Everyone has dreamed for the iPhone to have a first person shooter. Before last week, there have been several failed attempts to develop one that has good controls, decent graphics, and an excellent story. We’ve seen Hill Billy, AI Wars, and Half Dead. However, none proved that a console quality first person shooter could be played on the iPhone. Poor to average graphics, controls that didn’t work out, and no story. But one developer wanted to change that for iPhone gamers. One developer wanted to prove that a high quality first person shooter can be played on the iPhone. That one developer is Gameloft, and the first person shooter the iPhone needed (and finally got) is Modern Combat: Sandstorm.
Modern Combat: Sandstorm, available for the low price of $6.99, reminds me a lot of the Call of Duty series. It takes place in the middle east and your character has a major role. Your character, and his military squad, has to solve conflicts and complete different objectives while fighting a range of different enemies (all being terrorists.) Sandstorm features 10 different levels including a hospital, the sewers, etc. You can play from 4 difficulty levels: easy, normal, hard, and extreme. Playing on hard adds length to the game (took me 6-7 hours to complete on hard mode.) There are a variety of weapon types including two powerful assault rifles, a sniper, an RPG, a shotgun, a submachine gun, light machine gun, heavy machine gun (which is mounted on a moving vehicle), explosive grenades, flash grenades, and a radiation detector. Voice overs and military cinematic add a lot of authenticity and a lot of real-life situations to the game. Blood adds a lot of effect to the game as well. The AI in this game is incredible. Your enemy uses skills to dodge your bullets, or to hit you with his gun. It shows that Gameloft worked hard to make this a true first person shooter with intelligent AI.
Controlling your character is easy. On screen controls include a virtual D-Pad and a shooting button. To move forward, backward, left, and right all you do is drag the virtual D-Pad on the bottom left. To aim, all you need to do is pan around the screen with your finger. Shooting has never been so easy. With a tap of a button, located on the bottom right, your gun is fired, and your enemy is defeated. You can also scope with your gun to get a better view of an enemy by tapping on the bottom right “scoping” button. Changing your character’s stance is straightforward. By tapping the bottom left button, you can get on your knees or stand up straight. To reload your gun, all you need to do is tap once on the top right (where it shows which gun you are using). To switch your gun, double tap the top right. That pretty much covers all of the controls. Like I said, learning the controls of the game is as easy as pie, especially with the tutorial in the beginning.
Graphics in Sandstorm are top notch. It’s like nothing I’ve seen before on an iPhone game. It is console quality. The detail of the environment and of the characters just blows me away. While I was playing, I found no bugs. Modern Combat: Sandstorm provides a whole new experience for gamers out there. I have never played such an intense game on iPhone. Another great thing about the game is that in a future free update (around the end of the year) Gameloft will offer online multiplayer to battle players around the world. The game is extremely polished, and for $6.99, its difficult for me to tell you guys to stay away from Sandstorm. Get it now.
Pros:
Superlative graphics
Great controls
Excellent gameplay
Cons:
Not much replay value (until the online multiplayer update),
Bottom Line:
With superb graphics, ideal controls, and great gameplay, Sandstorm is a steal for $6.99. Get it now.
Scores:
Graphics: 5/5
Gameplay: 4/5
Controls: 5/5
Replay Value: 3.5/5
Overall: 9/10 (not an average)
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