Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile Impressions
Call of Duty is no stranger to mobile platforms. The aptly named Call of Duty: Mobile was released back in 2019 for mobile platforms and is quite highly regarded with a 4.6 out of 5 rating with over 90,000 reviews on the Apple App Store. That’s an impressive feat and speaks to the quality of the game. Now, a new era in Call of Duty mobile gaming has arrived with the recently released Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile.
This mobile version of Call of Duty Warzone has been designed to unify the Call of Duty experience with that of the console and PC versions. Included are 120 player battle royales, incredible mobile gaming visuals, and iconic Call of Duty maps, all while improving upon what made Call of Duty Mobile so great. Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile has been designed to give gamers the best Call of Duty experience on mobile devices.
So, let’s dive into the good, the bad and the ugly about Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile.
1) Cross-Progression with Call of Duty
While there isn’t any crossplay with either console or PC Call of Duty games, the developers have unified some aspects of Call of Duty with cross-progression. This means that Operators and Weapons are shared among both Warzone and Modern Warfare III, allowing you to take your valuable purchases and unlocks with you wherever you choose to play. Even better, you’ll be able to grind your Battle Pass on either platform.
2) Battle Royale
Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile’s biggest emphasis is on the franchise’s battle royale mode. At launch, Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile arrived with two battle royale maps; Rebirth Island and Verdansk, both of which have appeared in the console/PC version of Call of Duty: Warzone. Both of these maps have been rebuilt from the ground-up specifically for the mobile version, but designed to be as close to the originals as possible. The battle royale modes feature 120 real players. While the developers haven’t denied the game features bots, they’ve emphasized the focus is to get players into matches as soon as possible – so it stands to reason that there could be some bots appearing in matches.
3) Visually appealing
For a mobile game, Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is easily one of the best looking I’ve ever seen. As someone who often enjoys Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III on my big screen, I was shocked at just how impressive the scaled down iPhone version looked. The included maps are near identical to their PC/console counterparts, in both layout and visuals. While there are a couple minor differences, only the most hardcore Call of Duty fans will really notice.
The most noticeable difference I came across was an alleyway in Verdansk. A van was parked in the alleyway and there was just no way to walk around it. Like an invisible wall blocking movement. It was sheer luck coming across it during my playthrough – and I imagine minor issues like this will be patched in time. Overall, there is an impressive amount of detail in both the multiplayer and battle royale maps, especially on the games High visual settings. Of course, all this graphical horsepower leads to the next point.
4) Hot and Beefy
Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile clocks in at a ridiculous 11.94 gigs of space on my iPhone. It is far and away the largest app I have on there. While the game features a pretty substantial amount of content, and it’s only a fraction of the size the console versions are, it still leaves a pretty big footprint for a mobile app. It’s also incredible taxing on the phone. While battery life will vary from device to device, it will absolutely drain your battery at a faster clip than most other mobile games. What’s worse is just how much it heats up my iPhone 12 Pro. Just one match on the game’s “high” visual settings and my phone is hot to the touch. After two matches, I have no choice but to shut the app off and give the game a rest.
5) Weak Multiplayer
I’m the type of Call of Duty player that prefers multiplayer over battle royale. I just find the battle royale matches are such a long and boring slog with too many periods of inaction. Multiplayer gets us to the good bits fast. Unfortunately, multiplayer feels like an afterthought in Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile. Featuring a pithy four multiplayer maps (Shipment, Rust, Scrapyard, and Shoot House) spread between two multiplayer options; Mosh Pit or Deathmatch. No Kill Confirmed. No Hardcore. With that said, I imagine they’ll increase both the map count and the amount of modes as time goes on.
6) Free to Play
Obviously one of the biggest draws to Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is that it is free to play on iOS and Android devices. You won’t need to spend any money to be playing Call of Duty on your mobile device. So, regardless of what I tell you, you could (and should) take the time to try the game yourself. Mind you, the initial install takes a ridiculously long time to finish – so make sure you have something to do while you wait, like a few Modern Warfare III matches on your console.
7) The Keep
Like most free to play mobile games, there is always a way for the developers/publishers to make some money. I know, I’m shocked too. In Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile, this comes in a variety of ways, such as the Battle Pass, Black Cell, and purchasable Operator bundles. To make these purchases, you’ll need to convert real money into COD Points, Call of Duty’s in-game currency. This is all par for the Call of Duty course. However, exclusive to Warzone Mobile is The Keep. The Keep allows you to spend COD Points to purchase exclusive Mobile Original content that you can’t earn, or use, on any other platform.
8) You Are In Control
Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile provides a wealth of control options that should satisfy any gamer. You can connect a wireless controller via Bluetooth or just use the built-in touch screen controls. I’ve tried, but touch screen controls are just too much of an adjustment for me. So, I’ve generally opted to connect my Xbox Series X controller. Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile comes pre-loaded with 9 different HUD Presets, each of which is fully customizable. You can adjust the size and placement of the various on-screen controls, or remove them completely – particularly useful if you’re using a controller.
Conclusion
Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is an ambitious mobile game that has a lot of positive things going for it. It will take time for Warzone Mobile to blossom into the amazing content-rich package that Call of Duty: Mobile has become. However, I fully anticipate in time, Warzone Mobile will get there. The extensive control options are a huge positive and I love the cross-progression. Unfortunately, even on it’s lowest visual settings, Warzone Mobile heats up my iPhone 12 Pro a little too much, so I really don’t anticipate playing it much. And with such a huge space-taking footprint, it’s not exactly a game I will want to keep installed for the occasional play session. Hopefully, in time, the developers will better optimize the game to not be such a strain on mobile hardware – or maybe it’s just time for me to upgrade my phone.
***Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is free to download for iOS devices (App Store) and Android devices (Google Play Store). The publisher provided us some COD Points to test some of the game’s features.***