Minecraft's 2D little brother, Terraria, is now out on the Google Play Store. Except, Terraria is more than a little brother to the ever popular sandbox building game, it is more deserving of a "cousin" status. This one is a no-brainer for me having spent 200+ hours playing the PC version. I can safely tell you that no matter what the price is, your money will be well spent. Late last month, Terraria launched on the iOS at the exact same time as Junk Jack X, and the debate rages on till today about which is better. The general consensus seems to be that Junk Jack X is better suited for mobile devices and focuses more on exploration, but Terraria excels in its combat and the boss fights and crafting the tiers of gear and weapons that allow you to defeat them. I think it's safe to say that after spending several months playing Terraria, Junk Jack X felt a little boring to me, but that's just one man's opinion. The game starts off innocently enough, you stand in an open 2D field with a guide next to you to explain the details, and trees around for you to chop. In your inventory, you are given the basic tools such as a sword, axe and a pickaxe. The pickaxe is used to dig, and dig is what you'll be doing A LOT in the game as you would soon realize that there are precious minerals and ore that you find underground. Beyond that, there are also secret dungeons and caves that will surprise you when you find them. Relics and treasure chests litter the entire underground world in Terraria, and it is your playground to explore as you wish.  The axe is used to cut down trees (duh!) and walls. Wood of course is very important in any survival game as you use it to build torches, houses, ladders and furniture, among many other things. If you have played basic survival games though, you will come to know the horrors of the night. That is when you need the two most important things to survive: fire and shelter. It is important that you have those two things figured out by the end of the first game day. Zombies, skeletons, demon eyes and many more roam the darkness and come out to hunt as the moon replaces the sun. That is also where your sword comes in handy. If you survive the first few nights, then you are well on your way to becoming a Terraria addict. Pretty soon, you'll be upgrading your weapons and gears, finding more things to make using new crafting stations, exploring the vast world above and under the ground, killing grand and not-so-grand enemies, and even exercising your creative rights by building awesome looking houses and buildings that function like it's from the future. If you want an idea of what you can achieve, just head on over to the Terraria forums. Some of the creations are simply outstanding. I don't want to spoil the fun and tell you too much about what you can find. After all, exploration is the driving force of this game. Finding something totally awesome or shocking after running, building or digging is what makes this game so much fun. The developers really packed a lot into the game, and believe me when I say that none of it were taken out in the mobile version. What I have described so far only touches the surface of what you can find in the game. The thing that sets Terraria back is in its controls and screen space. Because it was originally developed for the PC, the blocks are so much smaller compared to the enormous size of Junk Jack and Minecraft's blocks. Due to this constraint, the controls are not as accurate and can sometimes be quite frustrating if you are trying to build something with precision. 505 Games, the developer that handled the mobile version of Terraria, incorporated a very smart way of overcoming this by having like a magnifying glass pop up when you tap anywhere near the character. This helps you dig, cut or place blocks wherever your finger taps that is a viable spot. It is obviously still not perfect, but it is one of the best solutions that I actually applaud them in thinking. If you are just digging blindly or attacking, you can also use your right virtual stick to direct your character's action like a dual-stick shooter. The other thing that would turn people off is screen space, or the lack of it. If you are playing on your phone, it is very difficult to see where you're going or digging, or tap on the right space to place your blocks. This issue is magnified when you are in a boss fight and you keep clicking on the wrong thing or the magnifying glass keeps popping up when tapping on an enemy that is too near. This is when you realize how much the screen space on your tablet makes a difference. Despite the minor annoyance of the controls and screen space, this is still an amazing game. | |||
