More then anything this a review the review if you will, I decided to start adding reviews to my personal blog and since I wrote my first game review I figured I should throw it up on the escapist so you all could tell me how big a tosser I am. For ease of transfer I left out my screenshots and the youtube videos I linked.
If you are in any way shape or form connected to the internet and gaming chances are you?ve heard about the tidal wave sensation of minecraft, with over a million sales before it even became a finished game (it still isn?t, Minecraft just entered beta phase on the 20th of December) for those of you who haven?t heard of the game the concept is simple, monsters want to kill you, do your absolute best to avoid that. Also if you punch trees you get lumber.
That sounds more like I?m joking or being silly but that?s actually a fairly good approximation of Minecraft?s Survival mode concept, you are left at dawn on a desolate stretch of beach with no tools or knowledge except that the sun is going down and you will quickly find out that being outside of a well lit, fortified area is a bad place to be at night. The games enemies, refered to as ?mobs? range from giant spiders and zombies to the infamous, exploding creepers. Another game concept put in it?s short form is that breaking blocks gives you resources, resources can either be placed (to build a shelter from those mobs for example) or be crafted in to variety of useful tools and items to let you continue to survive and create. The creating part is the real draw of Minecraft, you can build just about anything you could possibly want to in the game the only limitation in survival mode being you have to acquire all the resources required to build the structures (kind of like digging through all your lego bins as a kid to find that ONE missing piece except it?s all the pieces) and you have to fend off the various mobs that want to make you in to a player sandwich.
That isn?t to say you can?t build all you want inside the survival mode, it certainly hasn?t managed to stop me any with my construction of what I like to think of as my doom fortress and all it?s surrounding bunkers and out buildings.
You can?t really see all the out buildings and this is well before a massive series of modifications and renovations that basically have my fortress taking up that entire cliff face and turned that beach in to a wonderful stone courtyard complete with massive steps, not to mention the giant mineshaft under the fortress proper. It does give you the general idea though that if you can think it, you can build it? or at least a slightly blockier version of it. This takes us over to the creative mode where you have unlimited blocks and can build whatever you please with out worrying about creepers blowing up in your face. Some people in specialize in building so called ?Mega Objects? which range from massive fortresses, to a blockier version of the ENTIRE game world from the first legend of zelda game, to a 1:1 scale model of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D, think I?m bullshitting? Here?s the youtube proof
That?s just one of many massive objects and construction projects, other people are building entire cities! The game is designed for the individual so the question isn?t so much what did they build? but what will you build?
Outside of that this is a review so criticism is warranted but the game is in Beta (I?ve been playing since the Alpha) so it?s really hard to critique it for lack of plot or some kind of end game, some occasional bugs or glitching issues and so forth. The staff (all like three of them) do an excellent job of supporting the game but the thing to remember is this is an ongoing work in progress and it?s still one of the most enjoyable games I?ve ever played.
Get in the game at:
www.minecraft.net
The original post is located here:
http://northstarguide.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/the-world-of-minecraft/
So escapists how am I doing?
If you are in any way shape or form connected to the internet and gaming chances are you?ve heard about the tidal wave sensation of minecraft, with over a million sales before it even became a finished game (it still isn?t, Minecraft just entered beta phase on the 20th of December) for those of you who haven?t heard of the game the concept is simple, monsters want to kill you, do your absolute best to avoid that. Also if you punch trees you get lumber.
That sounds more like I?m joking or being silly but that?s actually a fairly good approximation of Minecraft?s Survival mode concept, you are left at dawn on a desolate stretch of beach with no tools or knowledge except that the sun is going down and you will quickly find out that being outside of a well lit, fortified area is a bad place to be at night. The games enemies, refered to as ?mobs? range from giant spiders and zombies to the infamous, exploding creepers. Another game concept put in it?s short form is that breaking blocks gives you resources, resources can either be placed (to build a shelter from those mobs for example) or be crafted in to variety of useful tools and items to let you continue to survive and create. The creating part is the real draw of Minecraft, you can build just about anything you could possibly want to in the game the only limitation in survival mode being you have to acquire all the resources required to build the structures (kind of like digging through all your lego bins as a kid to find that ONE missing piece except it?s all the pieces) and you have to fend off the various mobs that want to make you in to a player sandwich.
That isn?t to say you can?t build all you want inside the survival mode, it certainly hasn?t managed to stop me any with my construction of what I like to think of as my doom fortress and all it?s surrounding bunkers and out buildings.
You can?t really see all the out buildings and this is well before a massive series of modifications and renovations that basically have my fortress taking up that entire cliff face and turned that beach in to a wonderful stone courtyard complete with massive steps, not to mention the giant mineshaft under the fortress proper. It does give you the general idea though that if you can think it, you can build it? or at least a slightly blockier version of it. This takes us over to the creative mode where you have unlimited blocks and can build whatever you please with out worrying about creepers blowing up in your face. Some people in specialize in building so called ?Mega Objects? which range from massive fortresses, to a blockier version of the ENTIRE game world from the first legend of zelda game, to a 1:1 scale model of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D, think I?m bullshitting? Here?s the youtube proof
That?s just one of many massive objects and construction projects, other people are building entire cities! The game is designed for the individual so the question isn?t so much what did they build? but what will you build?
Outside of that this is a review so criticism is warranted but the game is in Beta (I?ve been playing since the Alpha) so it?s really hard to critique it for lack of plot or some kind of end game, some occasional bugs or glitching issues and so forth. The staff (all like three of them) do an excellent job of supporting the game but the thing to remember is this is an ongoing work in progress and it?s still one of the most enjoyable games I?ve ever played.
Get in the game at:
www.minecraft.net
The original post is located here:
http://northstarguide.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/the-world-of-minecraft/
So escapists how am I doing?
