Minecraft Xbox One Edition - Review

It has been sometime since Minecraft was first released for public consumption on PC and in that time the game has grown both in scope and detail, but when it made the jump to consoles a while back, it felt like they took major steps back.

When the new Xbox One version of the game was announced, people were hoping that this version of Minecraft would bring things closer to the PC counterpart,  which thankfully they have done just that. While the game is does not feature all the latest additions to the PC game, the Xbox One version is perhaps the definitive console version of Minecraft. Players will be happy to note that what features existed in the Xbox 360 release are still present in this is iteration.

The biggest change to the game on the new machine is the size of the world, coming in at 36 times the size of the Xbox 360 version, players have now an almost unlimited canvas on which to create their masterpieces. As players should know, the worlds are randomly generated and you start in a random point with nothing, causing you to explore the world to find resources. The first 10 minutes of the game will be most stressful as you work to locate food and other necessities before night falls and the creatures come out. After the first hour of the game, when you should have some serious resources, night time is far less scary, but by no means is it any less dangerous.

People make the mistake quite often that Minecraft has no real point, its just digital Lego and should you build in creative mode that is quite true. However survival mode is where the game has the most replayability, with each new game offering up variations to the core experience based on the world that is created. The game features a realm called the Nether, which people will see in videos quite often, but may never experience in person. The Nether is a dangerous place, filled with creatures that will attack you at will, there is no day or night cycle, so players need to be careful should they venture there.

Of course going solo is an option, but with the power of the Xbox One at their disposal, the team at 4J Studios have included an impressive 4 player splitscreen mode, which means you and your friends can sit and enjoy a local experience, but should your tastes reach the online realm, the game supports 8 players online. With 8 players running around the same world, it can feel small but it is only a minor feeling. Making your world online is as simple as selecting the option in the menu before you load into your world.

The best feature that gamers can look forward to is the upgrade option, if you own a digital or physical copy of the Xbox 360 game, you can upgrade to the new Xbox One version for a small fee and the cherry on top of that is all the content, texture packs for the worlds and player skins will also be available to you in the new version. Even more good news is all your previously built worlds can transfer across, but once you send it to the new version it wont be able to go back.

Minecraft Xbox One Edition is the most refined console experience out there and outside of the PC version it is the purest Minecraft experience you can have. While PC gamers will be letdown by the lack of mods and options, for everyone else getting this game is a no brainer.

The Score

9.0

Review code provided by Xbox Game Studios

The Pros

+A fantastic experience, bringing the full PC experience to console

+Playing online with friends makes the entire game feel larger

The Cons

-The art style still takes some getting used to

-Can take time to understand how the controls work