GAMEFURY

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized – Review (DS)

It’s quite strange, but the Nintendo DS hasn’t seen a lot of first person shooters that actually stood out. True, we had Dementium: The Ward, and Moon, which were both pretty good, at least on a technical level, and of course, we have Nintendo’s very own Metroid Prime Hunters, which not only is the best shooter on the system so far, but also is one of the very best titles available on the system. But by and large, barring the increasingly rare exceptions, good shooters on the DS have become somewhat of a myth- oft talked about, never seen.

What compounds the confusion accompanying the situation is the fact that the DS’s control scheme is, in theory at least, ideally suited to an FPS- the touch screen, used in conjunction with the face buttons and the d-pad, is as close to replicating the PC keyboard and mouse experience as you can get. And yet developers have fumbled- possibly, the lack of power under the DS’s hood is to blame. But it may be that the DS itself is not suited to a genre as demanding as FPS’s, even though initial impressions tend to dictate otherwise.

However, developers n-Space seem to be out to prove all the naysayers wrong. Having released the DS versions for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: World at War (both of which were indisputably the high points that the FPS genre has seen on the console), they now bring us Call of

Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized, their third Call of Duty game, that acts as a ‘companion’ to the recently released and wildly successful Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and you really have to admire their effort- not only is Mobilized their best game on the system yet, it is also, without doubt the greatest shooter on the system.

Before I proceed with this review, it is important to clear one thing up: Mobilized is not a port of the console versions, and nor is it meant to be. So if you’re looking for a game that shall seamlessly provide you the experience that the console games provide you with, then you’re looking in the wrong place- the DS is simply not capable of doing stuff like that.

Having said that, however, it must be noted that Mobilized comes as close to the console versions as is possible without sacrificing its own distinct identity, and all the while, playing to the strengths of the DS, and keeping its limitations in mind. Much in the manner that Chinatown Wars brought us the purest GTA experience on the handheld earlier this year, this game brings us the quintessential Call of Duty experience that does nothing that would have been impossible to pull off, yet is unmistakably Call of Duty.

Nowhere is what I just said more evident than with the game’s graphics- the developers are evidently very confident in working with the DS, and completely familiar with it. They are also, apparently, extremely talented. For they have managed to churn out gorgeous, detailed 3D visuals from the DS’s 3D challenged hardware, that not only qualify as the best graphics on the system- there can be no question about that, at least- but they also are consistent, and run at a smooth 30 frames per second, never suffering any manner of a slowdown, even when the screen is filled with numerous enemies, and a lot of explosions, that surely must be taxing on the DS’s processor. Indeed, you can almost hear it whirring and wheezing, as it struggles to keep up with what the game demands of it.

But there still never is any compromise in the quality and never do you feel that there were any corners cut. The developers adopted a couple of ingenious techniques to mask the game’s inherent graphical vulnerabilities, trading off detail in character models for a steady frame rate. And yet, because we rarely have occasion to actually observe an object up close for any length of time, we don’t ever really notice this inconsistency. That’s not to say it isn’t there, because it is. But it is rarely ever noticeable, and never detracts from the overall experience.

Also impressive is the game’s sound- this is the unadulterated Call of Duty experience, and the sound emerges unscathed in its transition from this generation’s most powerful systems, to the weakest one. We have top notch, high quality voice acting here, and loads of it. We have enemies with their own war cries, we have guns, that not only all look different, but sound different too… each weapon has its own distinct auditory identity, and it’s commendable that the developers were paying so much attention to detail.

Apart from the voice acting, there’re also the vehicles, and again, they all sound as authentic as they should. Accompanying this entire audio

wonder is the game’s soundtrack, which quietly hums away in the background, adding considerably to the atmosphere. When you’re through with the game, it is highly possible that you won’t remember a single tune that played during the course of the game. However, without the music, the experience would feel hollow and feel soulless.

There are a couple of niggles even here, though. For instance, it becomes grating to hear our enemies repeat the same thing every time we face off against them, in the same mechanical voice. I’m not asking for much here, but a few variations would have been welcome in inflection and intonation, if not in dialogue.

Accompanying these technical feats is the game’s gameplay, which remains largely unchanged from the last two COD games- you still control the character using the touch screen, while you move forward, or strafe sideways using the d-pad. The L trigger is used for shooting, and the action buttons are used for interacting with objects throughout the course of the game. It does emulate the PC’s tried and tested keyboard and mouse control scheme (which is ideal for this kind of a game) admirably well, though it results in cramps if you play for extended periods. There were also some jarring oversights on the developers’ part when it comes to controls, which really are inconsistent with the otherwise high level of polish the game boasts of. For instance, to change weapons, you must tap on the touch screen. And yet, lifting the stylus suddenly in the midst of a heated clash with a horde of oncoming soldiers can be quiet distracting, if not downright disorienting, and can often result in totally undeserved (and consequently frustrating) deaths. Conversely, you might often find that you tapped one of the weapon buttons quite by mistake when you didn’t intend to, so that you’ll suddenly realize that you’ve thrown a grenade when you didn’t mean to. Not only is that loss of valuable ammo, but it can also result in almost certain death, if you’re a bit slow, and don’t immediately catch on with what you’ve done.

So yes, there are some problems even with this control scheme, but you basically get used to them over time. That doesn’t excuse the developers for not trying something a bit better though, even though this probably is the best compromise that they could come up with.

The game has a single player campaign that should last you eight to nine hours to finish, but you’ll probably want to go through it again, since it is quite a ride to be had… but even if the single player mode bores you, you’re in luck, because Mobilized boasts of one of the meatiest multiplayer modes ever to be found in any DS game, and certainly the best we’ve had so far in a DS FPS.

We have local multiplayer for up to six players, with all the standard shooter fare… you have your variations of Deathmatch, King of the Hill and Find the Flag, with a decent selection of maps that are all varied and all offer something different as far as tactical advantages go, but the problem

here is, you need your friends to all have their own copies of the game too, and that is highly unlikely, seeing how the first two DS Call of Duty games never did catch on. There is no option for single cartridge play, and that’s a shame, because it would have added considerable value to an otherwise flawless mode.

However, there is an online mode, which surprisingly keeps up with the local mode, and offers efficient matchmaking. There also is no lag to speak of, and during the few times that I went online, I found it easy to enter a match with players of my own skill level. The online here works largely like the online in last year’s World at War… only without the lag.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized comes as a genuine surprise. It is the best shooter on the Nintendo DS, though that is nothing special, seeing as how shooters on the system are generally disappointing. But it also comes across as a compelling gameplay experience, one that holds your attention from start to finish, and one that you will keep returning to, even as you blast through enemies in the much shiner HD versions of the game.

Really, you should give this one a chance. Developers n-Space have outdone themselves, and everybody else, with their best game yet, and they have managed to make the DS dance to their tune. If ever, there was a case of a third party completely mastering a gaming system, Modern Warfare Mobilized is it. So when you’re off the next time to the hills for the weekend, be sure to take your DS along with you. Because this game will bring you the purest Call of Duty experience on the unlikeliest system of all. And it will do it all, whilst simultaneously retaining a distinct and memorable identity of its own.

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