ABOUT

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Modern Combat: Blackout is a First-Person-Shooter game in the same vein as Call of Duty. If this game sounds similar to something you’ve played before, it’s because you most likely have. Modern Combat: Blackout is a port of Gameloft’s five year old game, Modern Combat 5.

The Switch version of Modern Combat: Blackout is nearly a direct port of the mobile version. However, there are some differences. The main one being that there are no micro-transactions. You can earn everything in game. There are loot boxes, but you use in-game money to get them instead of paying extra for them. This is a definite plus over the free mobile versions.

STORY

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The story in Modern Combat: Blackout is pretty standard FPS affair. Somebody decided they wanted to take over the world and you have to stop them. In the game, you play as Cayden Phoenix, a freelance military contractor, who has to prevent his employer (Gilman Security) from funding terrorists and obtaining chemical weapons.

While the plot isn’t going to win any awards, it’s better than nothing and sets the stage for the solo campaign. The missions are short, usually taking no longer than about five to six minutes. They involve shooting down the bad guys and… that’s it. No puzzles or interesting quests here. If you are looking for something more substantial, you’ll want to look elsewhere.


There are six areas and each of them feel disconnected from each other. It feels like they were all written by different teams with only a general broad idea of what the others were doing. In my opinion, there is better writing towards the end of the campaign, just don’t expect the same writing you’d see in a AAA game. You won’t be getting that.

While the story might be okay, the voice acting itself is terrible. Every line feels disconnected from each other and random swear words are added in at odd points. Maybe it has more to do with the flow of the actions on screen, but it just didn’t feel natural like in other games such as Halo 5 and Destiny.

GAMEPLAY

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MECHANICS

The mechanics by themselves are solid. I had no issues with moving or aiming once I tweaked the sensitivity. This is actually the first game where I turn on motion controls. In other games, the implementation has felt clunky to me and not accurate. However, in Modern Combat: Blackout, the Motion Controls work. It does wonders for my sniper aim. One small gripe I have is that motion controls are only available once you are in scoped view. It would be nice to have it on weapons like pistols where you don’t need or have a scoped view. This is not gameplay damaging by any means though. I also have an issue with the player running. While you do pick up speed, the animation that occurs makes it look like you are just speed walking. It’s even worse when you have a sniper equipped. It doesn’t hurt the actual gameplay, but I’ve had multiple times in online matches where I’m afraid I didn’t actually run away from an enemy.

CUT-SCENES

The animations in the cut-scenes are rather disappointing. Sometimes they are well thought out and their movements look normal, but at other points, they just look robotic. Another thing that caught my attention was that certain models have a white line around them, almost like the models were designed at a lower resolution than even 720p. Sadly, this isn’t limited to just a few cut-scenes, it plagues the whole game and every time you see a new one, you’re given terrible voice acting and only sometimes decent animation. It is especially apparent when in docked mode.

ONLINE

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Online play is probably the best part of the game. This doesn’t mean it isn’t disappointing though. One thing I really wished Gameloft had done was bring over their beta battle royale mode from PC and Android. That would help me stomach the $20 price tag more easily. Also, I wish that there were more modes and/or maps. There are currently only two modes and seven maps. You have a total of fourteen possibilities when you go online. If they had a “King of the Hill” type mode (or frankly, any other mode), it would make me more excited about playing online.


One thing that is pretty much inexcusable is the complete lack of cross-platform play. This is extremely frustrating because, compared to Android or iOS, there are very few people that play Modern Combat: Blackout online. While I never had an issue with matching, there were multiple instances where a team battle was 1v1. This led to points where I would either get demolished by the other “team” or I would demolish them. It just wasn’t fun at that point.

I reached out to Gameloft about why cross-platform play wasn’t included and they said a patch was in the works. Two weeks and two patches later, cross-platform play has still not been added. I hope it will happen, but I’m not counting on it.

Modern Combat: Blackout is definitely at its most fun when you have eight to ten players battling it out in team battle. Free-for-All is chaotic, but more fun when there’s between five and eight players. Sadly, more often than not, you’ll never reach these numbers in a match. I’ve never started with more than six players, but the game will steadily add players if it finds them throughout the match. Naturally, this is both a blessing and a curse. It’s possible that by the end of the match you have a full team and have fun, or it could be a 1v2 in which you get pummeled from both sides by snipers.

Another major part of Modern Combat: Blackout is the upgrade system. It’s probably the most refined part of the game. Using the loadout menu, you have a plethora of options that can either be unlocked by leveling up (cores, classes, and weapons) or by opening lootboxes with “credits” that you get from completing missions and online play. The best part is that you can earn credits in both online and campaign mode and they will carry over into both. The modes aren’t isolated from each other.

FINAL VERDICT

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Modern Combat: Blackout is a disappointing game for the most part. There are some bright points in it, but the sub-par animation, combined with the bad voice acting and so-so story bring it down. Sadly, the switch version of the game offers little that you can’t get with the mobile version. If you are dying for a Call of Duty type game to play on your switch, then buy it. There most likely won’t be any other options any time soon. Otherwise, I would recommend you pass on it. The bright spots like online play and customization don’t make up for nearly everything else. If Modern Combat: Blackout was $5 instead of $20, I’d say go for it, but I just don’t see the value of it at $20.

TRAILER

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