For the past few months, multiple developers have been releasing their own clones of Minecraft in an effort to provide Nintendo gamers with the closest approximation to that source material as possible. Though the concept may seem simple initially, most developers have failed to recreate it in any meaningful way, with performance issues and stripped-back features usually marring what would otherwise be a good start. Cube Life: Island Survival is not without some of these flaws, but it is certainly the best effort made so far, successfully managing to include most of the features of its inspiration while adding in a few new ones of its own, to varying degrees of success.
Right off the bat, Cube Life sets itself apart by actually introducing a light narrative. Most games in this genre typically start off with a silent protagonist with no backstory, but here we have one that's fully voice acted. The name of this character is never shared, but he quickly summarizes how he was a rich traveller who became shipwrecked on an island. The vocal protagonist is also used as a convenient vehicle to introduce a subtle tutorial system that organically informs the player of aspects of the game as they encounter them. Though the voice acting is pretty campy and sometimes the explanations of things can be a bit heavy-handed and patronizing, it nonetheless gives the overall experience more charm and also makes the avatar a bit more relatable and likeable.
Cube.Life.Island.Survival-PLAZA pc game
Survival Mode is a surprisingly deep experience, with a robust crafting system, a handful of mobs that help to populate the world, and a spacious (yet segmented) map that offers plenty of room for exploration. One major thematic difference that sets Cube Life apart from its competitors is that the world is composed of a series of interconnected islands, rather than a large, central landmass. The decision to base the core game in a unique setting as opposed to yet another green valley or dry desert gives the overall atmosphere a pleasantly different flavour to its counterparts, and also serves as a clever way to lessen the obviousness of performance issues with draw distance and clipping, both of which are rather unfortunately present throughout the game. Graphics and sound are exactly what one would come to expect from a game like this, though the inclusion of more realistic effects like water surfaces and sunbeams clash with the simplistic nature of everything else.
Balancing both hunger and thirst to keep health up is an interesting new mechanic, though it's made unnecessarily difficult by the time and save systems. Each night, creepy islanders emerge from the ocean and force you to either stand and fight endless waves of them all night or to retreat to a shelter. This is all well and good, but unless you spent the majority of the preceding day stocking up on food and fruit, you likely won't make it through the night without starving to death or dying of thirst, because the respective levels drop so quickly. This problem of nearly unavoidable death is compounded by the fact that the save mechanic takes a snapshot of the current game status when it saves, meaning that saving any time at night virtually locks that save file into a Sisyphean struggle to prevent the protagonist from dying before morning comes.
Cube Life: Island Survival is the closest thing to Minecraft that any Indie has come to before on a Nintendo platform. Its imitation of the source material is admirable and it introduces a few new ideas that help differentiate it and make it a bit more than just another "me too" game. However, extremely long load times and a survival mode held back by some archaic design choices prevent this from being something truly great. At the end of the day, though, this is the best sandbox game on the Wii U yet, and fans looking to get their fix need to look no further.
Mitch has been a fan of Nintendo ever since he got his start on the GBA in 2005. When he's not busy playing games or writing, you can find him down at his local MMA training facility learning how to punish the unrighteous.
I'll play Minecraft on all the other devices I have. I've got to admit its nice for people who only have a Wii U but they could've differentiated a bit more...visually at least. You don't have to be a 1:1 clone. That and those Minecraft skins are so iconic and therefor I see them in almost every mobile game I see. Its a bit lazy imo.
@HawkeyeWii I have this game and its not a 1:1 clone. Plus Minecraft isn't in development for Wii U and if it were they could make money from Nintendo owners. Its a genre that's popular right now, it was bound to happen. Well see if the other game is any better, when and if it releases.
@Gridatttack We are working on a local multiplayer which will be included in a first patch together with fixed issues. So, everybody who purchased the game at launch promo price $6.99 will get it for FREE. For new players, the game price will be higher.
@Cypronia The load times seem reasonable to me. Bought it last night and had a great time playing with my 10 year old. Looking forward to the local multiplayer patch. Another great game from Cypronia. I previously purchased Color Zen, Color Zen Kids, and Cake Ninja and they have all been a blast and exceeded my expectations and the reviews. Thank you!
I love this game. I love that it's hard. And I love that when I emailed @cypronia that they confirmed inverted controls for the first patch. Made the world map for fun and WOW; I will definitely get my $6 worth!!
@WhiteTrashGuy Yes, definitely! We get hundreds of emails/posts/comments every day which is a quite hard to reply to everybody in a short time, but on the other side you guys give us great feedback on new features, fixes, bugs and everything which may help to make the game even better... and we are happy to hear from you
Btw, maybe you noticed when you run Minecraft or Stone Shire, the game is still generating cubes in front of the player. We included this in "loading" screen... Maybe we could generate tiles the same way and save loading time?
@Cypronia I'd just like to congratulate you on this, it was a very well done game! Considering how you've committed to continually update this for the next several months, I look forward to what it holds in store.
@Cypronia It's nice to see a developer so active in this community! Just from how kind and professional you've been, it makes me want to give this game a chance because it seems like you truly care not only about your games, but about the people who play them!
@cypronia its great to see you guys jump in and be active with your game most devs don't do that kind of thing. I think its great. also don't listen to those "its a clone naysayers!" The Wii-U needed a game like Cube Life Island Survival and you were willing to take that chance and I for one thank you guys for doing it. Keep up the great work I hope to see more titles from you guys.
@Cypronia My kids are Minecraft fanatics and once they saw the trailer for Cube Life: Island Survival they wanted it. I was on the fence if I was gonna to buy it or not, but after reading your comments. I decided to buy the game, and very happy to support your company.
@engfant Hello. Thank you for improvements:1) Sure! Will be available in the first patch v1.12) we have just optimized that and loading time takes 30% faster! 3) Maybe you are right, but remember, this is a survival game on tropical island. Coconuts are the best source of water supply. Not mangos4) there will be a "enable/disable reflections" button which adds 20% to FPS
Hi Cypronia.I'm starting the game and I really like it. There are somethings that maybe will be good to include like crafting a bed for spending the night, like other comment above is really hard to stay all night eating a dozen of mangos/cocos to survive, so far this is my only complain XD.Is really cool that a developer take our opinions in consideration.
@Cypronia ok I understand the concept but: Do you sleep at night ? or you stay awake working?, maybe some days you can work and other days you can sleep, if the game goal is to make it real then you need to sleep also. Oh I almost forget it, a lot of people seems to need doors lol .By the way nice game, I hope this continue better and better.
I started playing it and had to look up how to craft using the highlight item and tap the screen technique on a game forum. Then i died during the night and it froze my wiiu on the 'you died' screen. Had to reboot my system. I really wish there was a difficulty option. I like playing minecraft survival mode on peaceful, just have to worry about surviving not fighting for my life every night.
Definitely going to pick this one up. I'm not a big fan of creating but I like the idea of a more tangible narrative in the survival mode, which is the only way I play these games. One question, if you don't mind: When you mentioned local multiplayer did you mean for both modes? Thank you!
Now that I am used to the up/down not being reversed I'm spending a good amount of time with this game. Good times! It's my only access to Minecraft and recommend it to all that are in the same boat. Although I'm able to live through the night and not starve it's still too crazy. You'll all of a sudden be dying because you were too busy building to notice your thirst is at 0. Also the cannibals are able to shoot arrows through stone walls which is a little irritating.
I get it, its survival but needs to be toned down a tad. Maybe for the first 5 days or so so you can at least gather some supplies? The cannibals are just way to strong and fast, out running them is near impossible. I found the underground "room" but gathering enough water to survive the night is too much. I like to play a game and win but also take the time to enjoy the graphics, game play and discovery. With Minecraft you can at least do that. Maybe a peaceful mode so a player can choose to just have a little fun before taking on the blood bath? Otherwise the game is pretty cool. Definitely has potential. 2ff7e9595c
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