There has been few games in the gaming world as big or popular as Minecraft. After five years and millions of copies sold, the game stands as not only one of the greatest success stories in the history of the medium, it's also proof that one man, an idea, and a computer can give birth to a gaming phenomenon without the help of a major company. After numerous version on all kinds of platforms, the game has finally arrived on the PS4. So how is it? Let's find out!

So What Is Minecraft?

Minecraft, for the five of you out there who's never heard of it, is a basically a giant game of Legos. Everything is made of blocks, from the environment to the animals and enemies. Hell, even you as the nameless protagonist is a collection of blocks. The objective of the game is to basically gather all kinds of materials, ranging from rocks and metals like iron to precious elements like gold or diamonds. You take them and you basically build an entire world just to your liking. It's easy and quite addictive, so it's no surprise that audiences of all ages have fallen in love with Minecraft. It's spawned toys, clothing, countless Let's Plays and one of the most awkward videos I've ever seen in my life. I myself got hooked into the game, it wasn't uncommon to play the game for hours just to find diamonds deep in the earth.

So What's Special About This Version?

Well as it stands, this, along with the Xbox One version, is the biggest and best performing console version of the game to date. The first thing I noticed as I fired up the game was the draw distance. The draw distance was quite poor in the previous generation's version, with a great number of pop up occurring due to the limitations of the hardware. Here, I can see much farther into the distance than I could before, giving the game a more majestic feeling. The graphics, while still utilizing the game's now famous pixelated art style, look much sharper and cleaner than they did in the previous generation. So overall, the visual front is much improved and is an overall much better presentation that before.

Gameplay-wise, nothing is really changed here. It's still the same old tried and true Minecraft gameplay that's easy to pick up and play, so nothing new to report on that front.

Okay, So Is There Anything Wrong With It?

Well, kinda. While the game itself hasn't really changed, there's some things that are a little irritating. The game's soundtrack is unusually loud in this one, often drowning the sound effects in the game. While this isn't a huge problem, it does get irritating when you're doing your thing and you don't hear the hiss of a Creeper sneaking up behind you, only for it to self-detonate and ruin your hard work. Speaking of Creepers, there's an unusual amount of enemy spawnings in this game that tend to show up when you least expect it. I can recall a time when I ran into at least five Creepers, one after the other, as I was trying to reach back up to the surface in my mine in rapid succession. While enemies appearing out of nowhere is a common thing in Minecraft, it's a bit odd they tend to do so in frequently as you explored your world, often in groups of two or three and containing at least one Creeper.

Also, the trophies for this game are impossibly easy to obtain. One trophy is awarded to you just for opening up your inventory. No, I did not make that up. Others range from making a tool, punching a block of wood out a tree, cooking a pork chop, or just killing a monster. I get that a lot of children play this game but come on now. Why not just give a trophy for turning the game on, it'd fit right in with the rest of them. However, it's an stupid easy way to boost your trophy level so it's good for something at least. Aside from that, it's mostly just random little bugs that appear here and there.

Alright, so is it worth my time and money?

Yes. For only twenty dollars, or five if you have a copy of the PS3 version, you can have one of the biggest games you can play on the PS4 to date. Don't let the file size fool you, there's a lot of game to be played here and you could honestly play this thing forever if you wanted to. If you want something to kill a lot of time with or just to fulfill your desire to make a solid gold house, this game is right up your alley.

Verdict: Buy It