Minecraftcan perhaps be best described as a juggernaut in the industry, pulling in hundreds of millions of players every year. That success has led to a fewspin-offs likeMinecraft: Story Mode, Minecraft Earth, Minecraft Dungeons, and the upcomingMinecraft Legends, all while providing support, new updates, and more to the core game. Unfortunately, most of these spin-offs have paled in comparison to the original, and onlyMinecraft Dungeonsis currently available. WhenMinecraft Legendsreleases next month, it could easily be the exception to that rule though.
Minecraft Legendspairs the beloved blocky graphics, procedural generation, and crafting elements with core action and RTS gameplay. In it, theMinecraftuniverse is being invaded by Piglins from the Nether, with the player utilizing their building powers, mobs, and various allies to protect the Overworld. During a recent preview event, Game Rant was able to play about two hours ofMinecraft Legends, including an hour of the campaign and a little less than that in PVP.
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As far as the campaign goes, this saw us defending villages from Piglin onslaughts, taking the fight to them atPiglin Outposts, and culminating in a major battle against the Night Beacon Base, which featured a Portal and various Piglins and enemies spewing out of it. It was the first hour of the campaign, as well as the tutorial, so nothing here was really challenging. It did showcase a nice variety in tactics and strategies though, with Mojang devs telling us that they get much more complex the further players go in the story. In these missions, we attacked Piglins that had already attacked a village and defend the central well of another village from waves of Piglins. To take out Piglin Outposts, we had to use ourMinecraft Legendsmobsto destroy their structures like Piglin Pits and Blaze Rod Tower Outposts, break through Gated Outposts, and pillage other defenses like Nether Spreader.
What players will quickly learn in the moment-to-moment gameplay is how to lead their mobs, which mobs are the most effective, and when to put their leader into the match. For example, using one’sDiamond Swordto attack is useful in protecting a player’s own mobs, clearing out enemies as mobs work to dismantle structures. Players cannot directly damage enemy structures themselves with the sword, meaning selecting the right mob is important. Players start with two: Cobblestone Golems which excel at damaging structures and Plank Golems which are effectively ranged defenses. Alongside structures like Arrow Towers, Plank Golems excel in defending other mobs and the player from harm. Other Mobs we used throughout our gameplay included Mossy Golems, which are healers; Grindstone Golems, which are bigger, stronger mobs similar to Cobblestone Golems; and a few others during PVP.
When defending against Piglins and other enemies (or players, in the case ofMinecraft Legends' PVP), building structures can go a long way. There are simple defenses like Walls and Arrow Towers that players can build, all the way up to a powerful Redstone Launcher. But over time, players are introduced to ways to enhance these structures. There are ways, for example, to turn wooden Walls to stone, have the Arrow Towers shoot exploding arrows at further distances, and otherwise create a certain synergy with other strategies. Some strategy games struggle to find a balance between casual or hardcore RTS fans, while some cater to one side or the other.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hopeis a good example of the former, whileCivilization 6really finds its home in the hardcore fanbase.Minecraft Legends' probably skews toward more casual RTS fans, but that’s not to say it doesn’t walk that balanced line sometimes. The layers of strategies sometimes at play go a long way in making sureMinecraft Legendsappeals to just about any action/strategy-loving fan of the franchise itself.
The final battle we did, against the Night Beacon Base, was a prime example of this. Not only did this battle make the game nighttime and introduce the Overworld “waking up,” which saw us ally withMinecraft’s Creepers, Skeletons, and other mobs, but it pushed every strategy we had to the limit. There was a choke point entryway we could skirt around if we so chose, plenty of defenses up front for us to puncture, and plenty of mobs in between us and the Portal. This was the introduction of some truly powerful mobs, meaning we had to learn on the fly while tackling the biggest challenge yet.
Knowing when to strike at the Portal, protect our own mobs and clear out others, or take out defenses that were ravaging our followers saw us constantly shifting and accommodating our strategies. In the end, constantly revisiting the spawners and diving straight into it, pushing straight to the Portal won out, but it was hardfought, to say the least. Afterward, the campaign opens up to allow players to take on other “hordes” like the Horde of the Hunt and the Horde of the Spore fromthe Netherscattered around the map, though what happens beyond that is still unknown.
What’s really nice about this isMinecraft Legends' procedural generation. One dev told us that, while the layout of Outposts largely remains the same, the Overworld is procedurally generated in every new campaign, in every PVP match, and more. That really lets all of these key elements shine, without necessarily growing dull. One well-off Diamond spawn in PVP or Campaign won’t be there in the next match. Indeed, while sometimes procedural generation simply adds random factors to a game, here it really takes things up a level. The base and strategic gameplay truly shine in all this, but there was one drawback that left us with a little concern.
In Minecraft, there is a very granular approach to resource generation, but that obviously wouldn’t work in a game like this. Instead, players are able to deploy a certain number of Allays to mine wood, stone, iron, and other resources. Players are still required to find a lot of these, as well as other resources, all while exploring the sandbox ofMinecraft Legends. This means that, while players are encouraged to explore and stumble across coal, diamonds, and other resources (once players can use those), the resource generation is rather passive. Players find these, deploy one ofMinecraft Legends' Allays, and move on. It loses a little flare here, though it’s hardly a dealbreaker for its otherwise intensive strategy gameplay.
In fact, discovering resources and resource generation may be someone’s favorite part of the game due to the relaxed nature of the campaign. It’s not as relaxed in PVP, though, which doesn’t feature any classes or things like that. Another dev told us by not assigning these, players are able to respond more on the fly and fill roles they prefer. Finding resources is something everyone can do on a team, though it may be easier to have one or two dedicated to this early on. Someone who enjoys building may want to focus on defending the base and building forward bases as players prepare to strike at their opponents. Others who enjoy action andcombat inMinecraft Legendsmay want to seek our mounts, focus on getting new mobs, and poking at/assaulting the enemy base.
Mojang devs explained that the design approach was “two matches and then lunch,” meaning a match takes about twenty or so minutes and players could play one or two and then take a break. It should be noted that, especially the first match, can take longer than this. During our PVP session, we decided to focus on building structures and defending the base. We created a maze-like contraption of walls, built masonries to turn those into stone, crafted Arrow towers and other defenses, and fought off enemy attacks on our base. Defending it and then patching any breaches was quite thrilling, and our defenses seemed to hold up for a good while.
However, the enemy team eventually built a Redstone Launcher, had strong defenses around it, and was able to damage the core well of our base, bypassing our structures. A Mojang dev later told us that there were counters, Protector Towers that could put up a fight against the Launcher, but we had lost before we learned this. Overall, it was a lot of fun and could be borderline addicting for fans. It pushed us to use every strategy we learned in the campaign, learn others on the fly, work with our allies, and keep an eye on our competition.
There is also aPvEvP element to consider inMinecraft Legends. Not only do players have to deal with others attacking their base, but the Piglins will periodically attack. Their frequency and strength depend on a number of factors, such as how aggressive players are in taking out their outposts. Players are able to hit these to gather other important resources, but the Piglins will hit back. It’s not so much a distraction or defining element of the gameplay, based on what we experienced, as it is just another strategic factor. For many, PVP is going to be the game’s defining element, as it’s easy to imagine how this could never get old.
Not to mention,Minecraft Legendswill be available on Xbox and PC Game Passat launch. Multiplayer games tend to do well on subscription services, and a first-party multiplayer game tied to a super successful and beloved IP seems like another strategy for success.
Minecraft Legendsreleases on April 18 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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