Creating an engaging and tactical mobile first person shooter (FPS) is always a challenge and sadly, Modern Action Commando FPS fails to change that.
Zaibi Games Studio has done quite a few decent titles based on the Unity Engine in the past, so we were interested to see what this FPS title would bring to the table. Modern Action Commando FPS boasts a ‘tactical movement system’ and ’10 most challenging levels’ (the typo is not us). Initial menu presentation isn’t exactly stellar. many of the splash images are low resolution and display poorly on high DPI displays, plus the amount of advertisements quickly becomes bothersome.
Between starting the game and getting to the action, we were bombarded with a number of full screen and windowed ads. The latter stay on screen for the duration of your play session, which will no doubt be a data hog for those with frugal plans. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You get 10 levels to choose from, each of which needs to be unlocked by completing the one before. Killing enemies earns money, which can be used to purchase gold bars. These can then be used to purchase new weapons, making the missions a lot easier to blaze through.
The problem with this mechanic arises when you realise there’s no need to actually play the game to earn gold bars.
The problem with this mechanic arises when you realise there’s no need to actually play the game to earn gold bars. Zaibi Games Studio have included an ad rewards system where players can watch short videos in exchange for 10 gold bars, essentially making most of the above redundant. We’re usually very supportive of ideas such as this because it gets around the paywall issue without forcing players to spend a fortune, however the whole system just feels far too lenient here.
After watching 10 video advertisements, I already had an MP5 and was able to comfortably tackle the entire game in about 15 minutes. The actual gameplay itself has potential, with somewhat tactical environments to play around inside. The problem lies with the enemies, which have such poor AI that you’re able to kill them all in a single rampage.
In every single level, I found the general theme to be exactly the same. Go round a corner and shoot one guy, only for the rest to blindly run out in front of you. From there it’s a simple case of picking your desired headshots and occasionally securing a hostage.
In every single level, I found the general theme to be exactly the same. Go round a corner and shoot one guy, only for the rest to blindly run out in front of you.
After completing the final level, it barely feels like you’ve accomplished anything, such is the simplicity of the gameplay mechanics. The only challenge to be had is from the controls, which are not bad by any means but struggle without a gamepad. Playing FPS titles on a mobile or tablet device still feels hugely unnatural and it’s near impossible to strafe while keeping the cursor focused on the enemy at the same time.
We can see what Zaibi Games Studio tried to achieve here and we commend them for doing it, but the basic fundamentals of what makes titles like this so great seem to have been completely forgotten. If you’re after a tactical mobile shooter to play on your commute, Modern Action Commando FPS isn’t really going to satisfy.
[wp-review]
