Many hostile mobs in Minecraft can spook players, but the latest addition to the game has been expressly designed to leave players terrified. Part of the Bundles of Bravery update, the pale garden biome and its hostile mob, the creaking, aim to terrify gamers. It may yet deliver, since Minecraft has proved it’s capable of scaring players before.
Though gamers quickly become acclimated to the many zombies, skeletons, creepers, and spiders in Minecraft when they first play the game, the most terrifying hostile mobs tend to stick to biomes in caves, the Nether, or the End. This sets the pale garden biome apart from these frighteningly themed regions. The pale garden is explicitly an Overworld biome, with its hostile mob roaming above ground rather than in caves. The creaking also cannot be found in any other biome and only roams at night or in thunderstorms, similar to how other common hostile mobs don’t appear in the Overworld during the day. While it has a lot of hype to live up to in terms of creepiness, another mob - The Warden - proves that Mojang will likely be able to deliver on the scare factor.
Wardens Have Been Serving Scares Since Their Introduction
The mechanics behind summoning the notoriously tough to beat Warden mob are well established. After activating three natural sculk shriekers, intentionally or not, a warden appears, often jumpscaring players. Wardens also notoriously deal the strongest melee damage of all mobs, making them difficult to defeat. However, players can evade the mob by diverting their attention with objects like snowballs and arrows.
Intriguingly, the warden’s shocking summoning mechanic and its infamous will to live are similar to the creaking. Though creakings roam the Overworld at night and appear in thunderstorms like other hostile mobs, they are intrinsically tied to their creaking heart. If a player stands near a creaking heart during these designated periods, there is a non-zero chance that a creaking will appear around the corner, terrifying players in a very warden-like fashion. Combat with the creaking is also similar to wardens. Though wardens do take damage from players, the creaking does not, as they can only be defeated by destroying their creaking heart.
Based on the similarities in mechanics and the cunning strategy needed to defeat both mobs, the creaking could easily take over as the creepiest hostile mob in Minecraft. The appearance of the creature itself is also staggering. Though the creaking is clearly modeled off of Ents, the creaking looks much less fantastical and friendly than its source material. In darkness, the creaking easily blends in with the surrounding pale oak trees found in the pale garden biome, with its three glowing eyes acting as the only features that suggest the hostile mob is there. Wardens and the deep dark yet again share this similarity with Minecraft’s latest additions.
Both the Creaking and Wardens Are Chameleons in Their Biomes
The dark teal skin of wardens blends in seamlessly with the colors of the sculk blocks and veins of their biome, the deep dark. This makes the mob’s jump scare tactic even more terrifying, as inexperienced players may not realize they are being attacked by a warden until it’s too late, especially if they aren’t carrying a torch.
Since the creaking is made to mimic and blend in with the ghostly white of the pale garden’s groves, this chameleon effect is immediately reminiscent of wardens. Though the two biomes and hostile mobs may be distinctly different visually, the pale garden and the creaking are clearly borrowing some of the characteristics of the deep dark and wardens. Based on the name of the update this new biome and mob will be added in, Mojang has made it clear that gamers will need to be brave when exploring the region.
Players will be able to determine if the creaking is truly as eerie as it seems when Minecraft’s Bundles of Bravery update is finally released. Until then, gamers can keep facing off against wardens for practice.
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OpenCritic Reviews
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WHERE TO PLAY
Minecraft is a game made up of blocks, creatures, and community. You can survive the night or build a work of art – the choice is all yours. But if the thought of exploring a vast new world all on your own feels overwhelming, then fear not!
Minecraft has no set goal and can be played however you’d like! This is why it’s sometimes called a “sandbox game” – there are lots of things for you to do, and lots of ways that you can play. If you like being creative, then you can use the blocks to build things from your imagination. If you’re feeling brave, you can explore the world and face daring challenges. Blocks can be broken, crafted, placed to reshape the landscape, or used to build fantastical creations.
Creatures can be battled or befriended, depending on how you play. The world of Minecraft allows for epic adventures, quiet meditations, and everything in between. You can even share your creations with other players, or play in community worlds!
- Genre(s)
- Sandbox, Survival
