Minecraft Dungeons, a top-down dungeon crawler utilizing Minecraft’s established world and characters, was announced in Fall 2018. Information about this new title has been limited since that announcement, mostly consisting of reassurances that the game was still in development. Fast forward to 2020 and the anticipated spin-off is set to release on May 26th, 2020. Over the past few weeks, we’ve had the opportunity for some hands-on time with Minecraft Dungeons during the closed beta. This is where we got our first taste of the game. Now we’ve been playing the pre-release version of the game. Let’s breakdown why this new venture in the Minecraft franchise is exciting and how it differs from the core experience.
During our time playing, what really caught our interest was Minecraft‘s family-friendly adaptation of dungeon-crawling. I completed the game solo, then ventured forward utilizing both local and online co-op. I have to admit I’m a big fan of dungeon crawler games and when I hear there is one coming down the line, I’m normally excited to give the game a try (regardless of whether I enjoy the game or not). I’ll try to avoid spoiler material while describing the premise of the game.
Gameplay
During the opening cinematic, the main enemy of the game is the Arch Illager. The player learns how they came into power through the discovery of a mysterious item after being cast out of their village. The player is tasked with finding out if you are brave enough to defeat the Arch Illager where others have failed. You start by selecting your character from a variety of options–including Minecraft Steve himself. The game’s mechanics are like your typical dungeon crawler, offering varying adventure parties. The difficulty of each level of Minecraft Dungeons scales up according to your level and whether you have additional players; this may catch some unfamiliar dungeon crawlers off-guard due to the increased difficulty. During our early access preview, I joined another player and it scaled his world up to the point he started to have a difficult time due to my loading into his session. With the addition of players, the game scales the difficulty by adding more enemies who are more difficult to take down. Once you beat the game on the default mode, you unlock “adventure” mode which both increases the difficulty of the game and the value of the items you pick up during gameplay. There are a total of 10 levels shown on the game map, however, there are additional areas that can be unlocked under the right circumstances. There isn’t a set sequence to the levels, but some are locked until you complete the open areas.
Controls
The controls for Minecraft Dungeons allow you to have a range of abilities, weapons, and other items as most games of this genre do. It was pretty easy to pick up the controls, and of course you can choose which button deploys certain abilities or items. On the Windows 10 version, you can use the keyboard and mouse, or plug in a controller. The keyboard and mouse controls are customizable–including which is your dominant hand–which are always a plus on PC games. I will be interested to see how this game performs with the Xbox Adaptive Controller.
Audio/Visual
As far as the audio-visual aspect of Minecraft Dungeons, it rings true to other dungeon crawler games. The music cues help inform the experience of the level, changing to more threatening tones when you approach the boss battle. The background effects add to the atmosphere of each level, as the different locations have unique soundscapes. Being able to recognize these soundscapes will be an advantage later in the game. (HINT HINT) The lighting and scenery of each level are also appropriate for the location. For example, Creeper Woods obviously is set in the woods, you have to fight Creepers and Illagers, and it’s dark and creepy. Soggy Swamp, on the other hand, is wet and foggy with witches, zombies, and spiders. You’ll also see familiar sheep and cows (which you can slay if you wish). The mission selection map is very detailed, giving you a feel for each location, but also has animations that add to the Minecraft theme. Even the beta build had me replaying levels just so I could experience more time with the game.
Replay Value
Minecraft Dungeons may only take a few hours to beat if you’re set on grinding the levels on solo play. The local and online co-op play is where replay value is added since co-op play allows you to add up to 3 players. Since the levels scale up with co-op, each additional player makes the levels that much more challenging. As stated within the review, beating the game the first time unlocks another difficulty and higher-level items and enemies. Then co-op will add to that challenge as well. While I felt the game was great playing solo, the multiplayer aspect is where the replay value will come into play. Even revisiting levels may present items or areas you missed before.
My girlfriend Erin joined me on local co-op for the beta, here are her initial thoughts: Having not played the original Minecraft but watching Andrew play in the past, Minecraft Dungeons is a different experience. Where the original focused more on inspiring creativity, Minecraft Dungeons is more mission-based. The co-op adds the challenge of determining who should pick up dropped items (although some were specific to the player), and working together to form a strategy against the enemies you face in the game. The controls were fairly easy to pick up, even for someone who is not used to using an Xbox controller. Admittedly, I do have a habit of spamming attacks–novice as that may be. Despite this, I did manage to take out a few enemies and save Andrew from danger.
Thanks to the hands-on time I’ve had with the game just before release, I can tell this will be one game I will be enjoying with Erin along with friends who pick it up. For those interested in picking up Minecraft Dungeons, it will be released on May 26th, 2020 for Windows, Xbox One (plus Xbox Game Pass), Switch, and PS4. With a budget-friendly price of $19.99 for the Standard Edition, Minecraft Dungeons is a must-have addition to your game collection and great for the whole family. For those looking for a little extra content “out-of-the-box”, there is also the Hero Edition priced at $29.99 which will include the first 2 DLC packs when they are released.
A review code was provided by Microsoft/Minecraft for preview purposes. More information about Minecraft Dungeons can be found on the official website.
For more dungeon crawling, check out our review of Diablo III: Eternal Collection on Switch or the indie take on the genre with Torchlight II, also on Switch.
