There are times when revolutionary ideas expand the frontier of an established realm beyond what was previously possible. The time is here, the idea is Afterpulse, and the realm is the mobile platform. Not many shooting games capture our attention; most are clones and others are casual. We wanted games that match the excellence of Modern Combat and Shadowgun. Fortunate enough, GAMEVIL USA has been working on a phenomenal game that meets our lofty criteria; Afterpulse [Free]. This new title is a next generation third person shooter that features a first-class Multiplayer experience that is designed for iOS & Android devices only.

The game offers rich customization possibilities with personalization of headgear, full body armor, equipment, weapons, and other combat related items. You can fully upgrade and immensely customize 35 primary and secondary weapons; all which include assault weaponry, light machine guns, sub-machine guns, snipers, rockets, shotguns, and handguns. Also, you can lead over other players through a veteran series weapon system that is based on prestige and experience.

An interesting aspect of the game is that it is not a mindless shooter but is based on calculated combat, highly developed skills, and tactical gadgets. With a helpful tutorial mode and constant gaming, you should be ready to face your enemies on the battlefield.

You can receive in-game currency by playing the training mode and completing challenges. Like Modern Combat 5, it has a freemium system that is based on crates or packs. You can purchase them based on in-game currency that you can acquire through playing, but the content of the crates is unknown and is based on luck. Paying real cash is also an option if you want to get crates faster, which in return may grant you better weapons. As for XP, nothing helps you earn it faster than the Multiplayer mode.

The game allows you to play Multiplayer mode at level 7, which is a good system to prepare the beginners and turn them into competitive players. This way no one will complain about their team members being noobs (which all players, from time to time, do when they lose). There are two different modes available: Free For All & Team Deathmatch. When we tried the game, the environments were absolutely beautiful that the images we provided do not give the game much justice. You really have to experience the photorealistic environments first hand through the various maps available, such as: Train Yard, Terminal Station, Aircraft, and Warehouse.

Finding an online match felt lightning fast as the developers boast that the game has an enhanced online matchmaking system supported by dedicated zone server technology that will give you premium connectivity.

The controls felt extremely smooth and responsive but you will be most glad to know that the the control system was customizable. You can pause the game and edit your HUD on the screen to your convenience and save your settings. Conventionally designed; the left side of the screen controls movement, and the right side allows you to aim and shoot.

There is no atom of doubt that the overall perception of the game was that it was an AAA console quality experience. For those using the latest iOS devices, it supports Metal API and is graphically enhanced for 64 bit devices. The real-time premier quality shadows were absolutely astounding with HDR post processing, and full physically based deferred rendering. If that isn’t impressive enough, then let us add realistic skeletal animations and ragdoll physics effect on top.

Finally, we found Afterpulse to be a game changer and our initial verdict is extremely positive and we label it as highly recommended. For its console quality graphics, rich customization possibility, intense combat experience, and fresh outlook at the TPS genre; we can tell you that Afterpulse is a refreshing experience for competitive shooting gamers and unlike anything you have played before. Perhaps a potential downside to this game is that it is a freemium game and like many freemium games, you may want to spend your cash if you want to get powerful gear much faster than others. But this does not have to be the rule, but rather the exception. For the moment, this game easily comes on the list of best top 5 shooters that we have ever encountered. Unfortunately, this game is limited to those with iOS 9 and above, so it puts you in a dilemma on whether to upgrade or not. You can watch the teaser for this game below.

We rate it 9.6/10