The hugely popular BioShock by game developer Irrational Games is coming to Apple’s iOS before the end of summer.
A first-person shooter game that debuted in 2007, BioShock has been a hit since its release. BioShock for the Xbox 360 was given a 9.7 (out of 10) by IGN with BioShock 2 and BioShock Infinite coming in with ratings of 9.1 and 9.5, respectively.
BioShock’s plot follows players through the world of Rapture, “a distinct Art Deco underwater utopia [or, rather, dystopia] gone mad.” The citizens live on the ocean floor in pursuit of objectivism and eugenics à la Ayn Rand, author of Atlas Shrugged. Of course, everything goes horribly wrong: “spliced” genes lead to crazy citizens who, in turn, create unchecked chaos. The story unfolds as the player is stranded with Rapture being the only refuge from a tumultuous sea. As soon as the player enters the city, they’re immersed in the action. This story plays into BioShock’s success, along with the customizability of play, infinite combinations of weapons and powers or “plasmids,” and the beautiful graphics and sound design. These qualities have distinguished BioShock from many of the top shooter games on the market.
BioShock for iOS maintains its storyline–no remakes or spinoffs here. Players can enjoy all of the action they loved in the original game on their mobile device. YouTube channel Touch Arcade posted a hands-on video review of the iOS game played on an iPad Air. Their commentary indicated that, other than some missing shadows and fog that iOS couldn’t support, the experience was very much true to BioShock as it was in 2007. Touch Arcade also stated that players could use either the onscreen controls or a MFi controller, giving an experience similar to playing the game with an analog controller.
Though Irrational Games is shutting down, the development of BioShock for iOS is being piloted by 2K Games. No set price has been announced yet, but 2K Games says that “it will be a ‘premium priced mobile game’,” meaning the game could cost anywhere from $10 to $20. Compatible devices are the iPhone 5, iPhones 5s and 5c, iPad 4, iPad Mini 2, and all other future devices. The game will not run on iPhones and iPads older than those listed.
