Common Sense Media Review
By Chris Morris
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Flawed adaptation of a popular, violent game.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 18+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Bioshock
What's It About?
Players walk using a virtual thumbstick on the right side of the screen and look around their environments with one on the left. In fire fights, they must quickly alternate between using special powers and traditional weapons by pressing the appropriate button on the right side of the screen -- and reload or crouch using additional buttons on the left. It makes for a very crowded screen and an often confusing experience.
Is It Any Good?
There's really no question as to whether BIOSHOCK is a great game. It is. The 2007 original set a new standard for action games. The question is: Can the game survive the transition to mobile? The answer, unfortunately, is not especially well.
Although the game still poses wonderful moral tests and tells an absolutely captivating story, it does so with a significantly reduced graphical fidelity and an absolutely terrible control scheme. Navigating Rapture, the fictional world you explore, is a chore -- and fighting battles (which you do regularly) is difficult, thanks to fast-moving enemies and clumsy virtual thumbpads and an array of on-screen buttons. In addition, the game's load times are overly long, making you wait a long time for levels that ultimately disappoint anyone who has seen the game on another platform. Newcomers to the game might find something to like here (if they can overlook the control issues), but fans of the original who are hoping to recreate the excitement they felt the first time around will only find frustration.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about ways people are manipulated, sometimes without knowing it.
Families also can talk about when to stand and fight and when to walk away.
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad
- Pricing structure : Paid
- Release date : August 28, 2014
- Genre : Action Games
- Publisher : 2K Games
- Version : 1.0.5
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 7.1 or later
- Last updated : November 11, 2020
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