Minecraft Pocket Edition for Xperia Play
Investigate, destroy, and build the world around you ... on your phone
If you’ve been wanting to play Minecraft for a while but haven’t had a computer powerful to run it, then the arrival of Minecraft Pocket Edition on the Xperia Play is both exciting and slightly disappointing. The fact my laptop with two gigs of ram is incapable of playing Minecraft but my Xperia PLAY can is testament to the power of the mobile gaming platform – it’s just a shame that the Pocket Edition currently offers such a limited version of the Minecraft experience.
For those of you scratching your heads and wondering: ‘Just what the hell is a Minecraft anyway?’, it’s a indie gaming phenomenon that’s enthralled hundreds of thousands of gamers by letting them be literally shape their own experiences. In Minecraft you’re in charge not just of how you play the game, but also of how you shape the world around you. Each time you start a new world it’s randomly generated using thousands of ‘chunks’. Each of these ‘chunks’ is a cube that makes up the terrain, each are made of different materials, with earth, grass, stone, and glass forming the building blocks of the world around you.
These building blocks are at your disposal, along with torches to light up dark areas, ladders to climb walls, and flowers and mushrooms for no other reason than to be a ponce and spruce the place up. Not only can you build by placing blocks on top of, or next to each other, but you can also destroy the environment – or mine it, as the game’s title suggests. On the PLAY this is done using the L and R shoulder buttons, with one to destroy and the other to build. All this takes place from a first person perspective. So, while on paper Minecraft sounds more like a Sim-city game part of its appeal lies in the sense of exploration as you investigate, destroy, and build the world around you.
At this point I’m sure a lot of you are thinking: ‘That’s all very well, but what do you actually do?’. Sadly, with the PLAY version that’s literally it. On the PC version of the game there are enemies trying to kill you and the idea is to build fortresses against them, traps even, to destroy them. But this is all missing from the PLAY version, leaving you with what is essentially a fiddly map builder in first person. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not to say it’s not fun to play – I’ve probably spent a good six or seven hours on it since I got it – it’s just a shame there’s no real imperative to keep playing. The PC version of the game is the very definition of sandbox gaming, but by having conflict and the need to protect yourself it gives the game more meaning.
In the last week I’ve built myself a badass castle with turrets and everything. It’s got a lake-view, a secret tunnel back-entrance, and I think it’s sick, however, I don’t really know what to do now it’s built. The developers of the game promise this is just the start of the experience with the PLAY version of the game and the fact it says Alpha v0.0.1 on the title screen suggests they’ve got more in store. As it stands though, it’s hard to really recommend the current version to anyone who doesn’t see the appeal in building for building’s sake.
The PC version allows people to share worlds, and play together online, this feature isn’t available on the PLAY version, but it does let you build together on a local wireless network. This is definitely a step in the right direction and I’m sure if the developers live up to their promise the world of Minecraft Pocket Edition will be very exciting in the future.
Graphically, the game looks just like it’s PC counterpart, using its old-skool blocky vibe to great effect and the fps style controls work brilliantly on the PLAY’s control pad.
Fingers crossed the game gets the support it needs through regular – and hopefully free – updates. But as it stands Minecraft Pocket Edition is a painfully stripped down version of its PC counterpart. Having said that, even this minimal version provides an gaming experience unlike any other you can currently downlaod from the Android Marketplace, and nothing can compare to the feeling of looking up at one of your towering creations and thinking: ‘I built that – now, where shall I put the conservatory.’
So, is it worth getting the Xperia PLAY if I don’t have one. And/or is it worth getting (if you have the Xperia PLAY?)?