Hands-On With Modern Combat 5 (iPad/iPhone/Android) (Video Gameplay Available)

Gameloft's Modern Combat first-person shooter series does its best Call of Duty impression year in and year out, but while it might seem like obvious mimicry, there's really nothing that comes close in the genre on the App Store – certainly not when it comes to the series' excellent online multiplayer action. Last fall's Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour also delivered the strongest single-player campaign to date, and our hands-on time with the forthcoming Modern Combat 5 makes it seem like it'll only continue that trend.

We didn't get a sense of storyline or framing in the 10-minute campaign demo, which was prepared for this week's E3 gaming expo to offer a small taste of the expected fall release, but the small bit we played assured us that it will most likely be another quality iOS shooting entry. We played for several minutes on foot, initially; the touch controls feel as solid as in Zero Hour, plus the game features slightly more detailed environments and enemies to shred within them. Modern Combat 5 also has a new gadget that will tag enemies and allies alike in the world, with the color of their outlines dictating their status in combat.

Partway through the demo, the action shifted to a mounted gatling gun on a boat, as we were speedily led away from a pursuing helicopter. We blasted enemy vessels to bits at a blistering pace, all while trading shots with the airborne foe. It ended on a scripted note – blood filling the screen as we were overwhelmed, with music swelling and what ultimately seemed to be an untimely demise. We don't really expect that Modern Combat 5 will tug at the heartstrings, but at least it's showing a bit more style and presentational craft to its campaign. That's definitely appreciated.

With luck, Modern Combat 5 will retain the punchiness of its predecessor's campaign, offering smaller mission segments that shake up the scenario regularly enough to not turn tedious. The brief demo we played seemed to imply just that, and that's only single-player. We still haven't yet heard anything about what to expect from the multiplayer suite this time around.

Gameloft says that the shooter will launch in the fourth quarter of this year and remain a premium release – not a free-to-play affair – which should be a very good sign for fans of the series' sharp and solidly-balanced online shootouts. We'll surely hear more about what to expect from the full package in the coming months, but so far it seems on track to be another glossy and entertaining mobile shooter.