Minecraft meets Diablo in Minecraft: Dungeons

Mojang and Microsoft announce a brand new venture in the universe of Minecraft. The isometric action endeavour Minecraft: Dungeons combines the gameplay of your favourite dungeon-crawler with the blocky style of the creative-survival epic.

The official spin-off game will release in 2019 following its announcement this weekend at MineCon. The game will pit players in heaps of familiar biomes and new environments, hacking-and-slashing away at zombies, creepers, pigmen, and new faces to the square roster of villainy. The project will lead through an ‘epic quest to save the villagers and take down the evil Arch-Villager’, who is presumably one of those Squidward fellows gone very bad.

Inspired by ‘classic dungeon crawler games’, Minecraft: Dungeons will allow up to four players to sever and break through Minecraft worlds in a sandbox-like fashion. Killed monsters and hidden chests will contain attractive loot to improve the armour and weapons of the designated adventurers.

Intriguingly enough, Mojang aims to take the combat mechanics of the core Minecraft experience and adapt it to the dungeon-crawling gameplay. From what most probably remember of Minecraft, there isn’t much complexity or satisfaction in swinging a sword around. Weapons and armour are quite limited, same with rarities and unique items. This raises valid concerns regarding how deep the game will be. Various staffs and daggers feature in the announcement trailer for Minecraft: Dungeons, though how far the new lore will expand is yet to be known.

Enthusiasts of the franchise are surely overjoyed by the news following the closure of Telltale Games Studios. The company is known for their spinoff Minecraft: Story Mode, amongst other games, a choose-your-own-adventure style game. Popular with many who are saddened to hear of their departure from the industry. Optimistically, a new spinoff Minecraft game will bring some new light to fans of Story Mode.

However, time will tell if the idea of Minecraft: Dungeons turns out to be the next… well, Minecraft. The game releases on PC in 2019. Follow Checkpoint for more information as soon as it’s revealed.