Tag: First person shooter »

Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation is a culmination of Gameloft's many dabblings into the FPS genre. There's plenty of running and gunning to be had throughout the game's 13 levels. Which is something new, actually. An honest-to-goodness sprint button has been added, allowing players to move between objectives at a much quicker pace. Sliding is also new, and can be accomplished by tapping the crouch button while sprinting. Handy for taking cover while under fire. Both of these new features are quite useful throughout the single-player campaign, but are even more vital when in the game's online multiplayer mode.

Modern Combat 3 looks great, no question, but it's the smaller details like animations and the occasional slow-motion kill shot that really draw the eye. But really, I think the reason I've enjoyed my time with the game so much is because it's just so... enjoyable. The over-the-top set piece moments are surprisingly grand for a handheld device and the multiplayer, with its experience (and earned currency) driven weapon unlocks and customizations is excellent. Each match earns experience, with better performances netting more of the stuff, and new levels unlock the ability to purchase new weapons. These weapons, in-turn, can be upgraded and customized to fit a player's preferences with a number of different attachments such as scopes and larger magazines. Similarly, items can be bought and equipped that bestow special abilities such as the ability to carry more ammo. It's a shockingly robust myltiplayer offering, especially considering the platform. It's a shame I'm so terrible at it.

There are a few issues that have cropped up, however. Of the three control schemes offered I've found the Classic setting to work best, but I sometimes find myself shooting when I don't mean to or missing a button by a hair's width and doing nothing. Usually resulting in death. Then there's the checkpoint system. Sometimes it works great and doesn't set me back too far. Other times I have to slog through a significant chunk of a level, only to finally reach my last point of failure to wind up kaput again. I've also noticed that enemies can shoot me with surprising precision through some very solid cover. I'm not talking about chest-high walls that the top of my head might be poking over, either. I'm talking about massive barriers that seem unable (or unwilling) to come between me and bullets.

Just about anyone who's interested has probably already purchased Modern Combat 3. It's kind of a little popular. For everyone else who might be thinking about it, and is a fan of first-person shooters of course, I'd say it's definitely worth playing despite its flaws. Many of which can easily be overlooked. The entry fee might seem a little steep, but there's plenty of great gaming that comes with that $7.

Glu Mobile, well-known for their World Series of Poker games and games like the freemium Gun Bros., have released their newest freemium game, Contract Killer, to the App Store. This first person shooter has you accepting contracts to take out a variety of targets. You play as a stationary sniper, looking and zooming around the levels to find and take out your targets before they escape or kill you. Successfully completing a mission nets you money and experience to improve your weapons and stats, so you can steady your weapon longer, for example. To accept contracts, you have to use Energy, which can be conveniently - for Glu's bottom line, at least - restored by purchasing food items to replenish energy, which you have to spend Credits on. How do you get Credits? Through in-app purchases, of course.

The game features 17 Story mode missions, as well as an unlimited number of Random Missions across 5 locales for theoretically endless replay value as you level up your character and buy new weapons and ammo to use on missions. Obviously, there's in-game currency that is used to help generate revenue, and similar to Gun Bros., there are 2 different forms of currency you can purchase to help you in your assassination attempts. You can buy in-game money ranging from $1.99 for $12,000 of in-game money to $49.99 for $350,000 of in-game money. You can also buy credits, ranging from $1.99 for 30 Credits, to $49.99 for 950 Credits. This is a similar model to how Gun Bros. worked, and Glu is likely hoping for similar success with this model for Contract Killer. Contract Killer also comes with Game Center support for leaderboards and achievements, and is a universal app for the iPad as well.

Glu have released plenty of traditional paid apps on the App Store, but appear to be embracing the freemium model between this, Gun Bros., Deer Hunter Challenge, and World Series of Poker Hold'em Legend. It will be interesting to see if they continue to embrace the traditional paid model for their other future releases, or if they follow the ngmoco:) model of just releasing freemium apps, or if they do something similar to Gameloft's freemium model, by continuing the traditional paid app model, but offering free downloads, and offering to unlock the full app via in-app purchase. Check out a trailer and screens of the game below, available now.

The entire goal of Archetype is to be a first-person shooter that promises no gimmicks, just pure gameplay, so wasting time on a cute opening paragraph seems inappropriate and a waste of time, so the best way to start off a review of Archetype is to just jump in and talk about it. Archetype features little story beyond a CG intro, it's all about the first-person shooter gameplay. This means that unlike Eliminate, there's no system that compels you to buy some sort of consumable in-app item, there's just an experience system and nothing else. This is more of a raw first person shooter experience, and this is what the game focuses on entirely, almost to a fault.

And, well, if you like fast-paced FPS games, and hate consumable in-app purchase elements, Archetype is the game for you. You run around everywhere just killing enemies, picking up weapons and ammo, hunting down enemies using the radar. There's little to no configuration necessary to get into a game. You just choose "Team Deathmatch," and you start searching for games. After a minute or so, you get into a game and you're off and fragging. The game runs great on Wi-Fi and on later generation hardware, but even on older devices like the iPhone 3G, the game is still very playable, and it even works well over cellular data connections. The controls work fairly well, but the right aiming joystick stops moving once you reach the edge of the movement area, instead of constantly scrolling around, making rapid turning a tricky proposition.

Archetype's problem is that there is nothing going on beyond the default mode - it's online team deathmatch or nothing. There's pretty much nothing beyond that - no local wireless multiplayer, no free for all or capture the flag modes, just team deathmatches. The maps all blend together, and the character designs are generic futuristic super soldiers. The whole game largely just feels like an approximation of some other work - there's little to define this game beyond the fact that it exists on the iOS platform. Archetype is desperately crying for more - and one can only hope the developers are out to provide more.

Archetype feels just incomplete. What is here is fun, albeit very generic, but there just isn't much here. If the developers are committed to adding more modes and maps to the game to expand what the game already provides, Archetype could be a killer first-person shooter for iOS, but as it is, Archetype's lack of substance hurts an otherwise solid game.