Activision is going all-in on its latest addition to the Call of Duty franchise. Called Call of Duty: Mobile it's an almost fully-fledged Call of Duty game made specifically for mobile devices. As with most games that are releasing these days, the game also ships with a Battle Royale Mode for you to go crazy. It's good too, really good.
Take the fight anywhere
CoD: Mobile is an excellent addition to the Call of Duty family, and the Battle Royale is going to be extremely popular. We all need to hope that controller support is coming back soon.
What is a Battle Royale?
Battle Royale games are the latest craze in video games. You play in epic arenas, fighting up to 100 other players as you battle to be the last player standing. In most Battle Royale games, you can play them solo, or in two, or four-player teams, and you usually start the game by dropping into the map from above.
Games like Fortnite, PUBG, and Apex Legends, are the current massive Battle Royale games, and even Call of Duty Black Ops 4 has its version called Blackout. CoD: Mobile's version of the Battle Royale mode is very similar to these other games, but with a few unique differences.
Vehicles
Call of Duty: Mobile Battle Royale mode is big enough to have four different vehicle types. For a mobile game, that's pretty impressive, and I am amazed at how well my Pixel 2 runs with 100 people and vehicles on screen. I figured it would start to get a little warm, but so far, there haven't been any issues.
The four different vehicle classes are:
ATV
Pretty straightforward. The ATV is a two-person bike with very little armor and even less control. Only use these if you need to outrace the closing circle of doom. You are likely to be murdered to death in short-order otherwise.
Light Helicopter
Get to the chopper! Three people can get in this little flying death machine. The helicopter doesn't use any weapons of its own, and it is lightly armored, so don't stay in it too long. You will be murdered to death otherwise. You can use it to move across the map easily and quickly, though, so that makes up for the prospect of death.
SUV
This is the slowest moving, but most heavily armored vehicle in the game. Room enough for a full team of four, you will be relatively safe from regular gunfire, for a while anyway. Of course, CoD: Mobile does have rocket launchers, so maybe keep an eye out for them?
Tactical Raft
The fact that this is called a raft doesn't inspire much confidence. Activision touts the raft as a "fast boat" which is good, but they also mention to "watch out for snipers," which is bad. It's a toss-up if the bad outweighs the good. I've spent some time on the raft, and I can confirm it's a death trap. Stay away.
The map
The map is something of a mixture of old and new content. The map has lots of unique areas, such as rivers, mesas, and hills, but the exciting part is the old content it is adding in. The developers have added the maps from the standard game modes — all those old maps from across the Call of Duty franchise — into the full map of the Battle Royale.
It works surprisingly well too. The map is big enough that having all the different terrains doesn't feel out of place at all, and the old maps feel organically placed, rather than shoehorned in. The terrain itself offers a chance for close combat as well as line-of-sights for sniping, so no matter what kind of player you are, you can have fun with it.
Classes
Having different roles is one of my favorite things about Apex Legends and CoD: Mobile is using a similar system. Each class has an exclusive move — like the scorestreaks in the normal modes — as well as a perk that complements it. I'm going to give the list of classes to you precisely as they are written in Activision's press release so there are no misunderstandings.
- Defender: With the ability to place a deformable Transform Shield, this class also is Reinforced, raising resistance to all damage except bullets.
- Mechanic: Able to call an EMP Drone to create electromagnetic interference on hostile forces, this class also features the Engineer ability, granting augmented sight to vehicles, hostile traps, and other equipment.
- Scout: Utilizing the Sensor Dart that can view hostile positions in the immediate area of the radar map, this class also benefits from the Tracker ability; allowing you to see fresh footprints of hostiles.
- Clown: A master of distraction and friend of the undead, this class has a Toy Bomb to detonate, summoning zombies that only attack hostiles near to them; due in part to the Clown having the Anti-Zombie ability, which reduces the zombies' aggression distance.
- Medic: This class can place a Medical Station that continuously heals the Medic and associated allies in the immediate vicinity. In addition, the Master Healer ability allows a Medic to heal more quickly and reduces the time it takes to revive teammates.
- Ninja: Lastly, this clandestine class has a Grapple Gun that fires a hook, allowing you to propel yourself up and onto target buildings or across the landscape at speed. Movement is quiet, too, due to this class having the Dead Silence ability.
As you can see, each class has something to offer that can change the balance of power. By the way, the clown class is exactly as excellent as it sounds.
Did you say, zombies?
That's right; this Battle Royale has the added benefit (?) of zombie bots to spice things up! Initially introduced in Black Ops 4: Blackout, having hordes of zombies roaming the map and swarming over the intermittent supply drops that occur, make for some intense action. Not only do you have to dodge 99 other human players, but you also have to contend with zombies! It's such a good idea, and it works to differentiate CoD: Mobile from the rest of the games out there.
There are even boss fights
All around the game map, you will find flares that signal an airdrop. Not much unusual about that, you say? Well, these airdrops are guarded by enormous monsters with masses of health. If you can defeat it, the airdrop inside is full of high-level gear, but I wouldn't recommend trying it by yourself, though.
The fight is ferocious, and you will need the help of your squad if you hope to defeat it. I went up against the Zombie Cerberus with just a two-person team, and we got wiped out within about 30 seconds. It was brutal, humbling, and a lot of fun. It's another way CoD: Mobile breaks away from the pack and offers something unique to its players.
What do you think of the Battle Royale?
Call of Duty: Mobile is fast becoming one of my favorite mobile games, and the Battle Royale is a big part of that. Having this vast area to battle people, zombies, and boss monsters, all the while driving around in crazy vehicles, is brilliant in itself. Being able to do it from anywhere, on your mobile device, is priceless. Let us know how you feel about it.
