MeinMMO author Jürgen Horn finally played the mobile shooter hit Call of Duty Mobile and now regrets not doing it sooner.
What is CoD Mobile? This title is indeed a mobile game in the style of the Call of Duty games. Just like in Modern Warfare, you engage in 9 multiplayer game modes in a 5-member team against an enemy squad. Alternatively, there’s Battle Royale with 100 players.
The battles are fast-paced and are concluded quickly. Together with the intuitive controls, which can be done via touchscreen or controller, CoD Mobile is an extremely popular mobile game that was one of the big hits for publisher Activision in 2019.
Why haven’t I played it before? But I hadn’t noticed any of that because in 2019 I was right in the middle of my parental leave and had so much to do with my just a few months old son that I couldn’t find the time to game for months. Not even on my phone!
But now, for the anniversary of CoD Mobile, my dear colleagues here at MeinMMO encouraged me to try the game. After all, with Season 11 the best time for newcomers to CoD Mobile is said to have arrived.
Call of Duty Mobile is a really good mobile shooter
These were my first steps: CoD Mobile was quickly installed, and right from the start, I noticed the beautiful graphics. Especially on my Samsung Galaxy S20 Note Ultra, the graphics look particularly striking thanks to the high-resolution, extra-large display. The sound through Bluetooth headphones is also impressive, and the weapon sounds are powerful and immersive.
But I don’t have much time to marvel at the scenery because, on a small map with a house in the center, the enemies rush towards me immediately. The controls are set to easy mode, and my virtual soldier starts firing as soon as I aim at an enemy. Bang, headshot!
“Wow, this is really going well!” I tell myself and continue the hunt. And that word fits perfectly because the enemies stagger in front of my gun like targets and I take them all down. Anything my crosshair touches is dead a second later.
I could have alternatively played with the manual fire mode, where I have to trigger each shot with a dedicated touchscreen button, but I am too clumsy for that. The automatic fire mode suits me better.
Anyway, I take down one enemy after another while I only bite the dust during particularly foolish actions. Therefore, my side wins by a large margin and I am even the MVP of the match. Cool, this is how shooting is fun!
The controls and the entire gameplay are so engaging and intuitive that it’s just a blast. And that’s despite the fact that I never particularly liked the typical soldier-military setting of CoD. Here I can overlook that generously.
Call of Duty Mobile is motivating – Despite bots
This is how it continued: After the first round, there are rewards and level-ups. In CoD Mobile, you can upgrade your account and the respective weapons by leveling them up and unlocking new equipment and upgrades for weapons.
This is incredibly motivating, and I find myself playing round after round to finally earn the new magazine for my machine gun. CoD Mobile simply offers an incredibly motivating rewards spiral.
Since the rounds only take a few minutes, you just play one after another, and before I knew it, several hours had passed. For this, I now have a nicely upgraded LMG and cool skins from the Battle Pass. I treated myself to that as well.
This is why I did so well: Proudly, I presented my successes in the editorial office after a few rounds. But then came the sobering realization, as many of my opponents and teammates were likely soulless bots. Well, I wasn’t entirely sure about some of my opponents, who ran past me stupidly or couldn’t hit me from close range, whether they were just very clumsy people or intentionally programmed bots.
Now I knew, there were probably at most 2 “real” players per team, the rest were cannon fodder. Nevertheless, I was often better than my presumably human teammates and was often invited to further rounds or friend lists.
I was probably not entirely useless in the game, and that motivated me even more to keep playing. CoD Mobile will – especially with the cool new content for the 1st anniversary – stay on my phone for a while and bring me a lot of joy. No other CoD game has managed that for me so far.
Jürgen’s conclusion – The mobile shooter I’ve always wished for
Not a day goes by that I don’t spend a few rounds on CoD Mobile, blasting away happily. By now, I am also at a higher level and encounter more and more real players and opponents. That makes victories and kills feel so much better.
Moreover, it’s just a hell of a lot of fun to run around with different weapons and experiment with which gun gets the most kills. Since each round only takes a few minutes, it’s just optimal for me as a young father. Because I often lack the time during the day for long gaming sessions on the PC, but a round of CoD Mobile works even when my wife quickly goes to change the baby or feed him.
With that, CoD Mobile has managed to become almost my favorite game! At least until Apex Legends finally releases a mobile version!
Jürgen Horn
Editor at MeinMMO
Hopefully CoD Mobile survives my attention. My mysterious superpower is to kill games.
