E3 2014: Modern Combat 5 Blackout is a premium mobile shooter, not free to play

Gameloft's Modern Combat series for mobile has been getting progressively more impressive with each new iteration. Modern Combat 5 Blackout is arguably the most ambitious yet, with assault, heavy, recon, and sniper classes with specific skills, team-based multiplayer, unified character progression across campaign and multiplayer matches, vehicle segments, and urban combat environments that include the streets of Tokyo and the canals of Venice.

Although very much focused on recreating a Call of Duty style experience on phones and tablets (it will ship simultaneously this summer on iOS, Android, and Windows Phones) a notable omission from its initial release will be controller support. To begin with, it's purely a "sticks on the screen" affair. Though the iOS version, particularly, will not support MFI physical controls, the team at Gameloft hasn't ruled out the possibility of it being added in a future update.

The big news for core gamers with a distaste for in-app purchases though, is that this is purely a premium experience on mobile. It will be $6.99 when it launches, and that's it. No paying to boost stats, no premium extras. You just pay once.