Minecraft, one of the most popular game in the world finally came to PS3 in 2013. It is a creation game where you can build to your heart's content. Put simply, think of Lego but in a virtual form with no limitations. Perhaps it is ironic that as gaming has come so far in terms of graphics but Minecraft has a simple blocky aesthetic. It is reminiscent of the 8-bit and 16-bit era with its seemingly low resolution blocks. Graphics is not Minecraft's focus and it works. Building is really easy as you just need to select your block, point to where you want to put it and then stack it. The game is normally in first-person but you can play in third-person view as well. Third-person is a bit trickier as the crosshair which dictates where you are aiming is right in the middle of your avatar so it's harder to aim into the distance. Watch out for motion sickness though. If you do feel the effects, be sure to turn off the camera bobbing as that will help eliminate the discomfort, even in third-person view.
Minecraft's gameplay isn't only building, it is basically a survival game as you have a health and stamina bar. You need to find food and also go around the world to mine for items. Buildable items are in blocks and these don't come free. You will need to scour the world and go deep underground to find your materials and refine them into proper blocks. Food and equipment are depicted as pixilised versions and this is what makes it difficult for newcomers. Items are hard to distinguish sometimes; especially when you're looking for a particular material and you can't tell the difference between a piece of cobblestone or a piece of granite. There is a wide variety of different types of blocksthat you can use to build but as you're building things one block at a time, it will take a while in order to get things done. You will need a bit of patience and planning before you can build that grand scale project you've always dreamed of. There is an involved crafting system. As you find raw materials in the world, you will need to collect ingredients to create more complex items such as crafting tables and glass.
The crafting is interesting and intuitive as the recipes are preloaded. In the menu, you just select the item you want and it'll show you what ingredients you will need. The ingredients makes sense in terms of what you are crafting such as wood into planks, sand into glass when used with a furnace, and raw meat into cooked meat. As you're scouting for more materials, the world is not a friendly place since enemies roam the environment. However, most of them only spawn at night or in dark places, which makes it a bit scarier in the beginning. You can craft weapons and armor to defend yourself. The rudimentary battle system involves just one button to swing your weapon as you aim it towards the enemies and it can be detracting to the experience. If you die, you will lose every item you're currently holding so the stakes are high. Therefore, while exploring underground, you need to make the call on whether to play it safe and head back or risk it for more items. You can turn off enemies though if you just want the peace and quiet for creation. As briefly mentioned, there is a day/night cycle, each portion lasting ten minutes. There are weather effects such as rain and lightning. Whenever you begin a new game, the environment is randomized with different terrains although you can put in a specific seed.
The open nature of Minecraft can be overwhelming. There's no story to speak of although there is a boss battle. There is heaps of freedom right from the get go and even the tutorial lets you go off to do whatever you want very soon. The Trophies help a lot in getting the player started on things to do and discover. As you slowly get used to the mechanics and how everything works, it gets more addictive. The PS3 version has a small-ish world, especially compared to the PC and PS4 versions. It is basically on an island and it takes a short time going from edge to edge. Minecraft has local splitscreen multiplayer for up to four people as well as online multiplayer. There is also an online battle mode. Overall, Minecraft is as entertaining as you want it to be. While it can feel boring in the beginning there is also a lot of nuances and even if you're not into the building, you can treat this as a survival game and still glean fun from it.
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