Guncraft review: more like Guncrap

Guncraft is a bit of a mess. It's not at all original--though, probably the best unoriginal mashing of Call of Duty and Minecraft--and bugs out on a regular basis--every server will disappear without warning, with no idea when they will return--and most matches suffer from lag at some point. On top of all that, the game just isn't particularly fun and, once you get past all the issues, that's all that matters.

Take Minecraft, add guns and competitive multiplayer and you have Guncraft. As stated previously, it's not an original idea, but Guncraft takes much more advantages from its Minecraft inspiration than other similar games--like Ace of Spades--with a lot of customizable options--such as map building and even weapon building. But there's a problem: there are no tutorials or guides of any sense. Want to build a gun? Go right ahead, but the game won't give you any tips; all you get is a warning that you'll be banned if you don't follow a list of rules before submitting designs for approval. It's nice that the options are there, but without any guidance, all the weight is placed upon your shoulders to get invested in it.

Then there's the game; Guncraft plays a lot like Call of Duty, especially if you plug in a 360 controller--which the game supports natively--mixed with occasional vehicles and, of course, the ability to add and remove blocks with a handy dandy tool. Classes? Check. Kill streaks? Check. Fun? Ch...oh wait, that's where the game stops copying other shooters. As much as I wanted to like the game, the shooting isn't satisfying at all and having to open a door by removing the door blocks and not just pressing a button to open the door is really annoying. Add lag on top of that and the game isn't helping its cause.

Another problem with the game is map design. Some maps are great and really well-designed; some maps are great to look at and explore, but suck for actually playing; and then there's the rest, which aren't interesting or well-designed, only annoying, often exacerbated by horrible spawn locations. There is a open map that may actually be a good map, but the spawn point is inside a small plane hanging above the map and everyone spawns inside the plane every single time; it's a horrible choice and ruins the experience on that map as everyone either kills each other inside the plane or as they're falling from the plane--this is just one example of many and it's disappointing to see a game get in its own way with terrible spawn locations.

Guncraft may be the best Minecraft/Call of Duty mash up I've played at this point, but that's like saying, "This piece of shit smells better than all the other pieces of shit." Sure, it may be the best, but that doesn't change the fact that it is still a piece of shit. With server issues, bugginess, and some poor design choices, I can't recommend Guncraft. That said, I do hope the game improves over time and will gladly revisit the game to see if maybe, just maybe, Guncraft can win me over, but, for now, I'm staying far away and I recommend you do the same.

*Guncraft is available now on Steam for $14.99.

Guncraft (Steam)