Gameplay

Single player Mobile Forces consists of playing the multiplayer maps with bots. Basically, there is no single player component; it's just practice for multiplayer. Bots that try to simulate multiplayer FPS games have never really worked. It's impossible to simulate a real person playing an FPS - people do stupid and spectacular things that can't be recreated. In Mobile Forces it's no different. The bots aren't very good - they dodge shots about as well as a Battle Android Trooper from G.I. Joe - and they don't prepare you for multiplayer at all.

The weapons in Mobile forces have serious balance issues. In general, they're all too strong. If every weapon in the game can kill a fully armored opponent in a few shots, there's something wrong. The basic weapon, the machine gun, is a lot like the Quake 1 lightning gun with more ammo and a much longer range. Since it's so easy to kill people with the machine gun all the other weapons are practically useless, with the exception of the rocket launcher to take out vehicles. This imbalance kills the forced classes (you can only carry a couple of weapons), since you don't need anything but the machine gun.

Desert ride

Detailed signs

Western base

Vehicles in Mobile Forces aren't used as well as they could be. I think a vehicle should allow you to access features that aren't available if you're just walking around. They should change the nature of moving around and interacting with the map/players, so that it's necessary to use them. In this game the vehicles only allow you to move faster and run people over. Yes, you can move several people at a time quickly, but there's nothing offered by driving a vehicle that you can't do on foot. You can't fly, deform terrain, provide cover for other players, or use vehicle-only weapons, so why use them at all? It's even easier to kill someone when they're driving a vehicle since they're such a big target. Vehicles add nothing to Mobile Force's gameplay.

The maps are average. There's nothing memorable in any of them, and there's nothing we haven't seen before. They do tend to have long distances in them to accommodate for the vehicles, but there are plenty of shorter paths available only on foot. There's also a wide variety of settings, ranging from outdoor wooded areas to crumbling cities to airports. I know it's hard to make completely original maps, especially when the gameplay types are the same as they've been for years, but these maps feel more like the maps back in the Quake 1 days when everyone and their mother thought they could be a map maker. There's not much inspiration, and no hook to draw you in. As a whole, the maps aren't the problem with Mobile Forces, but they don't help either.

Bring it home

Pier pressure

Gunner

The one gametype that works well in Mobile Forces is the "Trailer" game. In this two teams try to drive a bomb-hitched jeep to the other team's base. The jeep and bomb are invincible (from what I've tried, I haven't been able to destroy one yet), so the only way to stop a jeep is to jump into the passenger seat and shoot the driver - you have to car-jack the opposing team. This works well because it uses Mobile Force's only strongpoint, the ability to drive vehicles.

The rest of the gametypes include the standard CTF, Deathmatch, Capture and Hold, etc. They all tend to break down to "drive to the objective, get out and try to score". There's not much more depth than that, especially when the weapon balance creates short life-spans. There's always the added bonus of teamplay, but every multiplayer game has teamplay now so it's nothing special.