Minecraft is taking the real-time action strategy route in the upcoming Legends. After seeing the game in action during a Gamescom 2022 presentation, I’m sure Minecraft fans and fans of the overall genre will definitely have a lot of fun with it. Want to learn more? Let’s dive in!
Rise hero
In Minecraft Legends, you take control over a hero and his horse. It’s your task to stop the enemy Piglin army from advancing any further into your realm. The Piglin army is a true terror for all of the natural inhabitants and it’s up to you to stop the enemy from creating more strongholds. It’s a huge task to achieve on your own but luckily, our hero is far from alone. By creating specific buildings, our hero can call for help from a wide variety of Minecraft characters. These will form his army, similar to what games like Pikmin or Overlord do. You’re basically the commander of your army and they follow you everywhere you go.
Since the Piglin is your main enemy, you’ll be surprised by the other inhabitants of your world. Did you know that Zombies can survive in the sun if they wear hats? Well, apparently they can, in Minecraft Legends the Zombies are harmless farmers who are on your side since the Piglin army is attacking them too. The friend of your enemy and so on… During the demonstration I loved how clean and crisp the world of Legends looks like. It’s an open world to explore with hidden details everywhere you look. It’s great to see that the team really did their absolute best to create something worth remembering. The graphics really pop during the cutscenes too, scenes that are both hilarious and gorgeous by the way. But enough about the lore and style, how does this new entry in the franchise play?
Take down the strongholds
The goal of Minecraft Legends is to take down all the strongholds that are scattered all over the place. Each stronghold has its weaponry and layout so you better do some scouting before you Leroy Jenkins the place. In our demonstration, the team decided to go take a look on top of a hill. A smart move since we could see the different defenses of the strongholds and potential weaknesses. Instead of going for a frontal attack, we decided to use a side entrance. Our hero doesn’t have to fight on his own of course, so before we attacked, we created some special buildings that will give us some extra troops. Although Minecraft is known for its block-by-block building mechanics, creating these special buildings happens with just one push of the button. No need to build it block by block, it’s pre-made for you, you just need to drop it somewhere safe. Don’t worry, the buildings all fit the Minecraft style perfectly so they won’t mess up the fun aesthetics.
Once we created our small loyal army, it was time to attack. Taking down the stronghold was a combination of defeating enemies and crucial buildings powering their stronghold. For the sake of the demo, it was made a bit easier to win the match but we got the idea of how it worked. Commanding your troops around seems to work very precisely and the different powers of the army add an extra layer of strategy over it. There’s a lot of planning but it all still seems fun and addictive to play. I can’t wait to try this one for myself as it reminded me of Pikmin and I’ve been wanting a game like that for quite some time now.
Early conclusion:
Minecraft Legends offers a different take on the franchise but it’s clear the developers are creating this with a lot of respect and love for the Minecraft lore. The real-time action strategy route looks good on Minecraft and I can’t wait to play it myself!
