Minecraft Pocket Edition 0.9.0 Review

The 0.9.0 version has been a hugely anticipated update to the already popular app; Minecraft Pocket Edition. The hype is natural, after all, the update is one of the biggest yet, and features infinite worlds along with new mobs and blocks. While it still lags behind other platform versions, it is catching up at an impressive rate.

For those new to the title, Minecraft is a blocky sandbox, with both a creative mode, as well as a survival world. Worlds are randomly generated and the player survives by gathering resources and building a home. However, not everyone is satisfied with a simple wooden hut, and this has lead to Minecraft being the phenomenon it is; people building insane structures and machines.

Visually, the game hasn’t changed much from other versions; it still features the same charming textures and it is still using blocks for the terrain. There are a couple of omissions, like a lack of mip mapping, which causes odd “swirls” on textures in the distance when walking around. However, this is said to be resolved in the next version, where the game will switch from OpenGL ES 1.0 to 2.0. The change will allow shaders, as well as mipmapping to be implemented.

The render distance is quite impressive, and even the maximum settings are playable on a Nexus 7 2013; year-old mid-range hardware (the requirement to run infinite worlds is a dual core processor). Chunks (16 by 16 sections of the world) load up and render very quickly when flying through the world. This does burn battery and cause the device to heat up quickly though, as the game has to generate the new terrain while you fly, which is a rather intensive task.

The experience is very smooth, and there is no stutter. Having said that, I have experienced some bugs when a chunk may not render correctly. However, the chunk then renders correctly as soon as you get closer to it.

The creative mode is reasonably feature rich, and the only glaring omission that comes to mind is the lack of redstone, another feature said to be included in an update (most likely the 1.0.0 version). Most of the blocks are here, and you can just start building away.

Additionally, the introduction of flat worlds in 0.9.0 grants players the ability to start build without worrying about terrain messing up their ideas.

The survival mode is where you’ll begin to really notice differences between Pocket Edition and the PC version. While mobs such as Endermen, Villagers, Wolves, Slimes and Mooshrooms have been added, some of these are using very limited or old AI. For example, villagers in the PC version can recognise “homes”, open doors, and trade. However, in Minecraft Pocket Edition, they serve no purpose beyond populating the villages.

Mobs are, sadly, not very challenging as a result. The only difficulty settings on offer are “on” and “off” essentially. Either no mobs spawn, or they do.

What is truly awesome is the new terrain. All the new biomes are present, as well as dungeons, strongholds, villages, and abandoned mineshafts. Arguably more exciting is the sheer
size. You can explore as far as you want, and when that exploration is rewarded, the feeling of accomplishment is great.

Indeed, that feeling of accomplishment is prevalent throughout all of Minecraft. Be it completing a house, stumbling onto a mineshaft, or finding a village, the feeling is what will keep you coming back for more.

Sadly, there are still a few things missing from the survival experience, such as potions, the Nether dimension, and the End dimension.

Controls are typically a falling point for many mobile games, but with Minecraft Pocket Edition, the controls remain very intuitive and usable. In actual fact, for some special cases, I found the touchscreen faster or easier to use than a mouse. This only applies to blocks that change their orientation based on which direction the player is facing, like stairs.

On the mobile version, you can turn whichever direction you want, and tap the part of the screen where you want to place the block. On the PC or console, you have to face the direction you need to place the block. Essentially, it’s like you are limited to only tapping the centre of the screen to place blocks.

There are little touches as well, that make the experience fun rather than irritating. For example, you can break blocks very quickly in creative mode if you are standing about five blocks away. Therefore, you can quickly clear large areas in creative mode, but you still get precise controls when you’re doing smaller tasks.

The crafting and inventory system is another area where the controls do very well. Instead of the PC’s drag and drop system , 0.9.0 uses the console system, where you tap the item you mean to craft, and then tap the craft button. It’s simple, fast and it just works.

You can also play online with friends over a local wifi network, as well as external servers. Locally, the game runs very smoothly but, on external servers, it is quite laggy.

In short, the game is a ton of fun, and it keeps me coming back for more. While other versions still offer more content, there is just something awesome about being able to pull out a tablet wherever you are, and continue working away on a huge build. Another thing to consider is that the game is still in development, and the developers are very open about the process on Twitter, which means most of the features will arrive someday, apart from mods.

The price point is another thing to consider, Minecraft Pocket Edition costs £5, while the PC version costs around £18.