Developer: Mojang Studios, Double Eleven
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Platform: PC, Xbox One, Switch, PS4
Tested on: PC
Minecraft Dungeons – Review
Minecraft was the hit sensation that was released back in 2011 and still has a very active player base and community up until this very day. There are many that consider the game to be a digitized version of the well-known LEGO bricks, and people still love to make original sculptures and structures on their own personal Minecraft servers. There are even many streamers who still have a giant following by solely streaming Minecraft content. Now, Mojang and Double Eleven have teamed up to create a dungeon crawler game in the world of Minecraft. We were quite happy to see some new and original Minecraft content, even if it eventually ended up becoming a watered-down and kid-friendly version of Diablo III. Nonetheless, we had a lot of fun with this short adventurous Minecraft title.
Story
The plot of Minecraft Dungeons is a simple one, but certainly one that sets a proper tone. We get to meet Archie, an Illager who has had a rough life. Everywhere he showed up, people shunned him, and made sure he would not be able to stay. During his wandering, he encountered a cave that possessed the ‘Orb of Dominance’, which granted him superior magic powers. With his new powers, he decided he would enslave and attack everyone that ever shunned him. As the world is now pretty much under the control of Archie, you, a nameless hero, will have to fight the forces of evil in order to break the bond that now enslaves many.
You’ll notice that the story is fairly kid-friendly and that it doesn’t have that much meat on its bones. The game starts off with a proper introduction, and each level has a short voiced intro to set the mood. Overall, the story is well-presented.
Graphics
The graphical style of the game is quite nice actually. You’ll be treated to many different areas in an iconic Minecraft style, which certainly looks great. The game itself has a fair amount of different sceneries to plow through, and even though everything is done in a voxel style, things look quite fun to explore, even if exploring is often quite useless. More on that later. Your hero character also changes when you give him new items, which is always nice. The enemy models are typical recycled Minecraft enemies, but the new isometric point of view is a nice touch.
Sound
Minecraft Dungeons has fairly decent sound design, as the music is somewhat captivating and wells up when the situation desires it. The sound effects are fairly standard Minecraft noises, which is of course nice that the developers kept it authentic. The narrative is also fully voiced, short as it may be.
Gameplay
Minecraft Dungeons is a simplified dungeon crawler along the lines of games such as Diablo III and Path of Exile. The game focuses on an entry-level difficulty, meaning things are quite simple and easy to get the hang of. From start to finish, you’ll plow through different levels, with a set amount of lives, clearing out the monsters that roam around in them. You have your trusty melee weapon, a ranged weapon and three possible artifacts that can help you best the forces of the evil Illager.
The game allows you to play with controller or keyboard and mouse, and as we tried the PC version, we were content with the keyboard and mouse setup. The game pretty much runs and plays like a Diablo clone, which isn’t a bad thing. You have your melee attacks, a ranged attack and three artifact slots that trigger abilities. As you level up, you’ll get enchantment points, which can upgrade your armor or weapons with specific abilities. When you get rid of said weapons or armor because you outgrew them, you can salvage these pieces and you’ll also get your enchantment points back. This is pretty much the game’s answer to not having a gear system, as every weapon and suit of armor has different effects you can choose from with your enchantment points. Some add HP, others add a certain effect that stuns enemies, while others do damage over time.
Even though the game allows you to play multiplayer, locally or online, you can easily solo this game in about four hours. There’s only one thing that feels a bit off in this game, and that’s exploring. Minecraft Dungeons throws you in different dungeons, which you can later replay at higher difficulties, but they’re all very linear, safe for a few side-routes. These small side-routes would have been nice to explore, if they had some shiny valuables at the end, but more than often you’ll just sidetrack to a small open clearing, simply wasting your time.
Conclusion
Minecraft Dungeons is actually a surprisingly amusing dungeon crawler. While the very simple gear and leveling system may not be for experienced dungeon dwellers, this game proves to be an ideal first experience for a younger audience, or those who have no experience with the genre. While this game will not win any Game of the Year awards anytime soon, it’s still an entertaining experience that is quite amusing throughout its short lifespan. Even though there is some endgame content to be found, this is quite redundant.
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