Call of Duty: Mobile Review (Android) Best Mobile FPS?

Did Activision actually make a good game?!

Activision is no stranger to releasing mobile games. Some even say that Activision's business practices in the console market are largely inspired by the shady transaction-laden ponzi-schemes of the mobile gaming scene. So, it surprises no one that Activision decided to throw their weight behind a mobile game that plays like any other first-person shooter, but the results may be surprising. Some may even call it a "breath of fresh air".

Graphics

This is what it looks like at Medium Settings. 1080P

As with all mobile games, the graphics are going to vary depending on your hardware. Graphical fidelity, and even frame rates will depend largely on your Chipset's quality, and even costs. If you bought some low- quality budget phone for only $100 It's going to play like a 30FPS game on the Xbox 360. If you bought a mid-range phone of the modern era, or your parents spent over a thousand dollars on a handheld supercomputer like the Galaxy S10 or something, you're going to get high frame rates, and even graphics that can compete with a modern console. Either way, your graphics are going to have the same shades of dull, imagination-lacking grey and brown the series has been known for for well over a decade. The game looks like Modern Warfare 2, and plays exactly like it.

The most important thing we look at here at RageFor is whether or not the graphics are well optimized. Does the game run at a consistent frame rate? is there too much geometry? is the game lagging because of what's on screen? Fortunately, none of this is an issue in Modern Warfare Mobile. The graphics scale to the needs of your device, and there is always consistent frame rate with hardly any dips or spikes.If you're planning on ramping the graphics up to HIGH, be prepared to have a high-end device to play it with, or your frame rates are going to look like a Japanese animation studio with budget cuts. That being said, this game looks solid on mid-ranged devices in the $300 range. 

Game Play

All Multiplayer, all the time.

If you're looking for a compelling single-player campaign with memorable characters and deep character development, this is definitely not the COD game you're looking for. This is just the multiplayer side of the campaign. You'll find capture point, team deathmatch, among other modes here. The game exists purely as an online multiplayer experience, and doesn't have a whole lot of fluff -- keeping the game small.

Chances are, if you've played Multiplayer FPS games on a mobile device before, you've played this game already. It shares a common on-screen controls scheme with most other FPS games on phones and tablets. The only difference you might find is dragging up on the left side of the screen causes your character to sprint.

Tencent Games and Activision kept the gameplay simple. this game can never be accused of being over-engineered, like something like Pixel Gun 3D or Dead Trigger 2. Everything is simple, from the wepon upgrades to the shoot forward and die gameplay.

Controls

Controls are all over the screen.

Anyone coming from a traditional COD title is going to have issues getting used to on-screen controls. Speed with things like crouching, jumping, and aiming down the sights might be tricky on a game where two thirds of your phone's screen are covered by your hands. Those of us who have been playing mobile titles for a while feel right at home here. This game plays similarly to titles like Modern Combat 5 and even N.O.V.A. Legacy; two leading FPS titles of the genre. 

One major point of contention for me is the lack of Gamepad support at launch. It's getting pretty stupid now. I'm sick of seeing games from major publishers ignore the baked-in compatibility layer that mobile devices have for gaming peripherals like controllers. Activision should know better than this by now. Not everyone wants their thumbs covering huge portions of their screen all the time.

All and all, the controls we get are actually pretty good. The game doesn't try and re-invent the wheel when it comes to on-screen controls, and we think that's a good thing.

The catch

Weapons are upgradeable with "XP", which can be earned with gameplay or even by logging in every day.

At RageFor, microtransactions and monetizing are separated into a category of their own. Not all monetization sucks. Sometimes its fair and even preferable to full price, depending on the game in question. 

I went into reviewing this game fully expecting it to go full-on BattleFront II with how it monetizes its gameplay elements. (This is Activision, after all. This is the same company that somehow managed to stuff loot boxes and gambling schemes into the single-player Shadow of War.) So when I finally start playing the game, I almost couldn't believe that I didn't completely hate it. Sure, leveling up your weapons with "XP" to make them shoot better is dumb, unrealistic, and would be better suited to a more cartooney game, but yu can actually earn that XP through Gameplay. In fact, you can earn everything in the game by playing it if you want to. 

The main menu isn't as straight forward as you would expect.

Sure, earning the premium currency (CP) is harder than pushing a boulder up the side of the empire state building right now, but that is something that can --and likely will-- be tweaked later on down the road.

Sure, there's cosmetic items you win through loot boxes or whatever, but I've been playing this game for about two weeks now, and I haven't bought a damn thing yet. I didn't need to. I was too busy enjoying the game to even consider it.

Verdict

This is your character menu. It's like the main menu, but it lets you select modes.

I would have never thought in a million years that Activision and Mobile gaming went together as well as they do. I was fully expecting to hate this title, and I actually really like it. It has real gameplay, for real gamers. It's not a watered-down experience, like you would find in your average mobile title. This is a very solid game, and one of the best multiplayer games you can find on mobile devices.

The Good

Good controls, solid gameplay, micro-transactions and loot-boxes are tame.

The Bad

Confusing interface on main menu, no support for game controllers

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