The Modern Combat series is modeled after the behemoth that is the Call of Duty franchise, so it’s fitting that these titles typically display Gameloft at the top of their form. In this latest installment, the United States has been crippled in a surprise war initiated by Korea, Pakistan, and Russia. Obviously, the U.S. is going to try and take back its country. The question is, does Fallen Nation maintain Gameloft’s streak of top-notch first-person shooters?
Like its predecessors, Modern Combat 3 is divided into two sections: campaign and multiplayer. The campaign is made up of 13 missions that take you from crumbling government buildings to Alaskan landscapes, and everywhere in between. By and large, the missions are designed to funnel you down a specific path, with an assortment of bottleneck points where enemies pop out and assault you. Kill the enemies, and you can proceed to the next checkpoint, which is always marked on your screen. This lack of freedom isn’t necessarily a bad thing, provided that you’re not expecting vast environments, ripe for exploration.
Gas prices so high, your head will bleed.
The plus side of having everything scripted out is that it allows for dynamic set pieces. Like in Modern Warfare 2, you’ll breach doors and cap enemies in slow-motion in one level, follow a squad leader through the next, and operate a gunship after that. All of these parts gel into a mostly satisfying gameplay experience, but it’s not very different from what we’ve seen before--not only in the Call of Duty franchise, obviously, but also in N.O.V.A. 2 or Modern Combat 2.
Our biggest gripe about the campaign is that it doesn’t feel all that polished. Often times your goal is to advance up a hill, and they’ll throw a seemingly endless number of enemies at you, to the point where it becomes ridiculous, cheap, frustrating, and annoying. (Did we miss an adjective?). You’ll die pretty often later in the game, and it’s not always because you made a mistake. Worse, the enemies don’t have true AI. Instead, they follow a set path, stop, and shoot at you, with no ability to react to how you approach them. Often when you kill one enemy, another appears and follows his predecessors footsteps exactly.
Gone hunting.
If the campaign mode is a little rougher than we expected, the multiplayer mode more than picks up the slack. In fact, Modern Combat 3 has the best multiplayer suite we’ve seen in an iOS shooter yet. The game comes with six maps and seven gameplay modes, and allows up to 12 people into a match at a time. The levels are large and varied, each with a unique look, and with plenty of places to hide or take cover.
This time around, if you get a long enough kill streak you’re rewarded with helpful bonuses for your team. You’ll be able to run a satellite scan that makes all of your enemies appear on your radar, or a button will appear that calls in an air strike that will destroy any bad guys out in the open. Of course, these additions will be familiar to anyone who’s played Call of Duty games on the consoles and PC, but they’re new to the iPhone.
Time to get snipey.
For each kill or assist you make, you get experience points that let you climb the ranks and unlock new weapon loadouts. Each match you participate in also nets you in-game currency that lets you buy unlocked weapons and customize them with new scopes, grips, bullet magazines, and the like. The campaign mode has a similar in-game store, but it uses a separate currency. And for those of you who don’t want to play to earn the best gear, you have the option to purchase the currency using real-life money.
So if you’re into competitive or team-based online shooters, Modern Combat 3 is a rock-solid buy--it trumps every other iOS game out there. If you prefer sticking to single-player campaigns, however, you’ll probably want to wait until Gameloft inevitably drops the price to a buck in one of their regular sales. In any case, despite a few rough edges, Modern Combat 3 is a gorgeous, adrenaline rush of a game that capably answers the (mobile) call of duty.
22 Comments
Hmm…maybe I'll wait for a sale. I'm not quite willing to spend $6.99 on a game solely for the multiplayer, but this does look fun.
Get it you will be having fun for half a year at least
Hey Riku,Mohave you tried playing using the TouchPlayTap? It really makes a huge difference? Their website is at
Bad single player = no buy
Not true! after the amazing dissipointment of Warm Gun, I think we're due a good multiplayer game, and MC3 is exactly that.
the single player campaign was better in MC2, at least halfway through. STP is right about the RELENTLESS number of enemies u gotta clear out in some set pieces, they just keep coming out of nowhere. but it is fun and looks gorgeous. worth a purchase imo
I love the game but smooth controls? It is a pain to turn around in this game!
You can use the mc2 controls. just go to the controller layout and drag to the right for the classic layout
the controls are a bit off wen looking around and the campaign is alright. the graphics are amazing and i love it how theres heaps of new features but i expect more from gameloft
Personally I'm liking the campaign it's funny and good story in most parts but the darn near endless waves of enemies is extremely frustrating and the online is pretty fun especially when you can unlock airstrike and turrent up.
AirPlay isn't mentioned in the review. I bought MC 3 specifically for AirPlay mirroring, and I have to say it's rather nice. The lag is enough for many people to never play it via AirPlay, but nonetheless it's a great demonstration of the phone's capabilities on the big screen; especially when compared to an XBOX 360 or PS3.
To sit with an iPhone in your hand and play a game with near current generation quality graphics on a 52" screen is pretty cool.
I also was really interested in the Air Play mirroring, but I don't know how to use it, or find an obvious "on" switch.
i am also curious as to how this works. can you explain it to us?
There is nothing "bad" about the single player. If you like using touch controls to shoot enemies standing behind crates you will love this. Touch controls aren't bad and shooting enemies is what an FPS is all about. Graphics look great and the animations are fluid. (ipad2 iOS5)
If you learn how to use gyroscope control, it is much better.
Very true. Gyroscope is awesome on the phone. Makes aiming very precise once you get used to it. I'm amazed by the graphics of these newer games coming out.
STOKED for epoch!
I'll probably never learn Gyroscope controls. I tried, but I always feel like a stationary rotating turret. Then when I turn it off, I often try
to move my iPod to assist my aim :(
Your forgot to mention that this game is physically impossible to connect to. I just spent the last two hours trying to connect, and each time I was greeted with a friendly "Connection Lost." I agree the multiplayer is definantly top notch, but I would say the server quality is somewhere down the lines Warm Gun or Battlefield 2.
@Runnygnome yes i have the same error Connection Lost there must be some problem with the servers i hope they fix it soon because i spent 6.99$ just for the multiplayer and if they dont do anything then they are gonna face troublE!!
If u have this problem you have to close the app and remove it from the background then start it up again. It works everytime. If you have a jailbroken device download the tweak that removes background apps without restarting
The controls = AMAZING
Multiplayer = SO TOTTALY AMAZING
Story mode = same thing like mc2 with a
LOT of swearing 4 no
apperant reason.
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