Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation Review: A Surprisingly Nice Military Shooter

Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation Review

Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation
App Store
iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), Android
$6.99

About the game

Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation is a first person shooter available on both iOS and Android devices. To start off I should mention that a first person shooter on a touch screen device was a very difficult thing for me to get use to. I love my shooters with actual controls and I still prefer that over the touch controls. However, Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation has still given me a first person shooter that I can enjoy even with the touch controls. After some experimenting in the options I eventually settled with the gyroscope aiming, which I ended up loving a lot. Of course that meant I was moving my entire body around as I would play but it made the experience much more fun to enjoy. You can also choose to touch screen aim if you prefer as well and some may like that better for online play. I just simply fell in love with the gyroscope control for aiming instead and that’s what I use online as well.

Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation sets you up into some pretty decent combat in its campaign mode. You’ll be able to choose from easy, normal, hard and extreme difficulties. I would recommend that you start on easy or normal for first time players, especially as you get use to the controls. I’ve been going through on normal and haven’t really had a difficult time at all. I would have moments where I would just stand in the open and take some hits. But ended up being just fine as I slowly aimed and shot down enemies. The only thing you don’t want to do is run right up in someone’s face…obviously. But the easier difficulty is certainly more friendly to first time players.

As you play from mission to mission it gives you a quick mission objective so that you know what you are going up against. Nothing too greatly detailed, but every once in awhile you will get a small video clip about an upcoming event. You do get good communication in game with characters talking with one another, which helps with the feel of the game. I will also say that not all missions are on foot as you will get different types of action. For example, controlling an AC-130 along with use of the gyroscope controls works wonderfully and is a fun way to play.

Game play – Controls

It will take you a minute to find the control settings you want and get use to how you are going to have to hold your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. Once you get that down it won’t take you too long to get yourself into the action and starting to enjoy it. The gameplay can be a lot of fun and especially so with the gyroscope controls. That is as long as you don’t mind standing in the middle of the room and turning yourself as you take aim in different directions within the game. I still find that fun though and it works really well for me. But everyone needs to experiment and find out the method of play that suits them best. Either way, it’ll be a bit of a learning curve before you get it down.

One of the nice features when it comes to the controls is that you are able to rearrange the location of certain buttons on the touch screen. Such as your ammo, being able to reload, the use of your knife, grenades and those type of the things. The virtual analog is used on the left side of the touch screen, but it doesn’t have a specific spot. So whenever you put your thumb down on the left part of the screen, that is where the center of the virtual analog stick will be.

Sound – Graphics

Visually the game looks really good and well detailed with both your surroundings and character details. You won’t be disappointed with the visual presentation of this game. The music has more of a rock style to it that comes across rather poorly and will even get a little old at times. This is certainly a weaker point for this game.

Online – Multiplayer

Online multiplayer in Modern Combat 3 runs pretty decently, though you will come across moments of lag throughout. But it was never anything too bothersome and it didn’t hurt the online experience at all. There seems to have been a lot of work that went into the online functions of the game. The presentation is set up very nicely and you’ll have multiple game modes that you will be able to play in. You’ll also be able to rank up in your level as well by gaining experience points from playing. Plus, the amount of stats that the game keeps really is quite nice.

There is a lot of detail as well and a ton of items for you to unlock or purchase with experience points that you will gather by playing. There is also a large range of achievements for you to unlock that will keep you very busy for a long time. You can fully customize your equipment, player profile such as a message, image and a background image that will be displayed to your victims. You can pretty much call this a different version of Call of Duty…..not that you couldn’t get that from the name of the game itself.

Enjoyment Level – Fun Factor – Final Notes

Overall, I wasn’t sure if this game was a winner for me at first. But that was just because I needed to get past the learning curve and find the controls that worked best for me. Once that happened I absolutely enjoyed my time with this title and found it to be a worthy shooter to own. This isn’t how I prefer to play my first person shooters…..not by a long shot. But it’s still a new and enjoyable way to play. I would easily recommend this title for anyone looking for a military shooter or something that reminds you of Call of Duty. It is fair to say that this is a decent and enjoyable campaign, mixed with online multiplayer that will give you a lot in regards to play time and enjoyment.

Score: 3.5/5

Responses

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  1. Interesting…not sure if this will be fun to play on a phone or iPod. Sounds as if it really needs a joystick and a large screen. It could be fun to play when traveling and looking for something to do, but I would need to get used to the manner in which you need to move around to make the game work.