your base is a the perfect bullseye to other players, there is constant threat of griefing.
Pro Lots of variety in ways to die
Fauna, including bears and wolves, is trying to kill you, radiation, that's ever-present, is trying to kill you, zombies, in a multitude of colors, are trying to kill you, other players on the server, equipped with guns, are most definitely trying to kill you, and you, yourself, if you don't find food, will die.
Pro Base building allows for less punishing gameplay
Because you can build your base that you respawn back to when killed, losing only what you had on you at the time of death, it allows getting back to where you left off quickly.
Cons
Con Lacking hardcore survival feel
The game gets to be rather easy once you spend a little time with it. Basements full of everything one needs to survive in every other house, and stores that look like they were left as seem out of place since in a disaster scenario most items would probably have been taken already.
You can tweak the options to suit a more hardcore experience if you so desire. The options allow for a wide variety of difficulty and playstyles.
Con Difficult to learn at first
This could be a pro for some but for many this will turn them away from the game.
Con Hard to play solo
Rust is all about clans fighting for territory and loots. Solo players (or ones with a couple friends) can easily be killed by bigger clans.
Con Not yet finished (buggy)
Since it's a Steam Early Access game it still has lots of glitches, placeholder text and unreliable infrastructure. But for all its unfinished nature, it's surprisingly playable.