Last year Gameloft decided they wanted a piece of the cake and joined the wave of companies releasing FPS games. They did a little game called Modern Combat: Domination, or as i like to call it, the poor man Modern Warfare.
This is not the first downloadable title to come out trying to compete with Modern Warfare or the Battlefield series. Titles such as Breach, Blacklight: Tango Down, and others have tried but does Modern Combat: Domination have what it takes to float or will it sink? All i know is.. i like pie.
Gameplay
There is no campaign at all, the game consists only of multiplayer matchmaking, with 5 maps and 3 different game types to pick from. You have the choice to play offline and play with an AI team. This is not bad, if you want to get a hold of the controls before you start taking on online matches but you will not gain experience or ranks.
There is a money system in which you gain more by performing certain feats, headshosts, melee, etc. Must say it is annoying how you need to buy everything back everytime you respawn, not the best system compared to other games of this genre (MW series, Battlefield, etc) with time, you get used to it.
Controls are easy to learn and they feel good, very responsive. I like to play with a Dual Shock 3 and not the Playstation Move, although the game is fully compatible and Modern Combat: Domination has been promoted to be played with the peripheal.
Pretty much, if you played any of the Modern Warfare games you already know the controls, 90% of the controls are exactly the same, feels like a copy and paste but hey… it works.
This is also compatible with the Playstation Move, feels and works like a charm specially if you have a sharpshooter, personally i enjoy playing with the dual shock and not the Move.
Graphics 7/10
If not spectacular, graphics don’t look bad for a game like this, with good textures and details of light and shadows they are not so shabby, for 10 bucks i’ve seen worse. Of course they cannot compete with major retail titles, then again quote me; it’s just ten bucks.
Aside from a few objects and barricades here and there you can’t find much to destroy in the maps, something titles like Breach did really well. A more destructible environment could have made this game a winner.
Sound 6/10
Guns and explosions sounds well… they barely sound, could be better and there is much room for improvement. Although not a must during a match there could be more music in the lobby or after a match.
Downside
OMG the lag… is unbearable when a host have a crappy connection, Modern Combat: Domination uses a similar system to Halo and other games in which a player must host the match. When a host leaves or the connection is lost and is weird to see how the match skip frames and seems we are randomly moved in the map, can be truly annoying.
When i’m close to an objective like “activate the missile”, i keep wondering “hmm ok.. how?” There is nothing on screen telling you what you have to press to complete the mission, if not a biggie it can be annoying.
Lack of new content, as much fun as the game can be, lack of new maps are a downside for me, more DLC could give Modern Combat: Domination higher replay value.
Overall
This title is a good and cheap option if you enjoy the FPS genre and objectives in the style of capture the flag and such, although there are better options out there with much more content, variety and replay value.
With this said Modern Combat: Domination delivers lots of fun and entertainment for just 10 dollars, for that price you really can’t ask for more.
We give the game a 7 out of 10
~Mario
