Enter the next installment of Modern Combat. You should have no problem picking up Modern Combat: Domination if you’ve played the previous games. Modern Combat: Domination is strictly a multiplayer game, unlike the previous Modern Combat games, there isn’t a campaign mode, which isn’t a bad thing to say the least.
MC: Domination, which is published and developed by Gameloft, is currently the top selling game on the Mac App Store and for good reason. There are 6 online modes including Capture The Flag and Domination, 13 different weapons, 5 maps, and multiplayer for up to 16 players. I’ve been spending a lot of time with it and I think it may compete with most console first person shooters, maybe not Call of Duty, but it comes pretty close. I was running it on a 2011 Macbook Pro with an i7 processor and it looks very good in comparison to a FPS on PS3 or Xbox 360 .
Gameplay
Modern Combat: Domination offers a lot for a game that’s only has multiplayer mode. It’s fun for a good while to play single player offline just to go through the maps so you’ll be more familiar with it before you go online to play multiplayer. One thing I did notice, which they can hopefully change in an update is the AI. The A.I. in single player mode, is well, not too intelligent. While I was playing in a few maps, some of the AI would just stand around, shooting some of my other teammates, which isn’t a problem, but I was just running by through the map, in pretty close range and I wasn’t even noticed. Other times I was able to shoot some of them in point blank range. Single player is fun though for the first few hours or so of playing.
Even so, single player isn’t why most of us play first person shooters, so let’s focus on multiplayer now. The different game modes are really fun to play, especially when there’s 16 players involved. From Team Deathmatch and Capture The Flag to Domination and newer modes like Extraction or Escort, there’s a lot of replay value in Modern Combat Domination. While playing online, I didn’t experience any kind of lag or slowdown in the servers. Gameloft has done a good job with the online play and has MC: Domination running very smooth and stable.
Sound
The sound in Modern Combat: Domination is superb. Everything from the musical score to the weapons, the environments such as your feet walking on sand, or concrete are top notch. The sound effects are really great and you can tell as soon as you boot up the game, that Gameloft has spent a good amount of time making sure everything in the game sounds life-like.
Controls
The controls are top notch too. Since I was playing on a Macbook Pro, I decided to use the keyboard first. By default the controls are up arrow to move forward, down to move backwards, and of corse left moves you left, and right moves you right. As for the trackpad, you use it to move the camera around and left click to shoot. Thankfully the controls are fully editable so you can change it to whatever key you want on the keyboard. I then used a magic mouse which worked just as well if not better. There is also an option to use a gamepad, which I”m sure works just as good as the magic mouse.
Verdict
Modern Combat: Domination is a great game. In my opinion, it’s one of the best,if not the best first person shooter on the Mac App Store. With 5 maps to choose from you have a lot of playing time. A few more maps in an update would be nice, but t’s good for the price. MC: Domination has a great selection of weapons, some of the best sound in any game, and an addictive multiplayer mode, Modern Combat: Domination takes the cake as the best multiplayer FPS out there.
One thing I have a gripe about is sometimes there aren’t a lot of people playing online, which isn’t putting blame on Gameloft. Once this great FPS gets more exposure, and maybe an update to the AI, I’m sure they’ll be a lot more people playing online. It’s not as big a game as Black Ops, but MC: Domination is a great FPS if you’re looking for something affordable on the Mac App Store to pick up.
Rating: 4/5 ($12.99 Mac App Store Link)
Pros
- Great multiplayer mode
- Superb sound
- Nice Graphics
Cons
- AI’s a little weak
- Can use a few more Maps
- Loading time is a little long
