The most thinking I’ve ever done in Minecraft was doing Redstone tutorials and note-block songs. With an army now at my disposal, it feels like I’m playing X-COM. Well, not exactly, but you know what I’m trying to say.
Minecraft Legends isn’t your traditional Minecraft experience. In fact, it’s far from it. Minecraft Legends is an action-strategy game where the Piglins’ Nether corruption is spreading across the Overworld, scorching everything it touches. Gamers will plan their strategy and face the Piglins head-on in various battles strategic battles. The twist here is that players can become allies and control familiar mobs from the Minecraft franchise.
What I really do like about the single-player aspect of Minecraft Legends is its simplicity. While the 10-minute tutorial holds your hand, afterward, the tools at your disposal are pretty much laid out for you with no strings attached. Each mob has its own assigned roles that players can recruit. You have Golems that are great for destroying structures, there are mossy rock monsters that can heal allies, and other units with their roles layid out. Buildings provide additional support and can be placed however players wish. Build your army to wipe the Piglin army off of the map. As I said, it’s simple.
The one downside I have with this simplicity is how units can’t be separated into mixed groups. You either control the whole army or nothing. I won’t say you can’t spawn in the units, send them to fight, run back, and then grab your desired units but that just isn’t seamless. Plus by the time you come back, they’re probably already dead. Sure in story mode the gears in your head will be turning but switch over to multiplayer and you’ll feel like you’re leading a revolution. I can’t emphasize this enough when I say that communication is key in PVP.
In Minecraft Legends, the PVP experience is cross-platform. Players will be able to party up with eight players, split into two teams. Each of the teams is tasked with the goal to capture and destroy their opponent’s base. What makes this so special is the fact that base defense relies on how each team builds it within their group making communication a key aspect. This includes allocating and dividing up shared resources, and dictating who gets to control the available units, what upgrades to build or even come up with a plan of attack. Without communication, there’s a slim chance of success. Multiplayer is where Minecraft Legends shines the most. While on the surface it seems so simple and clean, underneath it’s a tangled web of different tactics and ideas that when pulled off correctly becomes ever so satisfying. Each PVP area is randomly generated, meaning every match will be a new one to experience though of course mobs will still be in the world.
Even as a spinoff Minecraft Legends manages to keep its traditional ideals even when converted to an Action Strategy title. The disconnect I could see players having is as the main character we’re not having much of a role in the fight. Now I know the plot says you’re the only hope, the saviour and yeah, somebody has to control the army but, in game, your units are doing the heavy lifting. Armed with a sword and a mount your either slice up Piglins your armies missed or you’re spending time watching your allies destroy structures. It would have been cool if the main character had some abilities that can potentially change the tide of battle or played any active role. In multiplayer this could change as there are other commanders to fight but this isn’t the case in single player.
Conclusion
The visuals are amazing, the game is simple and it has a heart, that I can say about Minecraft Legends. There are things that could’ve been done better and it’s not as complex as the Civilization games – or any strategy game for that matter – but Mojang and Blackbird Interactive get my respect for venturing off into the unknown and finding a treasure like this.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox One review code, using an Xbox Series S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
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