"So . . . the world's biggest private security contractor is . . . a front for the World Liberation Army? That is what you're telling me? We have been working for terrorists?"
--Roux, Modern Combat: Blackout
Just as Gameloft's original Dungeon Hunter game for the IOS came to the PS Vita, Modern Combat 5 came to the Switch, retitled Modern Combat: Blackout. Despite in-game achievements (the Switch does not have a platform-wide system like PlayStation Trophies), the removal of the mobile edition's energy system, and a total lack of microtransactions, this is a game that ranges from abysmal to middling at best. The Switch does have plenty of first-person shooters of various kinds, from Metroid Prime Remastered to Metro 2033 and Last Light Redux to The Persistence. Somehow, Blackout is one of the only military first-person shooters on the Switch even near the end of its business life cycle, with many of the others being more about exploration, horror, or some other emphasis. Its handful of promising features could have been utilized so much better. As such, it is a game better to play for recognizing the shortcomings that prevent art from reaching its potential more than for any other reason.
Production Values
The graphics are generally stable yet very much evocative of their smartphone origins. Rarely, the game slows down when enemies are onscreen in the same location, but even when it does not, the environments are usually so simple and seen in such brief bursts that multiplayer does more with them than the campaign they were introduced in. Voice acting is very hit or miss, with protagonists Caydan Phoenix and Roux having more opportunities to speak aloud as central characters--and the story is so disjointed and ultimately brief that even this is wasted for other reasons. Multiplayer is where the best of the game is on display, and it is tainted by server problems and strange "rebalancing" measures that might move a player from one team to the other mid-match. More than this, the matchmaking system might put a player in a game that is about to end and then penalize them for their lack of performance by removing rating points for timed events.
Gameplay
The campaign and its supplemental spec ops missions consist of very short levels with no checkpoints. Yes, like the abominable retry mechanics of Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified, the structure of Blackout forces you to restart entire levels if you die. Since they are so brief, time is seldom the issue with completing them. This only highlights how disjointed the levels really are from each other. At least with spec ops, there is more variety, like sniping a single target after identifying them, with the option to use gyroscopically controls to guide a slowed bullet. This bullet mechanic is even necessary to complete a recurring optional sub-objective in these missions. For every single player level, there are three stars that can be earned, some being optional, but a certain amount of total stars have to be earned one way or another to unlock the following phase of the campaign.
Without the Nintendo Switch Online subscription, which is paid, only this barebones single player experience is accessible. The multiplayer is significantly better because it actually has more depth and makes it easier to level up. In fact, some class abilities will only be permitted in multiplayer, with each of the nine classes having its own primary weapons that can be upgraded in single or multiplayer. Thankfully, Blackout does have both sides of the game share the same progression system so that unlocking a class, weapon, or attachment makes it usable in either of them. Other than the aforementioned problems with the servers and performance ratings, multiplayer's greatest limitations are only having free for all and team vs. team modes, as well as only having seven minute matches. It is here where the benefits of the different soldier classes can actually be explored.
For instance, the Kommando carries a shield that can be used for protection or for an offensive sprint attack; when walking around with the shield, the secondary weapon, anything from the initial pistol to incredibly powerful shotguns, is held alongside it. The Sapper can install turrets of various kinds as his weapon roster becomes available, and these autonomous machines can make kills for the player even when he/she dies. Eventually, a shoulder-mounted turret is unlocked that is used automatically without player input. Not all classes have equal advantages, but their strengths and the superior equipment later in their progression systems are much better fit for multiplayer than the extremely short campaign missions. Self-indulgently on Gameloft's part since it does not tend to make games of high quality, one can even see ads for Asphalt 9 (also on the Switch) in some multiplayer maps and there are two costume sets for NOVA skins, a seeming reference to another Gameloft game franchise with the same name.
Story
Some spoilers are below.
A terrorist assault on Venice that results in stolen chemical weapons leads to an attack with those weapons on Tokyo, and Caydan Phoenix works with Roux within a corporation called Gilman Security to recount and unravel what is really happening. Evidence is revealed that a deceptive operation involving the World Liberation Army (a terrorist organization) was orchestrated by the CEO of Gilman Security, the very firm hired to protect world peace in various regions, including Tokyo.
Intellectual Content
Unlike what certainly can be done with military shooters when handled properly (the campaign of Call of Duty: Black Ops III does this spectacularly), Blackout does not even try to put on a facade of any depth beyond its class, weapon, and attachment progression system. Receiving more attention in a short message on the loading screen than in the actual story, the World Liberation Army's anti-capitalist philosophy is not explored whatsoever. The segmented levels along with their hyper-brevity excludes practically any chance to better execute a plot that could have been a well-structured examination of greed, deception, and technology in the context of modern military and political endeavors.
Conclusion
Poor or mediocre art can still be appreciated or enjoyed for what it is, and also to focus on the superior qualities of art that does fulfill its potential ideologically and creatively. Modern Combat: Blackout hovers between these two broad levels of entertainment exclusively and leans far more towards the side of lower quality. Extreme limitations on the scope of its missions and the general sameness as the mobile phone game (the removal of the energy system, microtransactions aside) hold it back severely. The multiplayer, which is by far the strongest part, suffers from only having two modes, from its sole public match length of seven minutes, and from its matchmaking issues. Even the overlap between experience points in single player and multiplayer is dampened by the fact that single player yields incredibly small opportunities to level up or unlock new weapons or attachments since the missions are rarely more than a few minutes long.
Content:
1. Violence: Mild sprays of blood are seen when people are shot.
2. Profanity: "Fuck," "shit," "bastards," and variants of "damn" are used in dialogue.
3. Nudity: Some sculptures of naked or almost nude bodies show buttocks. Reliefs on the walls of a museum map in multiplayer, as small as the figures appear, show largely naked male bodies, including penises.
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