PS Plus Collection: Steam World Dig (November 2014)

Playstation Plus Collection is an ongoing series where I give my first impression of all of the games that are made available each month through Playstation plus. Typically, there are around four free games per month, and so one shall be covered each week. At the end of each month I shall give an overall verdict of the worth of Playstation plus for that particular month.

Steam World Dig. This is mining based 2D action-adventure platformer that shows the story of the protagonist, Rusty, who has inherited his uncle’s mine, and consequently decides his is going to run it. It is a recentl Playstation 4 & Vita release, but it originally came out in 2012 on the Nintendo DS.

Steam World Dig is a game that, really, is wholly based around mining, which I must say is not really that unique anymore after the likes of Minecraft and Terraria. But in comparison to those two titles, Steam World Dig is most relatable to Terraria, as the whole game is 2D and involves mining to find loot and kill enemies. So that’s a good comparison for the game to have? Or rather it would be if Terraria were not obviously the superior game.

The game has all of the basic elements, different areas, unlockable abilities, upgradable health and pickaxe, along with little puzzles. So I should be able to say it works just the same as Guaccamelee or Terraria, but unlike those games, this one feels tedious. The digging, the enemies, the time put in with no sense of progression or motivation. Unlike Minecraft and Terraria, this game doesn’t feel like it gives you the freedom to effectively make your own fun in a world that could kill you, and it also doesn’t have the story or fluid controls that Guacamelee had.

The problems I have with Steam World Dig are numerous, but they are best summed up by saying this feels like a game that you’d play on a smart phone, and that is to say, I don’t think this game is necessarily bad, but that it is better suited to the platform of a mobile phone, or mobile device in general. There’s something missing with the game, an edge that would make me want to keep playing in a console setting. In the same way that, let’s say, Candy Crush wouldn’t be as entertaining and addictive on a 32” screen on ps4.

Overall, given the right setting this game can be enjoyable, even though every aspect of the game seems to be lacking behind the competition. So my advice would be to view this not as another Indie game, but as an IOS game. So if you’re going to pick it up, pick it up on your Vita.

Conor M.