WithCall of Duty Mobilerecently launching for iOS and Android devices, the game has drawn comparisons to other mobile shooters on the market.Playerunknown’s BattlegroundsMobileandFortniteare currently dominant in the free-to-play online shooter category on phones and tablets. So how does the latest take on translating the storiedCall of Dutyfranchise hold up compared to these established players?
Call of Duty Mobilehas been both popular and fairly well regarded in its first couple of weeks. TheGame Rant review ofCoD Mobilewas mainly positive, calling the game “a pretty great mobile FPS that will no doubt please fans of the franchise.” But the game was not without some issues. Now the question is are those issues thatPUBG MobileandFortniteon mobile fix? Which experience is best for gamers who want a shooter (FPS, third person, battle royale, or otherwise) on their phones?
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Playability
Each of these games is extremely popular in terms of playability, withPUBG Mobileraking in $1 billion in revenue, especially for mobile shooters.Fortnitehas the obvious disadvantage of being the core game, but paired down for mobile controls. It still plays well though and has great UI compared to the other two options.PUBGhas a lot going on. It is the most complicated game of the three to try and be translated to mobile and while the work they’ve done to simplify the game for phones is good,CoD Mobileimproves upon these mechanics.
BringingCall of Dutyto phones is no easy task and whileCall of Duty Mobiledoesn’t feel as snappy as the latestModern Warfare,the game makes it easy and quick to aim and shoot. The focus of the game is not entirely on Battle Royale either, and frankly modes like Team Deathmatch translate better for quick sessions.
Winner: CoD Mobile
Match Quality
In this regard,CoD MobileandPUBGMobilehave the same issue. Bothgames are full of bots, especially in the early progression, which can mean when players download and start playing it may be two to three hours until they encounter another real human. The especially insidious aspect of this is how both games don’t communicate that players are loading into bot matches. This creates artificial confidence with players, encouraging them to stick with the game longer than they may have.
Fortnitedoes not have bots. Thanks to cross platform play between all versions of the game,Fornitehas a larger player base than its competitors and doesn’t need to inflate player counts. There are enough players at all skill levels across every version of the game to keep matches relatively fair. Thebattle royale will soon add bots, so it is hard to say if this will have the same detrimental affect as in the other two games.
Winner: Fortnite
Progression
A good progression system could make or break a shooter. It could make up for shooting that isn’t quite top notch and while playing a shooter on a phone that is especially important. BothPUBGandFortnitehave leveling and loot that keep players engaged — andFortnitehas its Battle Pass— but this category has a clear winner.
Call of Dutyhas always shined in this area, andCoD Mobileis no exception. It goes above and beyond in this category, perfectly replicating the console games and including perks, classes, weapon leveling, andkillstreaks.Call of DutyMobileis by far the best mobile shooter on the market in this category.
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Crossplay Functionality
As was previously mentioned, a major plus forFortniteis the ability to play with friends that own any version of the free game. All versions of the game are compatible with one another. And for the sake of this comparison, the biggest plus here is that Android and iOSFortniteplayers can play together, a feature thatPUBG Mobilealso offers. As of right now, it doesn’t appear thatCall of Duty Mobileeven has iOS and Android crossplay.
Controller Support
Controller support is not essential for a mobile game, and spoilers most of them don’t support it, but is worth bringing up afterCoD Mobiledropped controller support at launch. This functionality was promised and added for launch, but soon removed for the sake of fairness which certainly burned some fans. It’ll likely be added back to the game soon, but for now, it doesn’t appear in the game. In January of this year,Fortniteadded the ability for players to connect any bluetooth gamepad to play the game. It makes the most sense that Epic would do this to level the playing field for mobile players competing against the PC and console users.
… And The Winner Is
WhileCall of Duty MobilegivesFortnitea run for its money by focusing on more simple game modes and having a killer progression system, the most popular game in the world still take the W here.Fortnitehas the distinct advantage of just beingFornite, but on phones. Crossplay functionality and a distinct lack of bots makesFortnitethe best mobile shooter.
Call of Duty Mobileis out now for iOS and Android mobile devices.
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