Developer Gameloft brings their new and extremely affordable first-person multiplayer shooter to the Playstation Network. With the option of playing with controller vibration on or off Modern Combat Domination is playable with both the standard dualshock 3 controller and Playstation Move. You even have the option of turning off the voice chat option just in case you run into some ill-advised or annoying chatterboxes while trying to enjoy your stay online.

No single-player campaign, just straight online multiplayer goodness that feel reminiscent of the classic Counter-Strike series, battles are experienced from 2 vs. 2 battles with up to 8 vs. 8.

With the ‘Play Online’ option players are given three choices to choose from:

Quick Play: This is where players can choose from any of the 5 maps currently available; Sandstorm, Souks, The Hideouts, Headquarters and Factory. After your map selection and chosen game type, players are then thrown right into the action. Again the game types vary from Map Specific: Boom & Bust game types to your standard Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch and Domination.

Custom Game: Here players can fully customize their online experience. From map and game type specifics to determining the number of rounds, time limit, friendly fire, number of players, etc.

Private Match: This is where player can create their own online experience with their friends according to all the available options and there’s quite a few.

A nice touch added to the experience is how cpu bots are used in place of real players until someone chooses to take that position. Many times there’s an odd number of players on one faction over the other in most shooters. Modern Combat: Domination alleviates this concern with a cpu bot making the match even.

If you aren’t quite ready to test your skills against the battle-tested grunts online then offline play is where you gain all the confidence. Gameloft has done a solid job enabling bots to react close to some of your human counterparts however, there is no difficulty setting in order to increase the intelligence of the enemy cpu bots. Leaderboards display overall rankings with the option to display individual player stats and even check out your friends player updates with the click of a button. Not see in many shooters, there is also a ‘How To Play’ option which if given a look see could certainly increase a players knowledge of the game for the better.

As mentioned in our preview, shooter fans who are accustomed to the popular Modern Warfare control scheme should be be right at home with Modern Combat: Domination as the controls are spot-on, however, don’t expect the same level of precision. During our time tackling Modern Combat we immediately became accustomed to overall feeling of the game. Level designs have a sense of familiarity attached to them as each layout draws influences from games like Counter Strike, SOCOM and the Modern Warfare’s without the added care to the graphical details. Nevertheless, for only $7.99 whose really complaining? In fact, at it price point, this is a good looking shooter.

What becomes does become more obvious despite the affordable price tag is the games lack of precision. From switching your main weapon to your sidearm to reloading, there is a lag that takes a bit too long while in the middle of fire fight. The melee maneuver also suffers from this making the option to do so much to be desired and this could frustrate fans looking for a lasting shooter fix before the next best triple A shooter hit’s the market.

Simple in its form players are distinguished by their different factions which can sometimes be hard to identify on the battlefield. Thankfully Gameloft has placed a red of blue indicator above each player in order to help direct your line of fire.

The ranking system is a strong suit that keeps us coming back trying to level up over friends and the ability to unlock better weapons is also another saving grace. When unlocking weapons players will still have to earn money and level ups in order to finally get their hands dirty with the appealing and more powerful weapons. Progressing from the standard MP5 or Shotgun is gratifying as the experience only gets better the more you continue to earn points and rank up. We found it most satisfying to create a room with up to 16 of our friends in 8 vs. 8 team deathmatch and domination game types.

As an affordable online multiplayer shooter, Modern Combat: Domination is a step in the right direction. Players will eventually desire more from the experience as the game is just a few steps away from becoming a real online multiplayer contender. As we keep mentioning, for only $8 we recommend taking the this one for a spin. Modern Combat should be looked upon as a refreshing beginning to something becoming affordably remarkable as gameplay mechanics and more touch-ups are added in the future.

7/10