So Done with Minecraft and the Return of the Halo Marathon

On 05/22/2017 at 10:16 PM by KnightDriver

I've finally had enough of Minecraft. I'm totally sick of the incredibly annoying enemy griefing in this game. It's unbelievable. You gather resources for hours just to lose it all when a Creeper appears in the worst possible place at the worst possible time. Or, like today, when I went into The Nether very cautiously to scout for the Fortress, found it, and on the way back was absolutely bombarded by mysteriously appearing Ghasts shooting at the fastest rate I've ever experienced. It's total B.S., and in my mind, completely unfair game design. It's like, remember those monster closets game devs used by in the 90s? You'd pass through an empty room thinking your six was safe when suddenly you would be attacked from behind by a hoard of enemies that seemed to appear for no good reason and in no explainable way. That's Minecraft in survival mode.

There are also holes in the ground, often in places you are least likely to look, or where they are completely covered by vegetation or around a blind corner in a cave. You fall in, and often die in a lava pit or just a very deep hole. You lose your XP and all your hard won gear.

I think it's a problem with randomly generated worlds and enemies. It's often impossible to make plans that work, unless you are super careful about everything, and I, do not like to play that way. Even when I'm careful, I get griefed. The world is impossible to predict. I guess that's part of its charm, but it's also what makes it so incredibly frustrating.

So I went back to my Halo marathon and picked up where I left off, Halo: Spartan Assault. This twin-stick shooter is beautiful and I'm beginning to like the gameplay a bit more. I'm about 2/3rd done. The story reminds me strongly of Halo Wars. The Covenant have some Forerunner doomsday device and you have to take it away from them and deactivate it. That sentence right there might just describe every single Halo story, now I think of it. Anyway, it's a fun short game that I'll whip through and move on to the Halo 4: Spartan Ops missions before tackling Halo 5.

Oh, and maybe I'll get back to Prey next weekend too.

Super Step Contributing Writer

05/22/2017 at 11:11 PM

So Minecraft on survival mode is just real life

KnightDriver

05/22/2017 at 11:18 PM

I sometimes think it's less predictable than real life, but then I think of the last three months for me, and I'm seeing the similarity.

I tied to think of what real people would do in the Minecraft world and they would probably be super cautious, build giant walls to keep the undead mobs out and mark or fill in every single pit. Then they'd build roads everywhere and start a militia to shoot creepers to extinction. I sometimes think of doing similar things but they are so labor intensive. It's just too boring to do in a game. I guess I don't like sim experiences all that much even though they intrigue me in concept.

05/22/2017 at 11:56 PM

Yeah, I can't even get into sim racing games ... They make me wonder if I should even have a license.

05/25/2017 at 07:05 PM

Racing sims really bug me. Someone mentioned Forza Horizon was more of an arcade racer, so now I'm super interested.

05/25/2017 at 07:38 PM

Oh yeah, that one looks great. I think it is still a sim though, just a bit more forgiving so it's not totally one or the other. I haven't played it though, so I could be wrong.

05/25/2017 at 08:11 PM

I have the first one from a freebie Games with Gold thing. I'm going to try it when I stop being depressed.

Halochief90

05/23/2017 at 05:22 AM

The Halo 4: Spartan Ops missions get repetitive really fast. Playing on the same levels over and over with boring enemy placement is not very fun. If you're playing co-op you'll probably enjoy them more though.

05/25/2017 at 07:04 PM

My friend Mark doesn't like Halo 4, so I'll probably have to go it alone or with randos. I'm there mostly for whatever story is told, though. I'll stay long enough for that then maybe check out multiplayer a little bit, at least until I get tired of being abused.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

05/24/2017 at 06:54 PM

I don't think I ever played Spartan Assault.

05/25/2017 at 06:49 PM

It was first for tablets and then it came to Xbox 360 and XBO. I believe it was a freebie with Games with Gold for XBO. I ended up with both versions. There was a sequel too in the same twin-stick-shooter style but only came out for tablets.

daftman

05/27/2017 at 10:14 PM

I think to really enjoy Minecraft (and I say this as someone who has never played it) you have to not care about goals much. Just go in and dick around in the world and not care too much what you get. Or be super slow and cautious, like you said, which doesn't sound very fun to me.

Or recreate the Enterprise. Whatever.

05/27/2017 at 10:34 PM

I surprised myself at not being interested in just creating stuff. I thought I'd be all over that but it actually bores me. I'm much more into making my own goals. Today I took it slow and careful and did amazingly well. It wasn't so careful as to bother me though. I did die once fighting a creeper and I had some epic archer battles with Ghasts in the Nether. Lots of excitement, just watch your health and be prepared.

goaztecs

05/30/2017 at 12:34 PM

Wait you're finished with Minecraft? Also yeah I hate that move by games, and I would have done the same thing if I were in your shoes.

05/30/2017 at 07:38 PM

Not quite. I started a world with a long term goal in mind thinking I'd just go back to it here and there in between other games. Ended up playing it exclusively again on Monday. I don't think I'll get away from it until these last two achievements are done. I'm really close to both of them now.

PixlBit