Dead Space
I’m not really a fan of over-the-shoulder PoV shoot ‘em ups but Dead Space is good enough to make me swallow my dislike. To start with, the graphics are truly excellent while the gameplay is immersive, challenging and not a little scary. Like the original Marathon it’s one of those rare games that generates actual fear and apprehension at what may be coming next.
The stand-out benefit of playing Dead Space on the Xperia is that you can use the left trigger to bring your weapon up into aim mode which makes accurate fire easier than on the iPhone version. That said it’s still not what I’d call an easy game to play. Luckily, the early levels are free so you can dip your plasma cutter into the red before parting with the green.
Reg Rating 85%
Price £4.99
Download Exclusive to the Xperia Play via EA Games’ Flexion Store
Minecraft Pocket Edition
I must be honest and say I never quite understood the Minecraft craze. You run about a world made of blocks and build stuff from other blocks. Or dig holes. OK, and then what? Well, and then nothing, that’s the point of the entire game. But as a take-anywhere-with-you, dip-in-and-out mobile game it’s appeal is starting to become more clear.
The Pocket version keeps most of the key attributes of the PC game intact, including networking, while the retro graphics translate well onto the small screen. Thanks to the Xperia’s controls it’s also very easy to play and gives little away to the keyboard-and-mouse system of the real thing. That’s just as well because while there is a free demo in the Market the full game is not what I’d call cheap.
N.O.V.A. 2
OK, it’s a blatant Halo rip-off and the dialogue was clearly written by someone who doesn’t use English as their first language, but as a linear sci-fi FP shooter it’s not at all bad. With flying bad guys, man-eating plants, vehicles a-plenty and armoured mech-walkers straight out of Avatar there’s plenty to shoot at and a correspondingly abundant supply of guns and ammo.
With the Xperia’s control pad it’s a darned site easier to play than through a touchscreen interface. In my book, the ability to use individual compass-point keys for the forward, back and sidestep movements - be it the W-X-A-D keys on a keyboard or the directional buttons on a PlayStation controller - is absolutely vital for a good first-person shooter experience.
Five... great games for the Xperia Play
COMMENTS
Android permissions
It would be nice if the market had a way to more accurately describe what each app is doing with the listed permissions, so that less people were scared.
While I don't know Asphalt itself, "Read phone state and identity" /can/ be something as innocuous as checking whether you are currently connected to non-WiFi Internet (all the better to warn you of possible charges and speed issues).
Coupled with the "Change wifi status" and "Full Internet Access" permissions, sounds like Asphalt is going to download a ton of texture maps and wants to warn you if it'll take an age to do so and give you the option to enable WiFi without leaving the app.
I agree with you, the permissions can be a little too coarse and easy to fret over. The above, for example, could also be used by an app to track your exact location using WiFi APs as extra positioning info...
Was I the only one reading this as "great games for the Five Xperia Play users"?.
> Was I the only one reading this as "great games for the Five Xperia Play users"?.
With the recent drop in price (locked to O2 for £149 and unlocked for £179-£189) then I think there are a lot of new users out there at the moment
hardware keyboards
I wish more games manufacturers would allow those of us who have keyboard phones to reprogram the controls as well as for the Xperia Play. E.g. have the Xperia Pro and it's great for emulators, (I use W for up, A for down, Q for left, and S for right - a bit quirky being at an angle but when you get used to it, it's just as good as a dedicated game pad). Sony should be encouraging some of the PS Suite games onto the Pro too!
Asphalt 6 and Dead Space are currently free downloads .... as are a couple of versions of NFS and Battlefield 2 (+ I think FIFA12 when it comes out).
As for: "Read phone state and identity", "Change wifi status" and "Full Internet Access"
Think this means "need to check that the game has been bought for this phone", "turn on wifi to download the 400MB game data on first run" (install from market just downloads a small driver/installer porgram) and "need internet to install the game, check for updates and possibly send data to highscore lists etc"
