Review: Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour for Windows Phone
After delivering top selling games like Asphalt 7, The Amazing Spiderman and The Dark Knight Rises, Gameloft delighted avid Windows Phone 8 gamers around the globe with Modern Combat 4 this week. And boys I tell ya, this is the by far most intense mobile game available for our beloved platform as of yet. Its stunning visuals, fully voiced dialogs and story pushing cut scenes offer an experience which comes close to games you’ve been playing on your Xbox 360 or the like.
The Saga
Modern Combat originated back in 2009 on iOS, Android and even webOS. Unlike its successors, it only offered a single player campaign, but it was the first game that raised the bar for mobile First Person Shooters. Since then Gameloft has published Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus and Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation, with part 2 being the first mobile FPS to offer players a full-fledged multiplayer experience.
Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour arrived last December for iOS and Android leaving us behind for a mere 4 months. Considering how long it took Gameloft to release Asphalt 7 for WP, which had been available for both competing platforms for ages, this is a huge step in the right direction, giving hope that future titles will be available for iOS, Android and WP the very same day.
Visuals and Sound
MC4 utilizes the Unity game and Havok physics engine, which is the very reason, why it will not be available for Windows Phone 7 devices. It is without a doubt the best looking game for WP so far. High detailed character models, great looking environments, lense flare effects, volumetric smoke and particle effects, explosions and projectiles all around you, MC4 has everything you would expect from a good FPS. Fear not! The entire experience is buttery smooth. You won’t notice a single stutter, no matter how many opponents you’re facing. Makes one wonder how The Amazing Spiderman and The Dark Knight Rises can be such a lag fest.
The sound may seem a little weak, at least on the Nokia Lumia 920. But that’s due to the speakers. If you play it with headphones, you’ll certainly not be disappointed with the effects. The music is pretty good as well, though not outstanding.
Gameplay and Controls
The story is very typical for the shooter genre. Take some evil guys gathering around an even more evil leader who attacks the world with nuclear weapons and even kidnaps the president of the United States, add a hero and some companions to the mix and voilà, there’s your plot. Shooter fans won’t mind the lack of a deeper story with some dramatic climaxes. Gameloft did a very good job telling the tale though. Every single dialog, be it in a cut scene or during a mission is completely and perfectly voiced. Should you be afraid your English isn’t good enough to follow through, just enable subtitles in one of the 10 available languages.
While running from checkpoint to checkpoint and working your to do list, your missions range from clearing a sector using a remotely controlled drone, taking down a certain enemy to driving on the back of a car trying to make your way through the hostile lines.
My biggest feat with MC4 was the controls. They could’ve been messed up easily, by just being all laggy or imprecise. Fortunately they’re not. To be honest, they’re on spot. You can choose from 3 different control schemes to find one which suits you most. Even the gyroscope is supported; I wouldn’t recommend using it though as it’s not the most comfortable way of playing a fast paced game.
Multiplayer
Modern Combat 4 offers true multiplayer. You can either play over WiFi or online using the Gameloft servers. Players can choose from several types of matches like deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag and so on. Matches can be played either ranked or unranked. Ranked matches influence your place in the global leaderboards and your character’s experience level. The latter determines which roles you’ll be able to play in a match and which weapons you’re able to purchase.
Multiplayer was as smooth for me as the single player campaign. I didn’t have the slightest lag. Unfortunately it doesn’t work cross platform, so you can only play against other Windows Phone users.
Conclusion
Due to its amazing graphics, it requires 1 GB of RAM and comes as a 1 GB download. Means you need to have about 4.5 GB of space available on your device in order to be able to download and install the game. Even though the sheer size of the game may be a drawback, it’s totally worth it.
