This week GameOgre.com is bringing you a Game Battle that pits two of the biggest titles in computer gaming against each other in a battle to see whose world is truly the greatest. Is it the myopic world building-RPG of Minecraft or the broad “play as you want” realm of World of Warcraft that will reign supreme? Only by reading on will you find the answer! You can also vote whether World of Warcraft or Minecraft will be the leading pay online game in the next 5 years.

Meet Your Combatant: Minecraft

 

Minecraft is the sleeper hit world building sandbox game from Mojang games. The game was released in its most basic form on May 17th, 2009 before its development cycle was over. There are two ways to access Minecraft currently. A free “Classic” version is available with unlimited building supplies for those players who simply want to build a world. Meanwhile the paid “Beta” version of the game includes a challenge oriented mode where players are required to gather their own supplies and defend their various fortresses from the monsters that appear at night. The Beta survival portion of the game feels like a combination of Legend of Zelda’s monster bashing game play with the world building of a real time strategy game.

Players use the resources they gather to upgrade their buildings, create tools, and craft weapons. Beta users also gain access to extra features, such as an enhanced physics engine.
Almost 1.4 million users have paid to access the beta of the full game, with their payment serving as payment for the actual game when it is done http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/minecraft-to-go-mobile-with-ios-and-android-builds-2224737.html. Paying between €10 and €15 ($14-$20) once and being guaranteed every update to the game from now until the official release is a sweet deal for budget strapped gamers looking for the maximum cost to game play ratio. Despite Minecraft still being in beta the game’s players have already taken its simple yet powerful building mechanics to truly staggering degrees.

Minecraft is a world where you can build almost anything your mind can conceptualize as long as you’re willing to figure it out. Some users have build scale models of the famous geek icons, such as the Enterprise-D from Star Trek. Another made a fully functional in-game roller coaster that allowed him to get around his massive kingdom with ease. The most impressive, not to mention mind bending, use of the game’s open mechanics so far that I’ve witnessed is the fellow who created a simple calculator that solves math problems by lighting various torches around the level. When I say your imagination is the limit it’s almost always exaggeration, but with each update to the game Minecraft truly is creating a world that lives up to that promise.

Minecraft Rollercoaster

Minecraft Computer

Minecraft Enterprise-D

Most impressively the game is currently being developed for play on the iPhone and Android platforms, so you never have to stop developing your world. Considering how addictive the game’s simple as you want it to be game play is I’m both dreading and waiting with baited breath for the mobile edition.

The heavily stylized pixilated graphics are something gamers will either find incredibly charming or get turned off by. While I understand the graphics serve a purpose, not overwhelming your computer when you are given the option of having a maximum world size up to eight times the surface area of the Earth (http://notch.tumblr.com/post/458869117/how-saving-and-loading-will-work-once-infinite-is-in), the simple textured blocks that make up the world give Minecraft something special. This is the first game I’ve ever played that replicated the joys of playing with Legos. From building to battles, Minecraft is a digital celebration of the itch to build fortresses and defend them from roving hordes of monsters that filled so many afternoons in my, and many others, youth.

Meet Your Combatant: World of Warcraft

Warcraft: Blizzard’s World of Warcraft is currently the world’s most popular MMORPG. It even has an official citation from the Guinness Book of World Records and over 12 million subscribers. Players are required to purchase a copy of the game and then pay an additional monthly subscription fee. And that monthly fee doesn’t cover the cost of buying each new expansion. For gamers low on cash WoW can be a bit of a money pit, but one that ultimately rewards its biggest fans with a user driven experience and massive number of players to quest with.

When you start the game you will be required to pick a realm to play in, which is also known as a server. Each server counts as its own copy of the game world, allowing players to pick from four categories of game play. These realms are either PvP (Player vs Player) where players can enter into combat with other players they encounter or PvE (Player vs Environment) worlds where the focus is on the killing monsters. This helps keep players who have no interest in fighting other people stay out of the way of players who use Azeroth as their own digital killing fields.

Every character you make is required to choose between two sides, either Horde or Alliance, which will determine the kinds of interactions you’ll have with other players and what race you can play. Your side will decide which end of the traditional fantasy division of good versus evil your denizen of Azeroth will fall on. Alliance players will have the option of playing humans, dwarves, gnomes, night elves, draenei (blue skinned healers), or worgens (wolf people). Meanwhile members of the Horde can pick from orcs, trolls, the undead, tauren (half human/half bull), blood elves, and goblins. Once you’ve built your character there are ten character classes to choose from, though some will not be available to players depending on which side they’ve chosen to fight for. From there gamers are given the option to play in the 3rd or 1st person, with a tool bar on screen for mapping abilities.

WoW allows players to game however they want. Characters can pick two professions out of ten that flesh out their character and can be leveled up. They can meet and chat with other players. And most importantly, they can go on quests searching for blood, glory, and treasure. It’s during these quests that the game’s story unfolds, revealing new territories and equipment. Whether you choose to quest solo or as part of a guild is up to you, however many of the games major enemies and quests are designed specifically for approaching with a group. This dynamic might seem unfair to players who are starting out unconnected to friends who play the game but before you complain ask yourself this simple question.

Would you want to fight a three story tall fire breathing dragon that can heal itself all by yourself? As your quest through the hills, wastelands, valleys, cities and mountains of Azeroth moves along you’ll face worse than that. It’s best to get over your shyness early on and make some friends.

The graphics are beautiful and the mythology of the world of Azeroth is deep. On December 7th of last year the game’s latest expansion “Cataclysm” was released, leading to a massive overhaul of the games environments. “Cataclysm” also expanded the game’s level cap to 85 and brought with it 3500 new quests for players. A level cap means you cannot progress beyond that level once you’ve reached it until the developers raise it again. Reviews of “Cataclysm” have been incredibly strong, with most long time players finding the revamped game world and new additions icing on the top of what was already a very impressive cake.

So who won?

The game play of these two titles is completely different, yet they share many common threads. Ultimately the goal of each game is to help mold the world as you see fit. The difference is Minecraft asks you to make the world while World of Warcraft asks you to manipulate and change life in Azeroth according to the class you choose to play.

Each one offers a compelling experience. World of Warcraft has better graphics and a classic set up of quests you must complete to gain experience and loot. There is a reason these tropes are classic, they’re tons of fun to play. Still I can’t help but feel like Minecraft is the better game. Even with its deceptively simple graphics the depth of the gaming experience to limited only by what the player is willing to put into it. Minecraft is most definitely not for everyone in the long term, but its low price point of entry, 20 bucks and the game is yours, and the opportunity it provides to build your own world is unparalleled in gaming. And when I say world I mean world. Remember you can create a map 8 times the size of the Earth.

Both games provide a free version for players to cut their teeth on, but WoW’s free version is limited to a free 10 day trial. Even if the combat and survival of the paid version of Minecraft doesn’t tickle your fancy every gamer with a computer who has ever felt the itch to create owes the free version of Minecraft a few hours of their time. It’s remarkable where it will take your creativity. For this reviewer the promise of unlimited digital world building BEFORE I’m asked to pay a dime is simply too good a deal