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Question: how many times has a dinner been skipped or forgotten in favour of online shooting marathons on the PlayStation 3? Gameloft knows it’s happening daily, and with the price tag of a measly $7.99/£6.29, Modern Combat: Domination on PlayStation Network is as cheap as a skipped dinner, but is it worth going hungry?
If “Modern Combat” sounds eerily similar to “Modern Warfare”, then don’t be surprised to find out that there are more similarities than just the name. Gameloft is known for developing games based on other established franchises with mixed results. This time they have taken aim at cashing in on the Modern Warfare craze, and with the PlayStation 3 version of Call of Duty: Black Ops still being plagued with constant online issues, there is no better time for Gameloft to enter the market with an exclusive to PlayStation Network title.
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Taking on the likes of Modern Warfare is no easy task, as it’s considered by many to be the pinnacle of online FPS gaming. Surprisingly though Gameloft has crafted a solid shooter, and although it's by no means another Modern Warfare let’s begin with what the game does right. Supporting 720p HD graphics, the game looks really good, and holds its own against other $60 titles on the market. The audio presentation is well executed, with gun fire and explosions as to be expected. The main theme of the game could literally be placed straight into the main menu of Modern Warfare and fit perfectly, but again it’s a great fit here. Boasting 6 game modes across 5 maps, 13 military weapons with unlockable attachments, 16 player online or offline matches, and a 72 level cap, there isn’t a complaint for lack of gameplay options either, especially for the cheap asking price.
Modern Warfare veterans will feel right at home with the DualShock controls as they are mapped and feel nearly identical, which is by no means a bad thing. Modern Combat: Domination adds PlayStation Move support into the mix, and pulls it off quite well. Pro-tip: take some time to adjust the sensitivities, dead-zone and button configurations in a few offline matches before jumping into the heat of online battles. Screen-lock is applied while aiming down the sights of a gun, which allows for quick and easy movement around the screen without the need to worry about accidentally shifting the screen by going out of the dead-zone. Navigating the levels with Move may take a little time for beginners, but MAG veterans will feel right at home here with Move in hand. Speaking of levels, the maps are all well designed with branching paths and multiple tiers to gain advantages on the opposing team. Great controls and map design are crucial in this genre, and Modern Combat delivers on both fronts.
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Out of the six game modes available, Escort has to be the absolute best of the bunch. One randomly selected player is designated as the escort, and the team has to escort him through the level to an escape point to win. Teamwork and a quick trigger finger are necessary to squeeze through the levels to get the escort out alive, and working together to protect your teammates can be loads of fun. Other game modes are the usual standard fare of Deathmatches, Capture and Demolition that we’ve seen time and again, and all play as you'd expect. The use of bots to fill empty slots is a nice addition to the game: if the game starts with only a handful of human players, bots will take over until the slots are filled, keeping the shooting action constant instead of wandering around looking for an enemy to spray lead into. In modes without respawns, the uses of bots is well implemented and at times extremely helpful, as upon death, if a bot is still alive, one can then take-over the bot and continue on until the goal has been accomplished, or the entire team has been eliminated. The bots, for the most part, act as a normal human player would, but at times they do pack together and make for easy targets. Mostly they put up a good fight, and overall the implementation is for the better, not worse.
Sadly it's not all guns and glory, so it's time to cover the issues at hand in Modern Combat: Domination. The biggest gripe is bad spawning: too many times we found ourselves shot in the back by enemies that just spawned, and this isn’t something that happens every now-and-then, this happens in nearly every match that involves spawning. Upon death, all weapons and items are lost, and must be repurchased prior to spawning again. Gaining money is no easy feat, as even with headshot and multikill multipliers, dispatching an opponent may only net you $500, with the better weapons costing upwards of $5000. Spawning with a hard-earned weapon and then quickly killed by an enemy spawning from behind is frustrating to say the least. Hit detection, long load times and differentiating between friend and foe all need improving as well, which could easily be fixed through future patches, and hopefully those patches will come soon.
Conclusion
Gameloft takes on the online FPS shooter genre with guns blazing and largely succeeds. Even with its faults, what’s here is a solid online shooter that's worth every penny of the small asking price. While it may be lacking kill streak rewards full of sentry guns and chopper gunners, what’s here is solid enough to keep the fragging going on into the wee hours of the morning. Save a few bucks by skipping dinner and buying Modern Combat: Domination – by the time hunger kicks in, breakfast will have rolled around, and the hours spent fragging all night will have been well worth it.
Comments 17
Agreed. I didn't care for the "buy your guns" feature at first.. and didn't like it even more later on lol. Fun game and great review though!
One plus for this game is that is has good connectivity, by which I mean that I can play it even with my really slow internet connection AND so far, never have any problem jumping in a match quickly, although all rooms I've joined are simply running deathmatch, and none of the other game modes.
I don't mind the gun buying scheme, but maybe because I've only leveled up one step and unlocked only one item, the sniper rifle. But you can always afford the MP5, which seems to be the best gun, IMO, anyhow.
It keeps the game on a pretty level playfield. But I also didn't experience the spawning issue described, though my experience is limited to about 4 online and 4 offline matches.
I'm still frustrated by Move controls, perhaps I will be for a very long time in ANY FPS as the DS3 is just so familiar, and Move is something new, but I feel like things would feel more natural with one of those machine gun accessories.
Personally, graded on a scale with a $60 game release, this game is about 5/10 in my book, but graded as a $6-$8 game, I'd actually put it much higher at around 8.5/10. For me, most DLC games this good are usually of the $15 variety when new.
But there is (for me) the occasional lag hiccup, and one time I spawned in the air, unable to move or fire, so it's not without minor bugs.
it's alright i might buy it cause it's so cheep and eventually i'll get the hand of it. and i'm basing this off of the demo.
That conclusion is awesome
Good review slap--you're really gettin' the hang of this! I've been on the fence about buying this for the last 3 days....my acct. sharing buddy has a Move so he's been trying to get me to buy it too.
Feels like an iPhone FPS on the big screen.....
I thought this game was quite good if you have played counter strike you have played this, but the move controls are so far beyond me i feel using them pushing the screen to turn does not feel right maybe if i spent more time messing with the options i might get something i like but the pad for me is the way to go. I will play online using the pad and mess around off line with the move trying to get used to it untill killzone and the sharpshooter come out
@Swerd... Thanks man, I had fun writing this review.
@tastetest.... just to give you an idea of my preferred Move settings, if you want to give them a try and see if they work a bit better.
Numbered from Left to Right (Far left is 1 and far right is 20)
Sensitivity=1
Aim Assist=On
Deadzone X=5
Deadzone Y=8
Control Scheme=Type B
I just may get it now .its not like its going to break my piggy bank:), thanks slap awesome review btw very informative!!!!. I was on the fence about this too even with the demo. I am glad you can practice offline also, should be a standard for online only shooters.
Great review! Only thing I don't like is that there is almost 0 background sounds.
I was kinda hoping that Gameloft would stick a short single-player story mode into this one, perhaps something along the lines of the iPhone games Modern Combat: Sandstorm or Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus, I think that the second one is known as having the stronger plot and action set-pieces.
I'm definitely not complaining though, £6.29 is such a bargain, especially with Chris pointing out that its visuals stand up to some full priced games, hats off to Gameloft for that. Plus, fair play to them for including Move support in the first place and allowing for it to be configured to suit different player's control preferences.
@slapshot82 Cracking review mate! As you said, it's obvious that you had fun writing this.
The only thing i wonder is can you play offline with bots and not need humans to play this game ?
@Dorkvader... yes, that is available.
@slapshot82 thanks for answering mu question. I think it's great you guys take the time to answer questions
only thing about the bots mode is that you cannot use red dot or scope until you hit levels 18 and beyond, you also dont level up in offline mode. if you can connect to psn atleast then you can create custom games and level up against the computer but its really annoying that I cant use red dot offline until I level up online. plus lv 1 bots only use Mp5, shotgun, and pistols which is pretty lame as they are easy to kill and in one level you can sneak out extremely easily with no effort what so ever. but the move controls work close to perfect depending on how you set them. i didnt compare my calibration but i find you want the smallest dead zone for the horizontal and the highest for the vertical, now not that exactly but fiddle around with it making sure the horizontal isnt too big and the vertical isnt too small.
I wanted to know about the offline thing too. Great, will get this i think. Loving this site, community, and reviews.
good game love how u can pick up the weapons after u take sumone out even if u dont have the weapon unlocked nthe game looks great n i like how u can play offline if u got both ps3 n xbox360 check out breach on the 360 its sumthings that ucant do on morden combat like blow up the stage both games are hot picks if u got one try the other i rate them both at a woppin 8 outta 10
I have played MCD online trial for a while and bought the full version last night, and really like it, aiming and moving around takes a little getting used to with the dual shock though. I have played COD on the Wii and liked the way it aims and moves with the controllers and look forward to get my PS3 setup with the move controller to play MCD, online guys show no mercy so you have to be quick and I think most are using the move the way they comeup and kill me so effortlessly. But all in all I really like it and it gets 10 out of 10 from me for game play and action with online players.
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