Minecraft
After buying it from the website in beta stage, i wonder if it will live up to the hype it has gathered. I choose singleplayer, choose my world save, and start. My eyes are greeted by a rising sun, simple, yellow and bright; but against the blocky pixel style shaping of the world it has a welcoming look about it, as if it is merely just saying hello as it ascends into the sky.I see flocks of sheep, occasional pigs and cows grazing along the landscape, and even a few wolves. I have spawned into a grassland area with some trees, and a few patches of water. and an ocean below and next to the cliffs. Far in the distance i can spot a white gleam of snow, covering a small island on the other side of the vast canvas of water. Notch's world envelopes its power over me, a simple design, but so full of life.
After a few minutes of wood chopping and gaping at the ever changing and expansive land, i build a crafting table, then start making sticks and planks from the remaning logs i have; and with them build a pickaxe, and an axe. I spot a dark stony patch in the side of a cliff, knowing it was coal, one of the most useful resources a player starting a new world could have, i went over and mined it with my wooden pickaxe, and for good measure mined some stone. After getting back my tools health bar was looking low so i crafted a stone pickaxe, more durable and better to mine with.
Before i knew it an hour had passed and i was standing in a fortified cave in the side of a cliff face, with a chest, a furnace, and my crafting table from the beginning of the game, watching the sunset over the stone ramparts and awaiting the horde of monsters to appear as night draped over the land i called my home. As the sound of zombies and skeletons grew louder in the passing night, i braced myself for battle, holding my iron sword, with health raising food in my inventory. The moon watched as a lone warrior, who survived the harshness of the seemingly innocent world, braved deeds worthy of song and recognition against the evil creatures the night could send at me. Just as the moon started to lower i heard a hiss, looked behind me with a sudden thought of terror and was filled with distraught as a hero was blown to pieces by a charging creeper.
Minecraft was originally a game developed by only a small group of people, it has not been fully released yet as a completed game, as it is still in beta stage. It now has a full company behind it run by notch in the name of mojang. It was released in alpha as a cut down version where only blocks could be placed and destroyed, it was in all essence, a purely sandbox building mode. Now however it has the ability for the player to interact with the world. A player spawns in a randomly generated map, which could be either a desert or a lush forest area, also known as biomes, and has to make there way in whatever direction they choose.
The open endedness and the lack of objective seems like a strange way to play a game some people would think after hearing about the game, but it is these reasons which give it such replayability value. A gamer could spend a month perfecting his underground base, or his mansion on top of a mountain, and decide to do another project and start all over again in a new world. It is the simpleness of the gameplay that is so engrossing but all the same so clever and unthought of in a game before which makes it one of my favourite games of all time, as im sure a number of people who has played this excellent game would agree it. Once a player has gotten bored with single player, they have yet to discover the great number of mods and multiplayer servers out in the internet which offer alot more fun and options.
All in all minecraft is a great game, strong replayability, a charming yet simple interface and graphics, and a devoted developer is what makes this title such a classic, and it hasnt even been released yet! If you are unsure to get the game or not i would suggest watching several youtube videos, and reading other reviews. "X's adventures in minecraft" on youtube is a good series to watch if you want to see why its such a fun game to play.
Gamplay: 9/10 Open ended, strong replayability, Creative and fun. Bad points are that combat is slightly lacking
Graphics: 7/10 Despite being a blocky pixel style texture on the world, it has its charms and with texture packs can be improved
Sound: 9/10 Music is very relaxing, quite spooky when travelling a cave and you hear the noises of zombies
Computer: Dosent need much power to play as the graphics are easy to process, might get some trouble with loading times for rendering
Replayability: 10/10 Lots of directions and different decisions in singleplayer, Multiplayer is a whole different ball game
Overall: 9/10 One of the best games i have played. Defently has the potential to be in the top 10 of a number of gaming lists in the future.
Thank you for reading this, any constructive criticism and comments would be appreciated. This is my first review of a game and i look forward to seeing the reactions of the community
Originally Posted by Admiral Van Tromp
