A Voxel Adventure: Is it a Masterpiece of Creation or a Fragmented Fantasy?

The realm of voxel-based games has long captivated players with its promise of boundless creativity and destructible environments. Voxile, the latest entrant into this blocky arena, steps onto the scene with the enticing blend of first-person shooter combat, role-playing progression, and survival mechanics, all wrapped in a visually striking ray-traced voxel aesthetic. With its handcrafted islands, each boasting unique mechanics and stories, the game aims to deliver a diverse and engaging experience. But does this ambitious combination of genres coalesce into a compelling adventure, or does it crumble under its own blocky weight? Read on to find out!

A World Forged Block by Block

Currently a single-player experience (with confirmation from the developers that they are actively working on incorporating multiplayer), Voxile immediately captivates with its dynamic shift in focus across its diverse islands. The immediate comparison most of you who play Voxile will likely make will be to Minecraft, and it’s clear to see why. Some can also see how Voxile took inspiration from Teardown, a similar voxel-based destruction game.

Each island in Voxile presents a distinct scenario, shifting the focus from intense combat against mutated wildlife to intricate environmental puzzles and resource gathering. The ability to dismantle the world, voxel by voxel, offers a unique layer to both problem-solving and combat encounters. Whether you are chipping away at a wall with a wooden sword, blasting through the side of a hill with a rocket launcher, or carefully mining for essential crafting materials, the dynamic voxel interaction remains constant. However, bear in mind that your weapons all have a condition attached to them, meaning that they will wear out the more you use them, eventually breaking and either needing repairing or replacing.

The inclusion of a robust world editor further expands the possibilities, allowing you to craft your own islands, design unique gameplay scenarios, and even create your own non-player characters and quests! This aspect works especially well within the community as it has proven popular among players already in the short time since Voxile released into early access, with several players creating their own (impressive) worlds from scratch.

The Inner Workings of a Voxelverse

At its core, Voxile operates as a first-person shooter with a hotbar system that accommodates a diverse arsenal, ranging from traditional firearms and melee weapons to magical spells. The role-playing elements are woven into the progression on certain islands, where levelling up and acquiring more powerful gear become the primary focus. Survival aspects work as expected, and necessitate gathering resources, crafting essential items, and constructing structures for defence or utility. The custom-built engine underpins the ray-traced voxel graphics, contributing to a visually impressive experience where destruction results in satisfying showers of voxel fragments and enemies visibly break apart upon defeat, revealing their skeletal structures. In fact, literally breaking enemies down layer-by-layer is incredibly satisfying!

Pixelated Panoramas and Auditory Architectures?

The visual presentation of Voxile is undeniably striking. The ray-traced lighting enhances (and also contrasts) the blocky aesthetic, creating a unique and often beautiful world, from serene landscapes to dramatic explosions of colour and light. The water effects and the glow of bioluminescent flora stand out as particularly impressive. In addition to that, ray tracing is also incorporated into this beautiful world, creating some of the most impressive visuals you are likely to see in a game of this genre.

Unfortunately, Voxile‘s menu system is a significant letdown. Its clunky and baffling design makes navigation unnecessarily difficult, a stark contrast to the main game’s beauty. While this doesn’t detract from the overall experience, the jarring shift upon accessing the menu can rapidly break immersion.

The audio experience is a mixed bag. Immersive sound effects, like puddles that “splish-splosh” satisfyingly as you wade through them, contrast with a soundtrack that, while generally good, can become repetitive during longer quests or in certain areas.

A World of Endless Possibilities?

The replay value of Voxile appears to be heavily tied to its world editor and the community’s creativity. The ability to design and share custom islands offers a potentially limitless supply of new adventures and gameplay styles. Even within the pre-designed islands, the variety of mechanics and quest types suggests a decent amount of content to explore. There are quests, NPCs, hidden items, and more to interact with, or if you really want to just go and explore the truly stunning worlds, then you can easily lose a few hours doing that. Given that Voxile is currently in early access also suggests that the main release will likely incorporate even more content, which is further refined than what we already have access to.

Conclusion

Voxile presents an intriguing concept, blending several popular genres within a visually distinctive voxel framework. The freedom of creation offered by the world editor is certainly a feature that many will be drawn to. Visually it looks utterly stunning and is at-once intriguing, and whilst the audio is good, it can sometimes become tedious. The core gameplay loop of exploration, combat, and creation shows promise, but its consistency across different island types will be crucial for long-term engagement. Overall, Voxile is not only stunning, but also fun, and here’s hoping that things continue to improve during early access!

Grade: 7.5/10