If you don't know what Minecraft is, I'll give you a little background to help bring you up to speed. It's an open-ended, creativity game where you mine for resources to build and create pretty much whatever you want within the bounds of the resources you have. The world is made up of blocks and all of the resources you place are placed into a grid in block form. There's no ultimate goal, unless you want to complete the game by defeating an end-game boss, so the game continues forever. The core idea is to mine, build, and survive. The graphics are retro and block-like, but sharp, and raise a huge level of nostalgia for the golden days of video gaming.
The main differences between the PC version and the 360 version are the inclusion of a tutorial and a much more seamless multi player experience. The tutorial is integral for those who haven't played the game before, and it's a much better way to be introduced to the game than if you play it on PC. There you have to rely on videos and tutorials created by users that came before you that can be pretty hit or miss. As for the MP game, I haven't had a chance to sample it yet, but there's four player split screen and eight player online game modes. From what I've heard, there's nothing better than a Minecraft session with some friends.
Moving on to my experience so far, I was thrown off a little by the lack of a main goal. I started out okay with setting a goal to get a shelter up and then build a forge, but once I hit that point I kind of lost myself and started exploring. After a ton of exploration I realized that I needed to upgrade my tools with some ore before I could go any further so I started looking for some Iron Ore. Throughout this time I kept on detailing and upgrading my shelter until it was a two story, island fortress with a defensive wall on the outsides. Before long I had a second structure up as well where I was starting my third major excavation...Why am I boring you with this detail? To help explain how I managed to lose like five hours of my day yesterday and how I kept myself busy with goals that I set for myself. So even without structure, Minecraft is not only able to keep you busy, but also keep you creatively managing your own goals. It's a total black hole for your free time, but it's really addictive.
The only issue that I experienced during my game time yesterday was that during my first long period of playing, the server unexpectedly crashed and I lost all of my data. I was pissed at first, but starting over didn't seem too bad since I could just create on a new world in a brand new starting position. Don't get me wrong, I was still irritated, just not as much as I would have expected.
Once I get further in the game I'll post another, more in-depth review, but for now this will have to suffice. My suggestion is to download the demo if you're unsure that the game is for you, and then buy it. It's only $20, 1600 Microsoft Points on the XBLA Marketplace and is well worth that price:
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| Even though it's blocky, it's still really good looking. |
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| Just one example of a sweet construction. And animals. |
The only issue that I experienced during my game time yesterday was that during my first long period of playing, the server unexpectedly crashed and I lost all of my data. I was pissed at first, but starting over didn't seem too bad since I could just create on a new world in a brand new starting position. Don't get me wrong, I was still irritated, just not as much as I would have expected.
Once I get further in the game I'll post another, more in-depth review, but for now this will have to suffice. My suggestion is to download the demo if you're unsure that the game is for you, and then buy it. It's only $20, 1600 Microsoft Points on the XBLA Marketplace and is well worth that price:
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