Scatter, Minecraft Sky Survival Map
What is the hardest minecraft survival map of all time? SkyBlock? Ha! I laugh at your notions of SkyBlocks. Having a single island in the sky is far too simple. Real minecraft survivalists know that the way to really play is on this scattered map in which the elements of the island have been dotted about in the void, creating a parkour style challenge with the ultimate penalty for failure.
I've been wondering what would be the next big trend in minecraft survival maps, once we'd done the dirt blocks floating in the sky, that seemed to be the limit of extremity right there, but this map has managed to push an envelope most of us didn't even know existed.
What can you expect when you play Scatter? You can expect to fall a lot, you can expect to see the game over screen a lot, you can expect to be challenged in ways you never expected to be challenged in minecraft. A great deal of the game is in conserving resources (ie, not accidentally knocking them into the void when trying to harvest them, or in having them tumble down with you when you inevitably leap into the great known death trap that is the wild blue yonder. ) You can expect to get a cramp in your little finger from holding down the shift key for every move you make.
To make matters worse this map is designed for 1.9 if you play this map in any of the pre-release versions, or with the release candidates, you'll find yourself staring into a snow biome, which isn't particularly useful. I'm not sure whether this is intentional or not, but it makes things that little bit more challenging, remember, saplings don't grow in the snow, nor do crops.
As with all the maps I review, I downloaded this one and play-tested it. It took me three separate attempts to get off the starting block (people with more lateral thinking skills might figure that test out a little quicker, but don't get too smug, there's more in void and block than are dreamed of in your philosophies) and once I was off the block, things didn't really look all that much better. Suffice to say, this is a very unsettling map, not particularly suited to anyone with a fear of heights - or falling for that matter.
Is this minecraft survival map worth the download? I think so, yes. It's certainly challenging and it doesn't coddle you with any of these newfangled concepts like uninterrupted solid ground, so I think it will please the sort of people who like to hunt bears with their teeth.
