Minecraft, the popular crafting game where players build all sorts of creative shelters to keep safe from monsters, is getting a story mode courtesy of Mojang and Telltale Games. On Saturday, game developer Telltale and Minecraft creator Mojang released the first trailer for their upcoming video game Minecraft: Story Mode, and it looks like they've got another winner on their hands.
In the clip, we get our first look at the game's main heroes (and a pig), led by protagonist Jesse, who is voiced by comedian Patton Oswalt. Jesse learns how to craft a sword in the teaser, and the whole clip tells an epic tale of heroes on a journey to save the world.
The premise of the game was also revealed in a Telltale blog post, which says the game will be available "later this year." After something goes terribly wrong in their world, Jesse and his friends must track down the legendary Order of the Stone to help defeat the oncoming terrors that wait for them in the night. The Order is a group of four individuals: the best Greifer, Warrior, Redstone Engineer and Architect in the world, who once managed to slay the dreaded Ender Dragon. Only the Order, together with Jesse and his group of friends, can save the world from certain doom.
Like Telltale's previous games -- hits like The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us and Game of Thrones -- Minecraft: Story Mode will be more of a point-and-click game than the traditional adventure game Minecraft players are familiar with. Essentially, it takes the multiplayer creative open-world gameplay from Minecraft and attempts to tell an interactive single-player story set in the Minecraft universe.
Telltale does these first-person episodic story games well, as evidenced by its previous lot of award-winning episodic games. By partnering with Mojang, we can't help but think Minecraft: Story Mode is going to be something special while staying true to the game on which it's based. The talent who will lend their voices to the game include: "Futurama" voice actor Billy West, "The Goonies" alum Corey Feldman, and even Paul Reubens, aka Pee-wee Herman.
More information about Minecraft: Story Mode will be coming as the release date draws nearer. The first episode of Minecraft: Story Mode will be released on PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and select iOS and Android devices later this year.
Correction, 4:18 p.m. PT: This story, and its headline, initially incorrectly described the game as first-person. It's single-player.
