Minecraft Review

Minecraft is a game that is quickly taking over the world, and pretty soon we will all be bowing down to our new dominant overload of pure awesomeness.  Minecraft is a game that many people pass up at first glance only to later give it another look, play it, and instantly become addicted.  I was actually one of those people.   I remember getting on my computer one day and joining my friends Skype session only to be greeted to the sound of eight different people blabbering about how amazing this Minecraft game is.  At this time I had heard of it, but never knew what it was.  They strongly insisted that I go and check it out and literally my first thoughts when I did were “What the hell is this, a joke?” and quickly pushed it aside.  A few months later I began to see videos of Minecraft popping up all over Youtube, and I realized that the game had to be something worth checking out if it’s THIS popular!  So I finally purchased the game and started playing it and four hours flew right out the window before I even noticed.  If there is one thing I can say about this game, it’s that “It takes creativity to a whole new level!”

Story and Setting

There is absolutely no story to speak of when it comes to this game.  In fact there isn’t really even a setting either.  The game simply plops you into this randomly and infinitely generated word made entirely of blocks, leaving you confused and unsure of what to do.  The lack of a tutorial is one of the game’s biggest flaws, fortunately the later released Xbox 360 version came with one.  But if you’re playing on PC then you may want to visit the Minecraft wiki to get a rundown on how the game works.  Once you spend a few minutes reading up on the starting basics then you quickly begin to realize the magic behind Minecraft.  The lack of story actually inspires the player to come up with their own and create their own path in the world. 

Gameplay and Visuals

The visuals are “NOT” and I repeat, “NOT” the games strong point.  At first glance this game looks like it belongs on a Nintendo 64 system.  But just like the lack of story, the lack of up to date visuals somehow adds to the games magic.  Minecraft is a perfect example of how a game does not have to look pretty to be

fun and amazing.  Despite the games bad graphics, the game mechanics actually seem to be quite advanced and unique.  Each time you load up a new game it will generate a completely random world, you will never encounter the same world twice.  This drastically increases the playability.  And as you explore the world, it will continue to generate more terrain making the map size infinite (On the PC).  Remember how I said the world was made entirely of blocks?  Well I wasn’t kidding, the world is composed of billions upon billions of
blocks and every block is destructible and can be removed. 

Now I’ll bet your wondering why the call the game “Minecraft”.  Well the title says it all, you mine and craft stuff.  For example, when you start off the game your first task should be to collect wood from any nearby trees.  Once you do so, you use the wood to create a crafting bench, and you use the crafting bench to crate tools with the remaining wood.  Then you use those tools to cut down trees

faster, dig, and eventually mine minerals such as Stone, Iron, Coal, and eventually Diamond.  Almost everything in the world can be used to your benefit.  Once you have things going then you can move on to bigger things such as building a house and crafting weapons.  These are important because once night falls, the mobs (monsters) come out to play and you will need shelter and something to fight with.  Pretty much from here on out you are just expanding.  Improving your house, mining more minerals, crafting more advanced items, venturing farther out into the world, and hunting animals for food.  Yes, there is hunger meter in this game and if you don’t eat, you die.  Fortunately there are animals everywhere for you to hunt, cook, and then eat.  You can even eventually start a farm and grow your own food.  The game literally lets your go as long and as far as you’re want and it’s even more fun when you’re doing it with friends.  The game features a multiplayer system that lets you team up with your friends and survive and build together.  Me and for other friends got together and started off with nothing and about a week later we had a giant castle built full of rooms and decorations.  The sky is literally the limit with this game!  And this is only the Survival Mode, the game also comes with Creative Mode.  This game mode gives the player unlimited health and an unlimited supply of every block type in the game, allowing you to really get crazy with your creativity!

Soundtrack

Just like the story and visuals, the soundtrack in this game is not its strongest part.  It features mostly soft background piano music that I found myself just turning completely off most of the time when I played.  The soundtrack is literally nothing special or worth paying attention too.  This game is all about the gameplay! 

So as you can tell, gameplay and player creativity is where this game grabs ahold of you.  Sure it can be hard to look at and confusing at first.  But once you get past that, you are in for a real treat.  This is by far one of the most “unexpected” games I have ever played and chances are with how popular it is, you have heard of it at one point or another.  If you ever get a chance, check this game out and give it a chance.  I recommend the PC version, you can get it on the Xbox 360 and tablets such as iPad but they are limited due their hardware.  PC offers the more complete version of Minecraft.