'Modern War' Makes Global Domination A Group Enterprise

Modern War by Funzio is an online game in which players battle across the globe against each other as well as generic computerized enemies, dictators, and insurgents—modern indeed. The format of the game is reminiscent of Battle Nations with players progressing through more advanced levels by building up a base, expanding territory, making alliances, and completing missions. Players begin by registering as one of six nations (UK, US, Germany, Russia, Iran, or China) each with a unique tactical advantage. Players take control of a small base and an avatar, a single person dressed like a soldier. If you’ve played Battle Nations you will be familiar with the use of two kinds of currency which in Modern War's case are money and gold. Game oney can be bought with real cash, collected from buildings, or awarded from battle victories. Gold is much more scarce. It can be obtained primarily through purchasing in bulk with real money. Thus, like Battle Nations, the game requires one of two things in order to be thoroughly enjoyed: money or patience.

httpv://youtu.be/C-NIT-YKrbw Modern War trailer Click here to watch on YouTube

Units are divided into four categories: Infantry, Ground, Air, and Sea. Most units can be purchased with cash or gold, but occasionally a battle victory will be rewarded with a unit that cannot be purchased. Units from each category are produced from different buildings (for example ships come the shipyard) and in order to unlock the units you need to upgrade the building (building upgrades must be done individually and are separate from player level upgrades). One of the outstanding things about the game is the ability to build up extensive networks of alliances with other players by entering their “alliance ID.” Lest you think “How many friends do I know that play this game?”, never fear. A quick Google search yields an iPad forum with other players listing their IDs. Each alliance you make brings some of your allies’ units into battle with you, thus increasing your odds of winning. Incidentally, odds are really all that counts because individual units are not visibly deployed in battle. Once you commence a battle, the screen will show whether you won or lost. In addition to battles, you can conduct raids on an enemy’s base by traveling to their base and attacking specific objects. You can attack an opponent until they are too weak to fight or until your “Stamina” runs out. Stamina can be replenished by time or gold.

Modern War makes good use of online game networking, and has more realistic graphics than Battle Nations. But the fact that battles cannot be played out even on a schematic grid like the latter game is a significant drawback, especially given the large number of different units that can be bought. AppPicker Rating: 3 / 5 Stars App Store link: Modern War Other apps by Funzio