To Survive in this World

14 November, 2022

You can survive in hostile environments, make all kinds of items, or just build a huge pink woolly castle if you want.

There are two modes to Minecraft: Survival and Creative. Survival is where you have to collect the resources yourself to survive the night-time monsters in Minecraft. Creative allows you to have unlimited blocks. You can craft anything you want to survive in this world, including minecarts, jukeboxes, bread, and swords.

It is difficult to get fully immersed in a game that requires you to constantly check the internet for crafting recipes. There is no guide in the game. Another issue is the recent inclusion of potions or enchantments. These seem very tinkering, work inconsistently and are largely pointless. Minecraft was designed to receive free updates that added new features as it developed. This was the way it worked until its full release. These updates will now be “expansion packs”, which can only been purchased through payment, I fear. Many of these updates have not been worth the cost, so it is unlikely that this will make the game less enjoyable. The game's ending is another problem. It seems unplanned and the game's difficulty level is high at this point.

These are just a few of the many positive aspects to this game. One is the game's graphics. This means that most computers can apply textures easily and allows for customization. This can be seen in the large number of texture packs and mods available for the game. This is a problem because mods cannot be implemented in-game. Players must have technical knowledge to make them work.

There is also a multiplayer option through the ability to join friends server (a program can be downloaded from Minecraft's site) and to craft, mine, and build with your friends. The only way to join a server, however, is to enter your ip address. Even though the game saves the server, it is still frustrating that you can't see a list with available servers to join. Multiplayer Minecraft is not compatible with some aspects of the single-player game. This is a huge problem for anyone who wants to share Minecraft's full potential.

I think Minecraft is a great game, with charming graphics and addictive gameplay. However, the many flaws it still has makes it seem like it should have been in beta for a longer time to fix some of the bugs and improve the game's features. With all these points in mind, I give Minecraft 7 out of 10. I hope that this review won't be as relevant in a few months due to any updates.