Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour

Not too long ago, the only place you could find high quality first person shooters was on consoles or PC. Developer Gameloft sought to remedy this issue with their Modern Combat series of smartphone games. They deliver all of the spectacle of another notable FPS franchise, but on the smaller screen of your smartphone. The fourth installment, Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour, is no exception.

Take The Mission on The Go

Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour packs all of the action of a Call of Duty game into your Android or iOS smartphone, while managing to sacrifice very little in terms of fidelity, usability, and fun. Near console quality textures and lighting are a highlight of the package, along with realistic physics enabled by Havok, the same physics engine used by many high profile titles such as Half Life 2 and Assassin's Creed.

Customizable controls mitigate issues with the all touch interface. You are free to place and resize each input to your specific needs, an option not presented by many of Modern Combat 4’s contemporaries. This feature goes a long way towards allowing players to advance through the game’s 13 story missions successfully, as well as giving them the edge they need in online multiplayer matches.

Multiplayer Mayhem

A full online multiplayer suite is also available in Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour. Up to 12 players can engage in multiple game modes including an every-man-for-himself “Battle” mode, a squad based “Team Battle” mode, and the perennial multiplayer favorite, “Capture The Flag”. At a certain rank, players can select a “Specialization”, which provides bonuses and perks depending on their style of play. The five “Specializations” are: Intervention, Stealth, Front Line, Support, and Demolition. You can use money earned by killing enemies and completing objectives to buy new weapons and attachments that are permanently available after purchase, unlike a game like Counter Strike, where weapon unlocks are only purchased for the current match.

You Are Not Alone

After a certain number of kills in each match, you are able to call in “Military Support”, which is an aid that must be purchased and equipped. “Military Supports” can highlight enemies on your minimap, summon an auto-turret to defend you, take down enemies’ radar, or carpet bomb a section of the map, resulting in mutliple kills.

Pros

• Amazing graphics on a smartphone for the time
• Realistic physics make playing with explosions very fun
• Customizable controls are a huge benefit
• Story mode feels like the right length for a smartphone game
• Being able to play multiplayer matches on the go with mobile service is awesome

Cons

• Phone can get quite hot over longer play sessions
• Smaller phones can make the controls quite cramped and block gameplay from view
• The campaign’s story is nonsense
• Voice acting, while varied, is often times over the top silly