The upcoming action strategy game Minecraft Legends combines the minds of Mojang Studios and Blackbird Interactive to create a new, unique experience set in the Minecraft universe. Minecraft Legends looks to have the most in common with RTS games like StarCraft or Age of Empires, but it adds a few key gameplay elements that help it stand out. In a genre that typically strives for balance in its maps, factions, and units, Minecraft Legends separates itself from the competition with its procedurally-generated maps.
No matter whether it's an FPS, MMO, or RTS, most multiplayer maps are carefully designed to ensure they are balanced for all players. While this allows players to become experts at each map, it can also encourage players to use the same positions or strategies between matches. Since one of Minecraft's core elements is its procedurally-generated worlds, it only makes sense for Minecraft Legends to bring them into its multiplayer as well. Still, this could prove to be a feature that either helps or hurts Minecraft Legends in several ways.
Minecraft Legends Offers a Unique Take On PvP
In Minecraft Legends' PvP, two teams of four work together to collect resources, build structures, and amass armies to take down enemy bases. Rather than the traditional isometric camera angle of other RTS games, Minecraft Legends utilizes a third-person action perspective. This allows players to ride around on mounts as they survey the battlefield, fortify their base, and command their units. Strategies can likely go in dozens -- if not hundreds -- of different directions, but the procedurally-generated maps could add a whole new dimension to matches.
The campaign of Minecraft Legends will feature procedurally-generated worlds, so no two experiences will be the same. Bringing this feature into its 4v4 competitive multiplayer could have the same effect, ensuring players continue to have new experiences each time they play. There appears to be a lot that players will need to keep track of at once. With piglin enemies from the single-player mode also making an appearance in PvP, the potential for chaos is high.
Minecraft Legends' gameplay appears to offer a ton of depth, so depending on how a map is generated, environments could have a drastic impact on how players form their strategies. Elevation in particular could be a huge factor in how players set up their bases or where they decide to build certain structures. Players will fill certain roles for their team during PvP, so whether they are resource gathering, scouting, or building, all these play styles can be affected by how the environment is generated. Resources are even shared among all players on a team, so teamwork and coordination are key.
One common problem in many highly competitive multiplayer games like Counter-Strike or StarCraft face is the feeling of repetition between matches. Certain powerful strategies or weapons will often become popular and dominate the competitive scene, leading to metas that players replicate between matches. In tournaments, these strategies are typically mixed up enough that teams remain unpredictable. However, regular PvP often sees these strategies repeated and a majority of players end up facing the same strategies over and over again. Not knowing the layout of each map could drastically reduce this.
While procedurally-generated maps can help matches play differently each time, there is one major potential downside to this feature. Since multiplayer maps are usually meant to be as balanced as possible, random maps could open the door to players having issues with fairness. If one team has their base on top of a hill and the other's is in a valley, there's likely a major disadvantage to being on the low ground. If Mojang can ensure environments will not allow for these types of situations, then procedurally-generated maps may turn out to be a feature that helps keep the game popular for years to come.
Minecraft Legends releases on April 18, 2023, for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.