Activision has now gone 3 years in a row with releasing a handheld version of one of its console Call of Duty titles, this year bringing forth a DS iteration of Modern Warfare 2. Similarly, the guys and gals over at N-Space (developers of Geist) are the ones behind the game, as they were during the original Modern Warfare’s and World at War’s respective releases. Naturally, these portable titles do not get anywhere near as much recognition as the grand, big-budget console games, but that’s never been because of poor quality. Quite the contrary- they are actually solid additions to the DS’s library, and this year’s Modern Warfare: Mobilized, is no different.
A major reason for this is because N-Space does not try to simply port the console game onto the DS and call it a day. Rather, they develop these handheld FPS from the ground-up, and create their own game that only shares the same name with what you find on the 360, PS3 or Wii. What you get then is a genuine product that’s just trying to do its own thing with what the DS offers, instead of trying to duplicate what the home console versions do and just slapping it on a smaller screen.
Of course the greatest reason why these games work on the DS in the first place is because of the touch screen, which becomes your source of input for everything but walking and firing. For those that have never played an FPS on the DS, be warned- there is a tremendous learning curve. There’s no doubt that it takes some time to get used to, and even then, you’ll often get hand cramps if you play for too long. Nonetheless, the aiming is more than satisfactory and the action rarely becomes too chaotic that its deficiencies hamper your progress. If anything, the real problem comes from tapping on the screen to reload, switch weapons, aim down the barrel of your sight etc. It never breaks the game or anything, but it’s just not a very fluent system for an FPS to have to take your stylus off your aim and perform another action. This is obviously due to the restrictions of the handheld, which simply does not offer the ideal control scheme for a genre as complex as the FPS.
Thankfully, sore hands shouldn’t become too much of a problem, as Mobilized is at it’s best when treated as a pick-up-and-play experience. The most enjoyable part of the game definitely include the Challenges, Arcade modes, and the admirable multiplayer component- features that you can start on the fly and spend between 10-20 minutes with. There is something unexplainably fun about seeing how long you can last against waves of oncoming enemies, or if you can complete such objectives like killing 20 soldiers in 3 minutes. Sure, there’s not much depth to these situations, though that might be a good thing.
The multiplayer includes Local Play, as well as Online Play between Friends or Random Opponents. There’s a fair amount of game modes, maps and weapons, nothing as intricate as what is on the 360 or PS3, but still impressive for a handheld title. If you are playing Random matches, you may occasionally have trouble finding other players, and only one participant gets to chose the game settings, but these are only small issues against a simple, yet fun multiplayer feature.
There is a full campaign to enjoy, one that’s completely different from what’s on the consoles, however it’s not particularly engaging. You’ll never find yourself in gigantic firefights or any truly intense encounters, seeing as how the DS could never handle all that action going on at once (you’ll rarely see more than three enemies on screen at the same time). Their AI is a mixed bag, as well, which makes some sense given that your aiming doesn’t allow for an effective run-and-gun style. There are a bunch of minigames which make use of the touch screen, such as hacking a security system or disarming a bomb, along with vehicle and turret sequences, but when these are the best parts of the campaign, it’s not saying much about the missions themselves. Mobilized bolsters the argument that a First-Person-Adventure experience, like a Metroid Prime or Moon, works much better on the handheld than a First-Person-Shooter.
Probably the biggest motivation to go through some of the campaign is just to see the amazing production values for the game. There may not be much of an artstyle, however the technical aspects of the visuals are outstanding for a DS game. Everything looks very detailed and pretty clean, without much grit or course textures. Even the frame rate stays fairly steady, only slowing down at the most action-heavy moments.
The sound is also top-notch, particularly the noises from the weapons. Between the firing, the reloading, and all the other actions your character makes, everything sounds genuine and, like the visuals, very clean through the DS’s speakers. Even more impressive are the voice-overs, which are literally pitch-perfect for a drama-light game.
