The long wait is over, Minecraft update 1.8 is finally live. Cue the sound of a million pick-axes hitting the grind once again.
Up until this point Minecrat updates have been mostly back end stuff, fixing some of the weirder glitches and generally expanding the game with new and expertly complex mechanisms. This update, however, starts the shift from sandbox building game to something a lot more tangible.
The adventure update introduces a whole host of new and exciting changes. First and foremost the game now has an experience system, although this has no specific purpose right now the ability to level your character is more than reward enough. Combined with the experience system comes an incentive to actually kill those pesky creepers. Monsters will now drop experience orbs to help boost you through those levels, again there’s no purpose to this yet but it finally gives you a reason to venture out at night.
On the subject of monsters, the Adventure update has added new and creepier adversaries to be deathly afraid of. The Endermen, a monster that acts in much the same way as Dr. Who’s Weeping angels, adds a new dimension to monster hunting. Blink at one of these guys and you’re probably going to die.
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Joining these creepy individuals are the all new Cave Spiders and Silverfish.
If you are brave enough to go out at night and hunt down some of these devious creatures, you’ll be pleased to know that weapons can now deal critical hits, with a hit that’s landed whilst jumping always causing critical damage. If however you decide you need to run, there’s also good news! The update adds a sprint function which is activated by double tapping forward.
As any well-versed monster hunter will know, food is an important mechanic, and not to leave anything out notch has changed up how this works. Food is no longer an instant heal, instead it fills a food meter which will slowly heal you over time. Worried that you won’t have enough pork for those creeper-related emergences? Well fear no more, pork is stackable….and still tasty.
Lastly, and certainly not least. The game received an update to it’s world generation, allowing for more varied landscape design and more distinct area’s within the world. Players will be able to find hidden underground dungeons, abandoned mines and all new NPC villages.
To put it bluntly, if you liked Minecraft before then you’re going to love it now. All of these additions turn the game into something almost completely new and gives us a possible glimpse at what the console version might be like.
There’s still more updates to come before the official release, with update 1.9 already being detailed and planned. For the time being though, myself and the other 3.5 million users are off to discover hidden worlds and definitely not stare at the Endermen.
