For more on Steel Diver, check out our full Steel Diver review. Or, for more of the best Nintendo 3DS games for a 10 year old, why not try our Family Game Finder
In Steel Diver, your child will take on the role of a submarine commander across one of three modes. The mission modes see you steering a submarine around seven varied underwater levels, dodging obstacles both natural and man-made as you head to the goal, while periscope mode is a more action based game, turning your 3DS's top screen into a periscope, which utilises the 3DS's gyrosensors to let you physically move your 3DS to look around. Steel Commander, the third mode, is like a light version of Battleships where you can move your ships around, but has too much of a reliance on luck, and is generally pretty poor.
The main problems here for children are going to be the controls and the longevity. You make your submarine move by adjusting sliders on the touch screen, which let you set the speed, and the rate at which it sinks or surfaces. As this is somewhat unresponsive (as you'd imagine it would be in real life), and somewhat fiddly even for adults, this is likely to be enough to put younger children off. For children who like their games to have a bit of a simulation aspect, though, Steel Diver will likely be a hit - while it lasts. With only seven levels on offer in the mission mode, the whole game can be polished off in around four hours, which is disappointing to say the least.
Although a large part of the game will be spent blowing up other submarines, there's nothing for parents to be too concerned about here. You never see the people inside the enemy ships, and the subs just glow red when hit, before fading away/blowing up. You'll also have to face off against a giant sea monster that looks somewhat like a Nautilus at one point, but again, there's no major violence here.
As something of a rarity for a 3DS game, Steel Diver allows for single-card download play, letting you play with a friend who doesn't own a copy of the game. Sadly, only one mode - Steel Commander - supports this, but it's certainly better than nothing. If only the mode itself was better.
Age Ratings
Format Reviewed: Nintendo 3DS
