Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition Review

Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition Review:

Be sure to check out our Minecraft Merchandise Showcase! and our review of Minecraft for PC

Single Player: Yes
Multiplayer: 4 player splitscreen (8 player online)

NOTE: splitscreen play requires an HD TV with a component or HDMI cable is required

Game Play

Minecraft for the Xbox 360 is very much similiar to the PC version of Minecraft with some modifications for the console. At the time of this writing, the 360 version is a few updates behind the current PC version, but according to news found on the internet and good sources, eventually the two versions will be caught up to each other.

  The crafting system for the 360 version is a bit different from what you might expect on the PC version. The crafting system for the 360 offers a more streamlined expierence, and you do not need to memorize the creation of items, as it will allow you to instantly craft the item, provided you have the materials. The items for crafting are seperated into appropriate categories, like building blocks, armor, tools, ect, and I really enjoy how it makes it easy to craft what you need, and get right back into play.  Also, a new edition is the ability to press the Y button to instantly move items from your inventory to your equipped bar, and moving between items in that bar is done by using the RB and LB buttons.

  The game also features a Tutorial Level in which you can learn how to play the game entirely, or learn how to play the 360 version if you need a refresher course. This tutorial level also has examples and offers you plenty of items to play with stuff like redstone, minecarts, boats, and more. In my experience it offers you alot of things to play with and teaches you alot if you are new to certain things.

  You don't need a server or client seperate version either, the world you create, you can invite your friends and set up who can join your games. Another setup for the 360 version, is that you can set up the autosave intervals from 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and so forth.

The size of the map is different from the PC version, as currently the map size is only one map and not infinite. It is currently unknown if the map will be larger or maybe infinite, but the map you are given is quite large to do what you need to do in your game, and I doubt you will run into any shortages (Map size 862x862 blocks). Speaking of a map, another difference is on the 360 version you begin the game with a map so you can beginning mapping out your world.

 Another change is the skins, unlike the PC version who you can use image files to customize your avatar, in the  360 version, they sell skin packs to download which is not expensive, but still require a purchase to get more skins to change into.



 Overall, Minecraft for the Xbox 360 is an enjoyable game and as close to the PC version as it can be, while offering some better tweaks and the controls for the game work fine for the 360 version, and while most ports can have their share of problems, the Minecraft 360 version is a very well constructed port and I have not have any known problems with it.