It’s Call of Duty season again and Activision is bringing the Modern Warfare experience to as many platforms as possible, including the DS. n-Space, the developer behind the last two Call of Duty games on the DS and Geist for the Gamecube, takes the helm once again for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized for the Nintendo DS. This year the game features 6-player online multiplayer, a Survival Mode, and much more. Check out the full review below.

Two years ago, the only Nintendo system to get Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was the Nintendo DS. Once again, Nintendo’s handheld plays host to another entry in the Modern Warfare saga, subtitled ‘Mobilized’ (clever, i know). In Mobilized, players will play through a campaign that features a unique storyline to its console brother, Modern Warfare 2. The game has you investigating Prince Farhad who is in the market for a nuclear weapon, which, as you can imagine, is not good for the free world. The campaign follows the US Marines and the British SAS just like Modern Warfare and MW2. Your missions will alternate between the two as you follow leads around the world. The storyline is fairly deep and is made more interesting by the full voice acting in the game. Each mission, you will be fully debriefed while also viewing data on the objectives and maps of the area. If you’ve played any Modern Warfare game before, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

The game allows you to play in 3 difficulty modes: Recruit, Regular, and Hardened. Believe me when I tell you that Hardened is incredibly tough! I played through the first couple missions on Hardened just to see what it was like and quickly had to step down the difficulty. Even on Regular the game is very challenging, almost more so than the console versions. The game also features a Quickplay option that allows you to replay any mission from the Campaign mode for high scores and achievements. There are also unlockable modes and Challenges so you’re not done even once you finish the Campaign mode.

The game plays very similar to past versions. You use the touch screen/stylus for aiming and the D-pad for movement/strafing (ABXY if you’re left-handed). Double-tap down on the D-pad to initiate a crouch and double-tap up on the D-pad to run. All of the controls such as reloading, switching weapons/grenades, and aiming down the sights are done on the touch screen while action happens on the top screen. The gameplay is mostly smooth, although there are times you can tell the framerate drops when lots of enemies are on the screen. You’ll never see more than 4 or 5 enemies on screen at once because of this. Not only are there the occasional slow-downs, the gameplay itself seems a little slow. Even when I adjusted the sensitivity of the aiming up, I still thought my movement was too slow to compensate for it. It didn’t matter that I could turn 180 degrees really fast if I couldn’t strafe left to right at the same speed. Aiming down the sight also slows things down a little bit, but it also increases your accuracy. Mobilized also allows players to take control of Predator drones, tanks, and even an AC-130 gunship. What little problems I did have with the on-foot combat were relegated by the well done vehicle missions. The DS really provides a great interface for these missions and makes for an immersive experience.

Graphically, the DS version features full 3D graphics and also various particle effects. The textures are very well done and the level design doesn’t feel as claustrophobic as past games. When controlling Predator drones or tanks, your heads-up-display will change accordingly. The predator drone allows you to see the battlefield from directly above, fire missiles, and do flyover reconnaissance. The AC-130 gives you a black and white, thermal view of the battlefield and some really big firepower. All of this is beautifully rendered for the DS and definitely shows off what the system is capable of displaying.

Multiplayer

Modern Warfare: Mobilized provides one of the most complete multiplayer experiences for the DS to date. Not only can you play with up to 6 friends using local wireless play, you can also take the fight online and even host specific friend matches. The game also allows for Global play as well which will match you up with anyone—much like Mario Kart DS. When hosting a game, you can select from a bevy of different multiplayer options such as Deathmatch, Hunter/Prey, Capture the Flag, Switch (King of the Hill-type mode), Team Deathmatch, Team Hunter/Prey, Team Capture the Flag, Team Switch, and Team Sabotage. You can also customize all of the Time limits, Kill limits, and choose from 8 different levels at the start of the game. If you’re looking for a new way to let off some steam on the go, Mobilized may just be the answer for your itchy trigger finger.

Conclusion

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized is a real treat for DS owners looking for a new FPS experience. The game features a solid campaign mode, lots of unlockable challenges, and 6-player online multiplayer. The varying levels of difficulty, the large number of challenges, and unlockable game modes will keep you busy for a long time—and that’s before you even get to the multiplayer. For $29.99, you can’t go wrong with Modern Warfare: Mobilized.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized gets a 9.3/10