Big Fish

If there's a sport that divides people more than fishing, I've yet to encounter it.

It's true plenty of folks care little for football, cricket and the rest, but it's hard to find anyone who's ambivalent about fishing. You either devote large portions of your spare time to it or the very thought of flicking the end of a rod towards the water causes your brain to shut down.

The criticism most detractors lay at fishing's door is its perceived lack of skill. Whether or not you manage to catch enough fish to fill your plate seems to come down more to patience than skill – the willingness to spend hours on the bank, waiting for the big catch.

It's also a title that follows iPhone gaming rules, making the most of both the touchscreen and accelerometer – getting you to touch, twist and turn your device all at once – yet somehow bringing everything together in a package that's less than the sum of its parts.

Campaign mode, which consists of eight locations unlocked successively, sees you trained up by either a bear that threatens to kill you or a foxy lady in a cat suit who – in pidgeon English – makes somewhat tepid attempts to catch more than fish.

Castling your line requires a touch of the screen to set your target and a forward flick of your handset to drop your bait into the water. Big Fish then becomes a waiting game - the idea being to gradually reel the line in with slow, clockwise circles.

Should a fish bite, you have a couple of seconds to hook it by tipping the device when alerted. It's then back to the reel, with equally slow circles teasing your catch towards the shore.

As the fish tries to get away, you're charged with twisting and turning your handset to react to its moves. For the really tough fish who insist on flipping in and out of the water, you also have to play with the tension of the line, tipping the rod forward or backwards via some awkwardly placed on-screen buttons.

Miss one too many of these moves and you can say sayonara to your lunch – although Big Fish is forgiving on this score. Rather than "GAME OVER" flashing on the screen, you just cast your line again and keep playing until you finally manage to catch something.

The more successful and swift the catch, the more stars are added to your roster and the quicker the next stage is unlocked.

Watery grave

What makes the whole experience so bizarre however is, while the game's appearance suggests it could easily feature in an arcade near you, the gameplay itself is repetitious.

It's a criticism that could be laid at the door of many fishing games, but while the likes of Fishing Kings make simulation rather than titillation their signature, Big Fish seems to make the worst of both worlds.

It's something that's underlined in its attempt to break up the waiting game with the odd (really odd) mini-game; getting you to dodge fish as they jump from the water in an attempt to kill - in their words - the "asshole" that murdered their friends. It's unintentionally hilarious.

And it's such ill-judged gameplay, combined with the more straightforward simulation which proves confusing. Developer StormEye seems unsure whether it wants to focus on the patient bankside build up, or inject random ideas to make the experience into a more action-packed adventure.

Still, with the option for four-way online multiplayer, at least you'll always have fellow anglers to share the experience with.