Minecraft! It's stood the test of time, has become one of the most creative, expressive and collaborative games of the last decade, and continues to thrive in 2023.
We've been hands-on with Minecraft Legends over the last week thanks to Mojang Studios, Blackbird Interactive and Xbox ANZ, so let's jump right into our adventure and time spent in the Overworld. Whether you are a veteran Minecraft builder or you have never played the games, Minecraft Legends is a whole new experience here to change almost everything you already know, making it the perfect entry point for fans, new and old. The game remains true to its crafting, exploration and survival roots while adding and blending action and strategy elements, creating a new experience in a familiar world. When you first load into the game, there's a small intro trailer showing some familiar characters enjoying a beautiful day, only to be interrupted by a massive Piglin portal opening into Overworld, spewing out all sorts of enemies that start attacking anything in sight and setting the world on fire, PURE CHAOS!
Diving straight into Campaign mode, the intro resumes where it left off just after the invasion begins. You are introduced to 'The Hosts', essentially the Overworld caretakers, Action, Foresight and Knowledge. This is where your adventure begins as The Hosts travel from the Overworld to find you in a standard Minecraft game, busily pickaxing away only to recruit you in hopes of saving the lands from the Piglin invasions. (This perfectly bridges the original Minecraft world into Minecraft Legends; honestly, it's so well done that it gave me chills).
Now your adventure begins, as you learn about the controls, your mount, the new tools at your disposal and how to combat the Piglins and send them back where they came from. Want to pickaxe that tree? NOPE. Want to build a few blocks over there? NOPE. Instead, gathering and building are more like an RTS game (think Red Alert, Age of Empires etc.), where you command harvesters to gather resources for you and manage builds from preselections expanding your base and increasing your army to take on the Piglins. As you build up your army, you will command them to follow you, attack, and even break down walls and buildings as you battle and take over the Piglin invasion camps appearing on the world map to regain control of the Overworld.
You'll find many familiar faces helping you along the way, some very unexpected, and the campaign has co-op in case you want a friend to jump in and help. Speaking of co-op, the game features an extensive PvP mode allowing you to challenge friends and take out the name of Minecraft Legends Champion. While we didn't get a chance to get hands-on with this mode, we've seen it in action, and it looks to be endless fun, providing long-term replay value and endless fun. Did we mention the game is available on all major platforms and supports cross-platform play from day one?
Overall, Minecraft Legends has achieved something amazing: creating a completely new experience in a long-standing world, combining different genres, taking key points everyone loves so much from the original and translating or adapting them to fit so naturally within a whole new one experience.
We've had a blast playing this, and whether you are a fan of the original Minecraft or not, this is one of those games we think everyone should play.
For more info and to pre-order Minecraft Legends, click here.
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