Daniela Iniguez's review of Subway Surfers
Date last edited: 12-06-2024 at 04:03PM
Rating: Not Rated
Review:
Title: Subway Surfers
Developer/Publisher: Sybo Games ApS
Genre: Mobile arcade game
ESRB rating: 9+
Your rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Primary audience: Children and teenagers
Year of release: 2012
Platform: Mobile (iOS and Android)
Subway Surfers is a popular endless runner mobile game co-developed by Kiloo and SYBO Games, released in 2012. The game features vibrant, cartoonish graphics that appeal to a broad audience, particularly children and teenagers. Players control a young graffiti artist named Jake, who must escape from a pursuing inspector and his dog after being caught spray-painting a subway railway.
In Subway Surfers, players navigate three lanes on subway tracks by swiping left or right to change lanes, and up or down to jump over or slide under obstacles such as trains, poles, and barriers. The objective is to run as far as possible while collecting coins and power-ups that enhance gameplay. As players progress, the speed increases, making it more challenging to avoid obstacles. Colliding with a train results in a game over, but players can revive themselves using in-game keys or by watching ads.
First Media Key: Balance
In Eugene Gan’s Infinite Bandwith: Encountering Christ in the Media, he describes balance as the first media key because “it serves as the foundation for all the other keys because it’s the most fundamental mindset we need to cultivate in order to use media wisely” (Gan 21). He also emphasizes the importance of praying for the cardinal virtue of temperance to apply this media key. Temperance is important because “It ensures the will’s mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable” (Gan 31). Temperance is useful in balancing our use of media.
Subway Surfers demonstrates balances through its free and paid content. Players can earn up to one million points without spending money, which emphasizes the player’s skill over their real-world purchases. However, the option to buy coins and power-ups requires players to balance their desire for progress with real-world spending. The game's speed gradually increases as you keep playing, which also encourages a balance between challenge and achievability. However, this video game can also discourage temperance since the game itself can be very addicting, which limits the balanced use of the game.
Second Media Key: Attitude Awareness
Gan describes attitude awareness as the second media key because attitude awareness “keeps us on our guard, helping us to maintain a critical perspective about the messages coming at us through the media” (Gan 37). The cardinal virtue of prudence is necessary for this media key because “Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it” (Gan 47).
Subway Surfers demonstrates attitude awareness through the consequences seen in the game. In this video game, colliding with an obstacle results in the consequence of an immediate game-over. This highlights the dangers of reckless behavior. Players can also utilize prudence when making decisions about when to use power-ups and items, which encourages strategic thinking.
Third Media Key: The Dignity of The Human Person
Gan describes the dignity of the human person as the third media key because “All media should reflect, uphold, and enhance human dignity” (Gan 52). The cardinal virtue of justice is necessary for this media key because justice “disposes one to respect the rights of each and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good” (Gan 62-63). Justice can be used in media to uphold the human dignity of each user.
Unlike other video games that promote violence, Subway Surfers upholds the dignity of the human person by not promoting violence in the game. While the game involves escaping from an authority figure, it does so without promoting violence, which demonstrates respect for human dignity even in this conflicting situation. The game also demonstrates justice by providing all players with the equal opportunity to play the game since success is determined by skill rather than unfair advantages.
Fourth Media Key: Truth-Filled
Gan describes truth-filled as the fourth media key because media should be used “for conveying truth—truth about God, truth about the human person, and truth about each one of us” (Gan 68). The cardinal virtue of fortitude is necessary for this media key because it helps resist lies told by the media. It is also important to research different sources to find the truth and be cautious of ideas portrayed in media.
Subway Surfers demonstrates this media key through the player’s progression in the game. Success in this game is primarily determined by the player's skill and perseverance, rather than chance. This demonstrates a truthful representation of improvement through practice and effort. Players are also encouraged to continue playing and improve their scores even after failure. This promotes a sense of fortitude and resilience in the player.
Fifth Media Key: Inspiring
Gan describes inspiring as the fifth media key because media should be used “to inspire people to pursue virtue and a relationship with Him” (Gan 85). The theological virtue of hope helps us apply this media key by “placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit” (Gan 95).
Subway Surfers does not demonstrate this media key due to the premise of the game. Subway Surfers is based off the premise of running away from an authority figure after getting caught spray-painting a subway railway. This does not promote an inspiring message but instead promotes the message that vandalism is entertaining. It can, however, encourage hope through the player’s skill progression. As the player’s skills improve over time, they can achieve higher scores, which inspires hope that proactive leads to tangible results.
Sixth Media Key: Skillfully Developed
Gan describes skillfully developed as the sixth media key because it provides quality control for media. The Church encourages users “to learn how to recognize and create media that meets the culture’s expectations for what constitutes skillfully developed products” (Gan 102). The theological virtue of faith is especially important for media creators because with faith, “man freely commits his entire self to God” (Gan 110). This virtue is especially important for the creators of media.
Subway Surfers is skillfully developed in its design and gameplay. It combines fast action with bright graphics to make it one of the most popular mobile video games. The simple swipe mechanics (left, right, up, down) make the game easy to learn but challenging to master as speed increases.
Seventh Media Key: Motivated by and Relevant to Experience
Gan describes the seventh media key as motivated by and relevant to experience because “Media should take its cue from Christ and be rooted in the realities of the world we live in” (Gan 116). Gan also emphasizes the virtue of charity because it allows us to sympathize and understand others around us.
The game's story of a young graffiti artist escaping authority resonates with youth experiences and desires for rebellion, making it relevant to many players' lives. However, rebellion is not a good premise to be motivated by since it does not agree with truth, beauty, and goodness.
Subway Surfers is a skillfully developed and engaging mobile game that offers fast-paced entertainment. While its premise of vandalism and rebellion is problematic from a moral standpoint, the game does promote positive qualities such as perseverance, strategic thinking, and skill improvement. It's important for players, especially younger ones, to approach the game with a balanced perspective, enjoying its entertaining aspects while being aware of its limitations in promoting truth, beauty, and goodness. When played in moderation, Subway Surfers can be an enjoyable experience that challenges reflexes and decision-making skills.
Seven Keys:
Balanced:
Attitude:
Personal:
Truth-filled:
Inspired:
Skillfully Made:
Experienced:
Overall Rating: 7/35
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