Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Mobilized
The Nintendo DS gets its fair share of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 gaming with the release of Modern Warfare Mobilized, a first person shooter on the handheld system.
Ratings:
Graphics & Audio: 22/25,
Gameplay: 18/25,
Creativity 17/25,
Fun 22/25
Total: 79/100
Modern Warfare Mobilized is the latest Nintendo DS first person shooter to hit the system alongside the other Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 releases. While much of the gaming attention is focused on the Modern Warfare 2 release the Nintendo DS also gets its fair share with this fun game.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Mobilized is a true first person shooter for the Nintendo DS which is a rarity for the handheld system. You have your movement forward, back and sideways controlled using either the D pad or the letter buttons while the touch screen handles weapons changing, down the scope view and most importantly looking.
Using the touch screen for changing your view works very well and even the weapon and grenade switching works out simply and easily on the touch screen. The game plays very well with you choosing either left or right handed for controls while both trigger buttons fire your current weapon.
Once you get used to the controls this game is actually very fun and works very well for a first person shooter given that gameplay is on a small screen. The game plays right out of the Call of Duty series and only detracts from the enjoyment a little for the control scheme being a bit awkward and the less than stellar graphics.
The games graphics are great but they also are about as far as the game can go with first person gaming in a modern scene on the smaller screen of the Nintendo DS. The game is great looking and I have not gotten into the gameplay or much beyond the first person goodness.
Modern Warfare Mobilized starts out with either a training session or right into the single player campaign where you play as a British Special Forces SAS fighting terrorists. The gameplay is straight out of the Modern Warfare and Call of Duty book and is your typical first person shooter fun but that does not describe how well it actually plays.
You do first person shooting and teamwork to get from one point to another while taking out opponents using plenty of weapons such as the popular MP5 and grenades. Playing the game is great as switching weapons takes just about the same time on the DS as it would on a keyboard setup.
You have two other team members in your campaign for regular ground work but you also have some excellent tank and gunship levels so there are vehicles of sorts. These levels are just as fun if not the best part of the game in my opinion and just wish there were wholes games featuring these types of warfare on the handheld.
Other aspects of the game are straight out of the same playbook with frame rates that work as well as the Wii version of Call of Duty World at War as well as sound and graphics. I have actually seen worse graphics on the Wii system and even the PC while this was actually pretty good not even considering it’s a handheld.
The game plays well over the single player missions and you move along much like the game plays on a Wii console or PC with single player missions stacked one after the other in a campaign. The scenarios follow along the usual Call of Duty story where you pursue leads toward apprehending or eliminating a terrorist who is after nuclear weapons.
Shooting bad guys is easy but they also move and shoot back with realism and some pretty decent AI but of course they do not move around much. The enemies are free to roam pretty much like in any other game and you do have a decently large area to move in without having to wait for the game to load sections or levels.
Doors you can open and rooms you can search for opponents, areas where enemies will run from to attack you, weapons dropped by fellow soldiers and enemies alike that you can pick up and use. All the usual things found in a first person shooter on the consoles is here on the tiny handheld that makes an FPS game great.
I found the game plenty of fun and enjoyed the review a lot but alas I could not really check out all the multiplayer gaming over adhoc or local internet setups. You do need copies of the game on each Nintendo DS when you play a local network multiplayer game and I do not have any extra copies nor do I have another Nintendo DS.
I did check out the online multiplayer gaming of Modern Warfare Mobilized and found it quite enjoyable as well with plenty of the same first person gaming action that the handheld version gives. The screen is small so picking out combatants that are across a courtyard or down streets may be a bit tougher but it also gives you the same advantage.
The control scheme works well as it gives a limited amount of buttons to work with so you really are working at a minimum of controls to keep things simple. The games may a bit hard to find as the system is fully automated for the World Wide Match search but you can list friends and join games that are preselected.
The matches are small as you would imagine on the handheld but it is fun and kind of intimate for a first person shooter with some good multiplayer action for up to six people. The game even includes new weapon selections for more kills in each faction you play so there is at least some kind of leveling and rank system.
Connecting on the multiplayer is through a Wi-Fi connection which I had no problem performing and it was quite fun to work out as an individual in the small gaming sessions. I mostly got my butt kicked but you can play the multiplayer and easily get into the game in just a few minutes from home or wherever you can connect your Nintendo DS to.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Mobilized is a great overall game even with its lower graphics and slightly awkward controls that actually plays very well on the handheld. I would highly recommend Modern Warfare Mobilized as a rental at the very least to see if you enjoy it and want to go full out and make a purchase.