Right? its going to be terrible to play. Maybe it would be alright with a bluetooth controller. But if anyone is playing this on iOS, they cant be that serious about getting the full experience of it anyway. Might be a good gateway to get new users to buy it for a good platform though.
I would say the reverse: BETTER with touch than with a console controller. IF the controls are done well, which can be done for an IOS touch-based FPS. (Aiming in the NOVA series for instance, and others that take a less traditional control approach.)
To each their own, of course—people learn to live with console controllers in FPS games. They love them! I know that. But here's why I say it could (and should) be better:
• Console controllers have always been the wrong solution for FPSs. A necessary evil to deliver a popular genre. The precision of mouse—DIRECT aiming—is superior and just plain more fun. Joystick control is so much worse that FPS games use auto-aim to compensate. But I want to play a game myself, without training wheels. Having the game "play itself a little" to compensate for bad controls is just less fun. (Albeit comfortable in the hands, I will grant you! And the movement side of a controller can be superior to WASD; but aiming is far more central. Put it this way: WASD isn't bad enough to make the game auto-walk for you. Aiming on a stick IS that bad.)
• Example: try using a console joystick to navigate the an arrow cursor around your desktop computer screen (or even a game menu with giant targets). Awful. You wish for a real pointer. Aiming a weapon is the same thing.
• There are other ways to get the same direct level of aiming: a trackball, trackpad, gyroscopes, gestures, etc. If done well, the weapon moves the way you move—just as with a mouse.
• Swiping to aim the camera on a touchscreen is one such method. Direct aiming much like a very accurate trackpad, and equivalent to what you do with a mouse: Want to aim a little up? Move your thumb/finger/hand a little up. (Rather than nudging the joystick a little up, holding it just the right amount, and letting go at the right moment while auto-aim holds your hand.)
So, I consider mouse superior to touchscreen (a little), but both superior to a joystick—for aiming in an FPS.
This title could be great or a mess. I have hope!
What device people choose to buy this game for won't be a matter of how "serious" the gamer is about the Bioshock franchise (why does that matter?)—it will be about what device they use and have with them. And if it's an iPad, they'll be enjoying a nice sized screen with portability and sofa-comfort that a laptop can't match.
