Android Game Of The Week: Modern Combat 5: Blackout

Friday, July 25, 2014

Android Game Of The Week: Modern Combat 5: Blackout

Modern Combat 5

The wait for this game was long but ultimately worth every second of it. The Modern Combat series from Gameloft is perhaps the absolute most definitive FPS for Android and other mobile devices, and Modern Combat 5: Blackout, released just a couple of days ago, is the newest in the franchise and definitely one of the best games of the year. First things first, this game from Gameloft is $6.99 out of pocket, with not one in-app-purchase in sight. Rejoice! It’s a true premium game title and it shows. If you have a high end device, it is highly recommended that you take advantage of the new SSAO features that have been built in to the game as they make for a drastically improved visual experience. It really makes the game look stunning, of course not all devices support the SSAO(screen space ambient occlusion) but you can still turn the graphics to a higher setting.

Everything about Modern Combat 5: Blackout is an improvement over the past games in the series, from game dialogue and storyline, to controls and features. You can choose between touchscreen controls,(of which there are a few different control schemes you can choose from, with incorporation of the accelerometers and gyros for movement and aiming on one of them)or you can connect up an HID gamepad including the MOGA PRO. You’ll find single player campaign and multiplayer for gameplay modes. The game starts you out with a single player mission right off the bat to get you familiar, than you’re taken to the homescreen after you complete it, where you can choose between the two modes of play, and access your character selection screen, weapon upgrades, and access your stats, squad details and events information. You can also modify your loadout from this screen as well as swap between chat from either Global or your squad.

There are six total chapters, each of which will have four regular campaign missions, a spec ops mission and a multiplayer mission to complete. During the campaign missions you’ll gain XP which will help you level up your character class, with the unified progression being shared with multiplayer. This means that whatever character class you have chosen at the time, the XP gained from both the campaign and multiplayer matches is shared and counts towards the leveling up of that character. As you gain XP you will also unlock weapon attachments, which can be swapped out from the loadout screen which you access from the homescreen. Google Play Games services is also present within the game, which gives access to the leaderboards, achievements, and a multiplayer match system with the people in your G+ circles, as well as cloud saves so you can switch between devices. The only downside to this game is the requirement to be always connected to the internet to play, but it does help for the storing of all your game data. All in all, Modern Combat 5: Blackout is amazing, and is easily one of the best games to pick up this year.