Parents' Guide to Battleship

Game PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360 2012
Battleship Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Marc Saltzman By Marc Saltzman , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 14+

Lackluster action game with some tactical elements.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 14+?

Any Positive Content?

  • Battleship Game: Screenshot #1
  • Battleship Game: Screenshot #2
  • Battleship Game: Screenshot #3

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age 11+

Based on 5 kid reviews

 

 

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What's It About?

Based on the new feature film of the same name, which is based on the classic Hasbro board game for two players, BATTLESHIP follows a heroic demolitions specialist, Cole Mathis, who battles against an aquatic-based alien race on sand and in the sea of the Hawaiian archipelago. Mathis also issues commands to the U.S. Navy to destroy the enemy fleet. The game fuses action with tactics as players fight on the beachfront while also ordering attacks against the E.T.'s marine counterparts. The view switches between the first-person shooter perspective on land to the overhead "Battle Command" map, which mimics the board game. In the latter, players instruct the U.S. Navy to hit and sink the enemy using carriers, frigates, cruisers, destroyers, and submarines.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say ( 5 ):

Battleship is at best a mediocre hybrid of a shooter with top-down sea tactics. The action is quite lame, clumsy to control for the most part, and the jump between views proves awkward. You don't care about the protagonist or any other the other characters, and the graphics are weak. At $60 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version (there is a separate, different "E10+"-rated Battleship for the Wii, DS, and 3DS), it's a complete rip-off. At best, this should be a $5 iPad game and only played by those who love the movie or have a nostalgic leaning toward the turn-based board game (even then, there are more faithful digital recreations of it). Quite simply, leave this one for the bargain bin -- it'll be there soon.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why video games with movie tie-ins are frequently subpar.

  • What are some of the best video games you have played? What made playing those games so much fun?

Game Details

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