Microsoft Minesweeper (Windows 8) Reviews

Anyone who has ever used Windows should, by now, know what Minesweeper is. It’s been bundled with every edition of Windows as far back as Windows 3.1. The aim of the game is to identify the mines hidden in a grid of tiles, using logic to work out which tiles conceal a mine and which ones don’t.

It’s a simple formula that, let’s be honest, can’t really compete with a proper AAA title but is nonetheless timeless and surprisingly addictive when you actually sit down and play it.

Minesweeper presented possibly the biggest surprise of the free Xbox LIVE games present on Windows 8, particularly after playing the Windows Phone version. While the Windows Phone version is decent and introduces a few nips and tucks to move it into the modern age, the Windows 8 version is completely overhauled and far, far superior.

The achievements are still there, though there are only four of them, three of which can easily be unlocked within five minutes while the last one can be easily unlocked in less than twenty minutes.

The achievements that didn’t make it over from the Windows Phone version have been converted into ‘medals’, which are more numerous but essentially the same as achievements in that you unlock them by completing set tasks within the game. However, they come without the enjoyment of them contributing to an overall gamerscore that spans your entire Xbox LIVE account as achievements do.

Because of this it’s unlikely they’ll prove as much of a pull, but it’s significantly better than nothing, as are the alternative game modes and the daily challenges, which are akin to what you find on games like Halo: Reach to encourage you to play a little bit every day.

As with the Windows Phone version, it’s ad-supported, but while the ads on mobiles are simple banners, here you are forced to watch an eight second advert before starting some games. It’s a mild irritant but it’s not in any way a deal breaker.

More annoying is the game’s bugginess, though I cannot tell whether this is due to my relatively basic dual-core laptop I don’t know. The occasional freeze and crash seems related to whether your internet cuts off, which presumably signs you out of Xbox LIVE and crashes the game. It’s not much of an issue when you’re at home on a steady broadband connection, but on a patchy mobile broadband reception the extent to which Window 8 expects you to be online at all times is quite frustrating.

An adventure mode rounds things off, and while it’s kinda cute it also feels pretty pointless. It’s basically Minesweeper with a few power-ups and monsters thrown it. It’s nice to see a different way to play the game and it adds a bit of overall value but it’s nothing ground-breaking.

The game has Live Tile capability and periodically shows you your quickest times on various game modes in an effort to encourage you to play the game again.

Overall, Minesweeper is pretty impressive given the basic nature of the game. Of course, if you never liked Minesweeper in the first place then nothing here will change that, but while you can’t polish a turd, you can roll it in lots and lots of pretty glitter.

Taken from my blog: http://zombiesatemyxbox.com/2012/12/24/windows-8-xbox-live-g...

Alright guys, it's time for MINESWEEPER! I really miss the happy face tossing on the shades when you win, asides from that it is similar to how it has always been. Just with a Metro Menu and what not. It's still not SkiFree or Chips Challenge....

ALRIGHT FOR THOSE WHO WANT A REVIEW.
Well this game has been graphically updated since I last played it on Windows 95, as I mentioned before there is the lack of the happy face and what not. If you took the eyes of this happy face and the mouth of this happy face remove the Zeds that represent sleeping and you would get the general idea of what I am saying. OH THIS ONE! without the arm.
The point of the game is to still uncover all the spaces without hitting a mine. You have 3 preset difficulties a 9x9, 16x16 and 16x30 sized grids. How exciting. You can also creat a custom sized grid, which is actually somewhat exciting.
Graphically, I felt that the grid wasn't aligned properly at some parts, almost like there were a bunch of different sections on the grid, though I assume that it has something to do with the whole touch thing that Windows 8 is going for. Things were pretty smooth, I am impressed with Windows 8 and depressed at the same time. Whenever I was loading a grid or setting off a mine the game seemed to lag, though that could be a result of the Virtualization process.
Regardless this is a great game to kill some time, if you have played it before then you know what you're up for.

4/5


(If you thought that sounded familiar (asides from the review) wait till you read the exact same thing from the other two)

Great now that we're done with that, some of you may be asking how to get this crazy stuff.
Well I was wondering for half a day.
Let me explain it to you.

I assume you have a program to Virtualize Windows 8... You know like Oracle Virtual Box or VMWare.... or HyperV (...Assuming you're running Windows Server...)
Virtual Box is free, so download that if you need it.

Then download the Windows 8 Enterprise Eval.
Here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/jj554510.aspx

You may need to sign in.

Scroll down make sure you meet the system requirements

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster
RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
Hard disk space: 20 GB
Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

Then choose the version of Windows 8 Enterprise you want to download.
32-Bit or 64-Bit

Wait for the .iso to finish downloading.

Then start up your Virtualization program.

And create a new virtual machine for Windows 8.
Just stick with the defaults for the most, up the RAM to 2GB if you picked the 64-bit version.

When you turn it on for the first time it should ask you to select the image or drive you want to use. Find your .iso for Windows 8 and select it.

Continue the install as normal, make sure you select your region to be the same as your GamerTag.

Once all is said and done, assuming you followed the step by step brilliant instructions. You are going to have a great time adapting to Windows 8. If you get lost hover over the very bottom left corner and it should bring up the side task bar thing (not sure of the technical name). Choose the Start menu, 4 rectangles. Find the Games tab, and fool around with logging in and what not.

Now I had issues with geting the games to work, I typically had to click the game tile and then click explore game, in order for the option of Play Game to come up. Hopefully this doesn't happen for you.

Anyways, once installed and ready, click the different tiles until one of them allows you to play the game.

And Boom! You're good to go!
Anyways, I will post this up on the others, see how much people hate or love this.
Just comment and let me know what needs work and what not or if something isn't clear.