NOTE: This review is based on the PlayStation 3 version of Minecraft. This review concerns the most recent version of this game as of the initial date of this blog post, which is Version 1.02 as of the initial date of this review.
About the Label: "Minecraft"
Any topics related to the popular indie game "Minecraft" will be featured here. Feel free to visit these posts for discussion of Minecraft.--- Minecraft (PS3 Edition) ---
Here is the official trailer for Minecraft PS3. This is your first idea of what I will be discussing in this blog post. Click on the link to view on YouTube if you cannot view embedded media:^ "Minecraft: PlayStation 3 Edition Trailer"
Minecraft PS3 is told to be "a near replica of the XBOX 360 version," so what you experience in the XBOX 360 version of Minecraft is what you could probably expect in the PS3 version of Minecraft. The effort to offer Minecraft on consoles is done by Team Mojang and 4J Studios.
The playing field for Minecraft is nearly three times that of Minecraft Pocket Edition. You have a field of essentially 862×862 to use; and while you don't get infinite worlds like in PC Minecraft, you still have a great deal of space to play with in Minecraft PS3. You can set up a Superflat world that you can freely modify to your heart's content. Or, you can create a vibrant world either based on a certain seed or some randomly-generated material. Your world will be met with a lot of different biomes and other natural features. You can build structures below the earth or above the clouds. It's all up to you!
While the creative aspects of Minecraft are fun, the real challenge lies in EXISTING in your world. Existing lies in your ability to mine for resources as well as staying fed and more importantly- battling monsters. You will be trying to survive as much as you can and for as long as you can. You need to build a shelter as well as build something to help you get started... primarily a Crafting Table. Don't just build a shelter and stay within that shelter- go explore your world! Kill animals to collect some resources that can help you be on your way towards survival. If you find a cave or a vein of ores you can mine for, you can do some mining to collect raw ores that can be smelted to craft many more items. You can go deep into the earth for more precious materials- such as diamonds! If you are fortunate enough, you may even get the opportunity to explore two very dangerous realms- The Nether and The End.
Beware of Hostile Mobs!
No matter what you do or where you go, be wary of monsters that roam the earth! Killing certain hostile mobs will earn you some extra resources for you to collect. Here is a small look at some of the many nasties that you may encounter. Zombies will roam in dark locations and advance towards you. Spiders will jump and creep on you. Skeletons will appear and fire arrows at you from various distances. Among the various monsters, none are more iconic in Minecraft than the Creepers- they come up on you unexpectedly and can do embarrassing levels of damage to you and the ground you roam... namely in the form of an explosion. There are many more monsters you will encounter, but these are among the basic monsters. Thing is... wait until you have to battle other monsters in the Nether and in The End- like Ghasts, Magma Cubes, the Endermen, and even the Ender Dragon!However you want to play Minecraft, it is a fantastic voyage you will certainly enjoy.
--- Minecraft: Modes of Play ---
Minecraft PS3 is a game enjoyable in two ways- Creative and Survival. Let's look at the two modes of play.Minecraft: Creative.
The Creative mode is all about what it says. This is where you take your Minecraft world and mess it up any way you like while creating and reshaping the world. This reshaping gives you all of the available blocks to build or reshape the world. You can even place various mobs into your world including both innocent animals and monsters. You can even place items into your world to help make your world as lively or as desolate as possible. The possibilities are endless. Only thing is... you are the artist painting on your canvas- which is your Minecraft world.A word of warning... unless you feel like inviting Minecraft's monsters in your world, it is recommended you set the difficulty to Peaceful so you can freely modify your world without having to have monsters randomly traverse your world. If you attack the monsters, you may end up having them attack or populate your world. You may find yourself unintentionally destroying parts of your world trying to kill off the monsters. Even though you are immune to any and all damage and attacks, if you just want to work on building up your world, it is best you set difficulty the Peaceful. Peaceful difficulty will have all monsters vanished and banished from your Minecraft world.
Minecraft: Survival.
The real challenge of Minecraft lies in Survival mode. This is where you collect resources and craft items to try to survive in a world gone mad. The obvious goal is to outlast all of the various monsters and challenges while remaining healthy and protected. You are living within a Minecraft world and look to last as long as you can. If you want to really live in the world, you will need to find various resources to help you deal in the rough Minecraft world. That will mean mining for resources. No matter what the case, just remember one thing- the freaks come out at night. In fact, any area where there is ample darkness could be opportunities for monsters to attack you. So make sure to craft torches and place them in areas to help you see while also to ward off any monsters.The Tutorial world provided in Minecraft PS3 is a great way to get started with your Minecraft adventures.
A Bonus Note...
One thing to keep in mind... you can take your Creative maps and play them in Survival Mode. If you're trying to collect PSN Trophies, you will NOT win any Trophies for your progress. You must be playing in Survival Mode in a proper Survival map to acquire Trophies.Maybe in future updates, the game may allow for Adventure and Hardcore modes, like in the PC version of Minecraft. If you are not familiar with these two modes of play, Adventure is like Survival, only that you must use proper tools for mining certain resources. Hardcore is a super-hard Survival mode. If you are killed in Hardcore mode, you can not respawn, and your Minecraft world can't be reused.
--- Minecraft PS3 Thoughts/Review ---
It is time now I offer my review of this game. Here is my review of this game in a piece-by-piece basis.General Thoughts.
Get ready for an experience unlike any other. Once you start having fun and envisioning just how to make the most of your experience, time will fly by. I wouldn't recommend playing this game if you just want to quickly play through it. Minutes, seconds, even hours of your life will pass by as you're engaged in the world of Minecraft. You are either thinking how to build up your world further in Creative Mode or how to get through the current day playing Minecraft in Survival Mode. You will have to contend with dealing with all sorts of things like battling Zombies, Skeletons, Spiders, and of course... the iconic Creepers among many other monsters.Game Play.
The first thing you should know about Minecraft is that everything works. As long as you have a vivid imagination, you should have no problem populating your world with mobs or building certain structures. Creative Mode will blow your mind as you become intrigued to reshape your world or populate it with any number of mobs. Survival Mode will be a chance for you to explore your world while also battling hostile mobs. A real sense of accomplishment can be had if you should make it to the Nether. Even more so if you can reach The End.The controls are intuitive and fluid. It shouldn't be too difficult to traverse through your Minecraft world or build any sort of structures. You can select from a few different control schemes. Only knock on its gameplay is that the game will sometimes stall for about half a second, primarily as it tries to load up certain songs at random.
Graphics.
Okay- this game will NOT win any beauty contests. It is very unlikely a game with such a blocky interface or such amateur-level 3D models will win any beauty contests. It is "ugly," but it is also beautiful and inviting. Just because this game isn't gritty-looking or have any overly impressive visuals doesn't mean this game isn't lovely to look at. Having said that, Minecraft is beautiful for what it is in its character and in its appearance. Its view distance is very far. However, you don't have ridiculous levels of pop-up structures in the background.The game can be played in High Definition mode with enhanced textures. There aren't too many graphical issues. Only knocks in the graphics department are in the fact the there is just a slight bit of pop-up graphics far in the distance. While the game runs at about 60 frames per second, there are only a few times where the frame rate stutters. The slowing down isn't enough to make the game a drag to play.
Music and Sound.
The music is supplemented by an independent musician named C418. The music is soothing and even melodic. My personal favorite song is "Sweden." Or for those of you familiar with PC Minecraft, this is "calm3.ogg." You are not going to hear any seriously intense music or anything.The sounds are not meant to be anything real serious. You don't really hear things like wind rushing or anything like that. Sounds are fairly basic for the most part.
IN CASE YOU'RE INTERESTED: If you want to hear C418's music for Minecraft, you can visit his Bandcamp site at c418.bandcamp.com.
Online Play.
You can invite players to participate in your Minecraft world, or some people can just randomly come into your Minecraft world. You can even join the worlds of your own PlayStation Network friends.Be careful. I once had my world online, and one person came into my Minecraft world. I was outside of my room for a moment. Next thing I know it, someone came in and destroyed one of the largest structures currently in my Creative world with loads of TNT. Thankfully, I had saved my game before this idiot blew up my structure. Going into somebody's Minecraft world and destroying one's world and various things in it is called "griefing"- which is STRONGLY discouraged among Minecraft players.
You do have the option to disable online interactions entirely when you start/continue a game.
Final Thoughts.
You would think a game like Minecraft would be a kind of game almost anyone can pick up and play and enjoy. Just like almost anything, however, you have your fair share of haters. Don't let the fact that the world is blocky and cartoon-like tell you this game is overrated or ugly. There is a reason why Minecraft is such a wildly popular Indie title. The ability to reshape the world while also trying to survive in it gives the game its appeal. Minecraft shows that games don't have to be visual or audible masterpieces to be enjoyable. We've come to an age in which every game has to be the caliber of a Call of Duty or a Crysis to be acceptable. If you think all games should be on the level of the aforementioned titles I mentioned, then go play them instead.Minecraft is more like LEGO for gamers. The game was not meant to have any real plot or interesting storyline. There was a point early in PC Minecraft where there wasn't "The End." This ia game mostly meant to be played for as long as one wants with the only limit being one's imagination. Any game that allows you to make the most of its atmosphere and features to where the only limit is your imagination, these are the games that capture the heart.
For me personally, I am unable to play PC Minecraft. So in any attempt to be involved with the Minecraft world, I have been very thankful to get Minecraft for the PS3. I'm sure I would have as much fun playing Minecraft on the PS3 as I probably would for the PC. Everything works just fine and is an absolute joy to play and use on my PS3. So what if Minecraft PS3 isn't as detailed or as feature-packed as its PC counterpart? If you want any entry into the realm of Minecraft and if you have a PlayStation 3, this is your best chance to become enveloped into the world of Minecraft. So make the most of it!
I would vastly recommend this title to PS3 owners who want to enjoy an independent game from an independent developer and who have a creative imagination. I assure you that you will not be disappointed as long as you give this game a chance. It is a near-perfect gateway into the Minecraft world if this will be your first taste of Minecraft.
--- What I Want in Future Updates ---
Anything is still possible in the further development of Minecraft PS3. However, among many different changes, there are a few things I wouldn't mind seeing in Minecraft PS3 that are available in other versions of Minecraft. Here are some of the many:• horses
• more skins
• being able to report/block people who grief Minecraft worlds
• (maybe) infinite worlds
• (maybe) certain mobs previously unimplemented
• (maybe) mod and texture packages
• (maybe) personal music playlist implementation
• (maybe) Adventure and Hardcore modes?
I have no experience with PC Minecraft. Therefore, I can only suggest so many things here. Maybe I'll make more suggestions in any possible edits to this blog post.
For More Information:
For more information on all things Minecraft, visit the official website of Minecraft- www.minecraft.net.Did you enjoy my review of Minecraft PS3? If so, I'd like for you to get this game for yourself. Minecraft PS3 retails for $19.99 US Dollars. You can do so by following this link, which takes you to where you can purchase this for the PlayStation 3:
• Minecraft PS3 (Demo)
• Minecraft PS3
Special Request!
If you are going to be any pro at Minecraft, you need solid resources besides what you are offered in the game! So what you need to do is add this to your Favorites if you are wanting resources on Minecraft. It is simply the Minecraft Wiki. Trust me- you will need to reference to this site and to its content as you are going about in any Minecraft game. Click on the link below to visit the Minecraft Wiki page:Minecraft Wiki
You can also subscribe to this YouTube channel for more insight and resources: "mcspotlights" on YouTube.
I hope you enjoyed my review of Minecraft PS3. Thank you for reading! Happy Minecrafting! :)
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