Piece De Resistance: Call of Duty Mobile Review

^{Halloween Update}
Ever since COD was announced about two months ago, game lovers were hit with a wave of ecstasy. Most because of the fact that their favourite FPS game is coming back to mobile after so many years - their last was Call of Duty Strike team - while others just because they will be getting a taste from a different pot. The widespread excitement was accompanied by a great sense of anticipation which ideally set the stage for its release. Ever since then, it has been able to rake up over 50 million downloads on the Google Playstore and the numbers could only get higher. Battle Royale is the kinda thing these days, the unavoidable trend and COD also followed the same path.

COD tilts more closely to the war life, the battle experience, the soldier life and COD Mobile is not any different. It is every bit of your regular Battle Royale and still maintains all the bits of its reputable standards. To get boxed up in the enthralling experience, the first step - after downloading the game - is getting a Facebook account, if you don't have one. Apart from your conventional guest mode, Facebook is pretty much all there is to signing up to Call of Duty.

MULTIPLAYER

This is probably the most popular reason gamers play Call of duty and it is undoubtedly the selling point. Not only is it enthralling, it immerses participants in fierce quick fire and breathless battles against one another in different match modes. These match modes are what gives it more juice and players can select according to their preference.

FRONTLINE

The most popular kind of match mode, it's a 5 vs 5 kind of thing where you get to kill players of the opposing team and the first to get to the score limit will win the match. This can be played in all of the available locations.

TEAM DEATHMATCH

The only difference between this and Frontline is the respawn. For Frontline, you always spawn at your base, but for this, you can be thrown anywhere which makes it kinda more challenging.

DOMINATION

This is a little bit different from what you'll see in your regular multilayer. While kills are important, they may not help your team win. The main point is capturing specific spots which will be identified throughout the course of the game. And these locations will be shuffled all the while, the longer your team hold a position, the more points they gain and the first to reach score limit wins. It is indeed a fun mode.

SEARCH AND DESTROY

This equally has a unique style of play. Each team is given either of the two objectives - defend or destroy. A specific location is highlighted and that is where the team will carry its task to. While defending means you'll have to kill players from the opposing team and prevent them from destroying the objective, destroying means you'll have to plant a bomb on the objective it will detonate if not disarmed by the opposing team before the time out ends. In either case, if all players of a team are killed, the opposing team win. The score limit is 6. No respawns!

Then you have the featured section where different limited game modes are introduced. Talk of the GUN GAME where you are not teamed up with anyone, 8 players just have kill themselves and struggle to be the first to get to the score limit which is 200. A kill earn you 10 points and for every kill, your gun is upgraded... Well, maybe up to the point where you'll have to use a knife.

There were the free for all and the snipers only - which are now no more. What we have now is the rockets only challenge. A tough one it is as it guarantee ls you less kills and more deaths. A good challenge to avoid when you are looking to preserve your kill/death ratio.

WEAPONS

The load out is jam-packed with a variety of devastating weapons. From the snipers to assault rifles to pistols, the all have their own measured death toxins. While assault rifles can be good when you're just starting out on COD increasing difficulty caused by matching you with more experienced players may mean you'll have to resort to long distance relationships with your enemies. Weapon XP card can be gotten on the completion of various challenges and their ranked in three categories according to their worth. These can be used to upgrade your weapons but each weapon has its own limits in upgrades. Upgrading only means unlocking the specific attachments for the particular weapon. From optics for longer range to increasing the material penetration of a bullet to reducing the loading time of a gun. You'll only get the same set of upgrades for every gun though, no new deal.

RANKED MATCH

Apart from your regular match that gets you your XP and increases your level nonetheless, the ranked match actually increases your rank from the default "ROOKIE III" to ELITE level with consistency. It proves more difficult as your tier increases and you can't actually choose a particular game mode or map. Everything is random, you only have the choice of weapons.

SCORE STREAKS

Imagine you in the heat of the moment, either your enemies are falling by your bullet in quick successions through your assault rifle or you're identifying your targets and sniping them through your scope, scorestreaks make it better by rewarding you with a special kind of equipped machinery that takes you to the next level. There are different kinds of scorestreaks, all of which can metamorphose an outright deadly zone into a feeding frenzy for you. We have the turrets which can be set at any point on the map provided you are not killed in the process, we have the unmanned drones that deal maximum damage on an enemy upon impact, the UAVs that provide the same kind of feel and many others.

There are frequent scorestreaks that pop out once in a while and are yours for the taking if you are able to meet the requirements, talk of the dreaded arrow and the explosive cocktail.

MAPS

• KILLHOUSE
• CROSSFIRE
• NUKETOWN
• CRASH
• STANDOFF
• HIJACKED
• FIRING RANGE
• TAKE OFF
• RAID

All of these locations have their own designated match mode. So for some places where you can't play your regular front line, you could be able to play TDM (Team Death Match). It'd be hard for a player to consistently play and not have a favourite location - where he/she gets the highest kill count, this is due to the fact that each location has its own unique terrain which determines the kind of gameplay it may favour. As a sniper, my preferences are 'CRASH', 'CROSSFIRE', 'KILLHOUSE' and maybe 'RAID'. A location like standoff is outrightly unique, specifically for the Halloween celebration and therefore there for a limited time and we'd definitely see more in the nearest future, Christmas is coming.

BATTLE ROYALE

While they have succeeded in making a reputation out of the multiplayer the battle royale might not have panned out as expected as seen in reviews by some people. Particularly, I don't see any reason to chastise the every dynamic match mode but it can only get better. With every thing that has been seen so far, it is still a juice box that only can be appreciated.

Given it's infancy, we only have a map to play in and it is understandable, the festive season is coming and we have been teased with spoilers of what it entails.

What makes this match mode more interesting is the ability to give your soldier a specific class which increases amplifies his chances in specific areas in the battlefield. It just adds a whole new sauce to the game

MEDIC

This class summons a medic station that heals you and any of your team mates within the range. It is one of the most useful class in the selection because you obviously will take damage from your enemies and you, at the moment may be out of adrenaline shots or health boosts. It also reduces the time taken to heal and time to bring back knocked out teammates by 25%.

SCOUT

Being caught unawares is a terrible thing and the ability to sense danger is a great advantage over your opponent, Preparing for it gives you another edge. Scout class gives you the ability to shoot a sensor dart that can make you see enemy positions on the map, it also contains a tracker which can see enemy footprints for 10 seconds. All you need to sneak up on an opponent

CLOWN

Something out of your horror movie, it summons zombie to help you in your fight. Although they vanish after some seconds, when it is used where there are enemies, they can help you knock your enemy out without you lifting a finger but if you want to get the kill, you have to kill your enemies while they are knocked out. It could also help you create a distraction for your enemies if you come under their fire.

NINJA

It helps you shoot a grapple hook to the nearest object. This can be useful when you come under fire from the enemy and you need some air in order to re-strategize. Just like something out of your spiderman movie. It also gives you stealth which reduces the sound you make with your boot and creates more chances for surprise attacks.

DEFENDER

Imagine when your are caught in a Web of flying bullets and you are someone who does well by standing ground. This could prove useful. It places a deformable shield around you that creates something like a mini-fortress for you. It a very efficient tool for strategic players. It comes with a perk that reduces damage taken from all sources except gunfire by 20%.

MECHANIC

Summoms an EMP drone that causes EMP interference to your enemies. It also grants you augmented sight that allows you spot equipments or vehicles from 80m away!

AIRBORNE

Just when you're in the heat of the moment and the whole safe zone thingy is getting in the way. You could - run and run and fail to meet up, you could also run out of adrenaline shots and your health dwindles before you get there. This class makes it all easier. It summons a catapult that ejects your team into the air and enabled your wingsuit for you to glide back to the safe zone, the good part is that, your team mates can also attach themselves to the catapult. The additional perk to this class is that it gives you more buoyancy in air.

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Apart from all these, there are other miniature features that make both multilayer and battle royale more interesting. From sprays that just paints a particular image on the wall for your enemies to see to customizable attires and weapons that makes your character look more like a well prepared character. The only thing I've noticed which may not bode well for the players is that customizable or decorated weapons have lesser damage and since they are priced, it may deter player from acquiring them.

The currency is another area to talk about,the C and the CP - Credit and Call of Duty points. Credits can be gotten by completing tasks, achievement, daily login rewards and whatnot without having to spend a dime. But the COD Points which can get you customised gears, uniquely designed weapons and limited items can only be gotten with real money.

Given a mobile game sphere already populated by battle royale games, it could have been a difficult challenge to integrate and trump rivals and it has been able to do that - maybe largely due to its reputation. Since it already came off a great start, there can be only more to everything.

All Images are screenshots made by me