Video Game / Modern Combat

From left to right: MC: Sandstorm,MC 2:Black Pegasus,MC:Domination,MC 4:Zero Hour and MC:Versus

Modern Combat is a series of mobile FPS games for android and IOS made by Gameloft, the plot and gameplay in almost every game borrows off of Call of Duty , primarily the modern warfare sub-series. Modern Combat 1 through 3 have a fairly typical modern military setting, while 4 and 5 have a more futuristic setting reminiscent of Call of Duty: Black Ops II.

Modern Combat 5: Blackout was ported to the PC and is available as a free-to-play game on Windows Store and Steam. The game uses many free-to-play mechanics intended to encourage players to spend money, such as limited energy that has to be spent to play levels, and having to perform very grindy tasks (or even doing the PVP multiplayer) to unlock new weapons or the next chapter of the campaign.

Works in the Series:

Main series

• Modern Combat Sandstorm

• Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus

• Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation

• Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour

• Modern Combat 5: Blackout

standalone

• Modern Combat Domination

• Modern Combat: Versus

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This series provides examples of:

• A.K.A.-47: Played straight,as most weapons are given fictitious names outside a few exceptions.
• Allegedly Free Game: To be expected of Gameloft.
• And Now for Someone Completely Different: Each game has a different main character. In the first game you play as Warren, in the second game you play as Anderson, Newman, and Warren, in the third game you play as Walker, in the fourth game you play as Blake, and in the fifth game you play as Phoenix.
• Ascended Extra:
  • This happens to almost every secondary villain from 2 to 5, who is inevitably promoted to main antagonist in the sequels should they survive the events of the previous installments.
  • Phoenix, a minor NPC who only appears in the mission “Aftermath” in Modern Combat 4, is the protagonist of Modern Combat 5.
• Badass Bystander: In the first main chapter of the 5th game, the doctors at the hospital apparently had a supply of assault rifles in case of societal emergencies and do a decent job at fighting off the Yakuza thugs that are storming the place to steal drugs. They are outgunned and do get killed without your help, but they still put up quite a fight.
• Blood Knight: In the 4th game, Saunders notes of his boss Page that he doesn't kill to win wars, he fights wars so he can kill.
• Bribing Your Way to Victory: Since the third game (which were paid-for) the game allows players to buy ammo and health boosts with real money. The game went free-to-play as of the fifth installment, and the amount of microtransactions in game massively increased.
• Cluster F-Bomb: Most of the dialogues in mission 5 of Modern Combat 3 can be summed up as this, which is understandable considering the fact that in the mission, Phantom Unit, along with the rescued members of Razor Squad, are being pursued by various KPR AT Vs, APCs and even an attack helicopter. As a side note: Compared to previous installments, Modern Combat 03 seems to be much less restrictive when it comes to profanity in general.
• Cutscene Boss: All of the main villains are disposed of in cutscenes, often involving quick-time events, much like Call of Duty.
• Demoted to Extra: Warrens is reduced to a non-physical speaking cameo in Modern Combat 4 compared to his much bigger role in Modern Combat 1 and 2.
• Dragon Ascendant: The games from 2 to 5 end with the Big Bad being killed and the secondary villain stepping up to become the Big Bad of the next game. This pattern ends with the 5th and final game, as Saunders dies without anyone left to succeed him, and the game ends with a generic "a new mission awaits" instead of a cliffhanger radio transmission from the new villain.
• Elite Mooks: In the 5th game, the Gilman troopers guarding Gilman HQ in the final mission wear futuristic armor and have about twice the durability of previous regular enemies.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Page mentions that Saunders has a 10 year old daughter, and threatens to bring a blowtorch to her birthday party if Saunders gets lippy with him. Saunders for his part has no problem threatening Phoenix's own 10 year old daughter in the 5th game.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Saunders is a ruthless Corrupt Corporate Executive, but in the 4th game even he thinks Page is nuts. Doesn't stop him from using Page's antics as a distraction so he can carry out his own nefarious plans.
• Evil All Along: For most of the 4th game Saunders comes across as a fairly reasonable Punch-Clock Villain in over his head, but in The Stinger he reveals he was the mastermind behind everything all along.
• Evil Versus Oblivion: Page's endgame plan is to release a modified strain of H5N1 virus across the globe in order to destroy civilization and "reboot" the human race. This is too crazy even for Saunders, who secretly leaks intel to Phantom Unit so they'll kill Page before he can destroy the world. Saunders' own plan is to gather the leaders of the world's colonialist nations in one place so he can kill them all in a chemical weapons attack, which is a comparatively saner plan.
• Forced Level-Grinding: The 5th game uses this heavily due to its free-to-play sales model. The first couple of chapters are unlocked fairly easily, but to unlock the 3rd chapter onwards you have to perform extremely grindy tasks that take several days, or unlock the chapters with real money.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Abu Bahaa and Pablo, the villains of the 1st and 2nd games, turn out to be lieutenants in a global terror network led by General Popovich, the Big Bad of the 3rd game. In the 2nd game you even capture a mid-level terrorist who looks identical to and wears the exact same uniform as Abu Bahaa, emphasizing that he was just a middleman in a much larger plot.
• Heavily Armored Mook: The 5th game has Executioners, enemies wearing heavy power armor and wielding miniguns. They move at a brisk walk at their fastest, but can eat 2 to 3 mags of assault rifle fire before going down. They often serve as a Boss in Mook's Clothing encounter at the end of each chapter, with a pair of them serving as a sort of Final Boss encounter before the Cutscene Boss confrontation with the Big Bad.
• Heroic Mime: All playable character from Modern Combat 1 to 3 have no spoken dialogue, even when being directly addressed by NPCs.
• Hero Killer: Edward Page kills numerous Phantom Unit soldiers, including Anderson, the main protagonist of the 2nd game and a major support teammate in the 3rd game. He also almost kills Walker, the main protagonist of the 3rd game, but gets killed by player character Blake in a sudden surprise attack.
• Invaded States of America: The premise of Fallen Nation.
• Large Ham: Big Bad Page completely chews the scenery in the levels in which you play as him in the 4th game.
• Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: At the end of the 4th game, Page fights Anderson hand-to-hand instead of just shooting him, and later holsters his weapon to challenge Walker to a fistfight too.
• The Mole: In the 1st game, it's mentioned that the terrorists are doing unusually well against your squad, indicating someone is feeding them information. The traitor turns out to be Captain Jones, your commanding officer, who turns on you at the very end just as you're about to capture/kill the Big Bad.
• Ms. Fanservice: Roux, your commanding officer in the 5th game, is a French Fiery Redhead who looks exactly like Scarlett from G.I. Joe, wears a Spy Catsuit that shows off her impressive ballistics, and can be seen making a few poses that emphasize her figure during conversations. Notably the game was made back in 2014 just before this trope became heavily disfavored in the Western game development space.
• Next Sunday A.D.: The 4th and 5th games take place in the then near-future of the 2030's, with a more futuristic aesthetic compared to the first 3 games.
• One-Man Army: Any of the player characters would qualify, though they are often supported by a team or partner. Big Bad and rogue Green Beret Edward Page in the 4th game also qualifies; most of the series' main villains have some combat skills but are mostly hands-off when it comes to the action, Page on the other hand is a frontline leader who kills numerous U.S. security forces and Phantom Unit soldiers, and defeats both Anderson and Walker in hand-to-hand combat. He isn't even killed in a straight fight, Blake just shows up out of nowhere and stabs him in the back in a cutscene just before he finishes off Walker. Notably, the climax of the 4th game has you playing as Page rather than Blake and leads up to the fight between Page and Walker.
• Playing Both Sides: In the 5th game, Saunders controls the terrorist World Liberation Army as well as being the leader of Gilman Security, the Private Military Contractor tasked with fighting the WLA.
• Press X to Not Die: More accurately, Swipe To Not Die.
• Revolvers Are Just Better: Page in the 4th game uses a Chiappa Rhino revolver as his weapon of choice.
• Russian Reversal: Played straight in mission 5 of Modern Combat 3. While being chased by KPR forces, Downs boisterously says: “In Soviet Russia, cars steal you! Suck it, comrades!”
• Sole Survivor:
  • The 1st game ends with the player character being the only surviving member of his squad, with him traveling to the widow of the second-to-last survivor to notify her of his death.
• Terrorists Without a Cause: The main villains in games 1 through 3 are Middle Eastern, South American, and Russian respectively and all have fairly typical geopolitical reasons for their actions. However, Edward Page in 4 is just an Ax-Crazy Blood Knight who hates civilization and wants to "reboot humanity" by killing off the majority of the human race. Everett Saunders' motives and goals in 5 are a complete enigma and might as well be terrorism for the sake of terrorism, a fact which is lampshaded by one of the loading screen descriptions of him.
• Stripperiffic: Averted; Roux wears a Spy Catsuit but puts on a more sensible BDU and flak vest for heavy combat.
• The Bus Came Back:
  • Though presumed death in mission “Raging Bird” of modern combat 3, Carter returns in Modern Combat 4 in Critical Path and Terminus as a drone operator providing support for Phantom Unit soldiers Downs, James Walker and Joel Blake who are chasing Everett Saunders.
  • Warrens, who is the playable character for one mission in Modern Combat 1 and 2. While absent in the 3rd game, Warrens returns as an NPC in Modern Combat 4, in which he can be heard talking on the comms in the “Aftermath” mission.
• Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: The main bulk of the plot of Modern Combat 5 involves a MegaCorp backed Western Terrorists laying siege on Tokyo.
• Turn Coat: Edward Page, former US Army Rangers and Green Berets, became disillusioned with the United States’ causes and defected to the KPR at some time prior to the game with in-game intel alluding that such decision is due to Page’s obsession with General Butler’s “Book on War”. This is further demonstrated by Page listing various covert (and may be considered illegal) operations by the US government such as: Project COINTELPRO, MK Ultra, Paperclip…while punching Walker and referring to America as “an imperialist country”. By Modern Combat 4, however, Page is nothing more than a psychopathic terrorist with no clear affiliation who just wants to eradicate the majority of the human race to fulfill his bloodlust.
• Villain Ball: At the end of the 5th game, Saunders could have easily just shot Phoenix and walked away, but instead he walks right up to the unarmed Phoenix to monologue, giving Phoenix a opportunity to disarm him and kill him.
• Villain Protagonist: Near the beginning and end of the 4th game are a couple of levels in which you play as Edward Page, the Big Bad.
• Villain Team-Up: The third game has North Korea, Russia, and Pakistan forming an alliance and invading the US.
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • Most of the main surviving characters from the previous Modern Combat installments, with the exception of Phoenix and Saunders, like: Joel Blake, Walker, Downs, Carter or Warrens, do not return in Modern Combat 5, which is considered by the fanbase among many reasons why said game is not as well-received as its predecessors.
  • Newman, one of the playable characters in Modern Combat 2, does not appear (or even get a mention) in any of the sequels. He last appears in Mission “The Great Escape Pt. 2”, being rescued by Razor Squad.
  • Starks, one of the main side characters in Modern Combat 2, appearing in almost every mission involving Razor Squad, returns in missions “Hostile Territory” and “Chase” of Modern Combat 3 as one of the hostages that the player has to rescue. He does not appear in any remaining missions of the game or any of its sequels.
• You Don't Look Like You: Downs’ physical appearance in Modern Combat 4 gets a major overhaul compared to previous installments, having an entirely redesigned facial structure, with other minor features like: brown hair instead of blonde, brown eyes instead of blue. It doesn’t help that the character gets a completely different voice actor.