BioShock on mobile was developed closely with 2K. According to Malatesta, 2K assigned people specifically to the project and facilitated weekly development calls as well as consistent daily interaction with the IG Fun dev staff. "2K stepped up and put some resources into this," Malatesta said, hoping to squish concerns from the audience about the potential gap between the mobile game and the current generation blockbuster, which will see a sequel later this year on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. BioShock for mobile will contain all sixteen chapters of the console game as well as both endings, depending on whether or not you "harvest" all of the Little Sisters.
Maintaining the core narrative was a chief concern for IG Fun. Because mobile simply cannot handle all of the audio diaries left behind in Rapture, other solutions needed to be found to maintain the strong plot structure of the game. While some narrative pieces have been shaved away (with 2K's approval), the story of the fall of Rapture will be told through other means, such as text screens. IG Fun also wanted to keep as much of the atmospherics as possible, too, including the dynamic lighting in the 3D game, which Malatesta says in very similar to the console game.
Malatesta shows screens and video from both versions of the game. The 2D edition looks as you might expect, with a camera pulled back to show the hero running through the claustrophobic Rapture. Big Daddies were on-hand, recreated as sprites. The game uses a simpler control system for targeting enemies (auto-lock shows a green reticule around in-range enemies). However, the 3D version was a big surprise. Just like the console game, you see your Plasmid-affected hand in front of you as you move. We saw the crackling effect of the ElectroShock power as it ripped through a Splicer.
Considering the size of BioShock and how it does not exactly lend itself to small gaming sessions, Malatesta said the game will include a save feature so you can drop out at any time so you do not lose progress between checkpoints.
BioShock is not a game without baggage -- although in the case of 2K's bestseller, almost all of it is positive. It enters the mobile landscape with plenty of detractors that are certain there is no way IG Fun can accurately bring the epic to the smallest screen. Malatesta is determined to prove them wrong. We'll found out who is right soon when IGN Wireless gets a full review version of the game.