Hero Forces is a dreary mobile shooter that will test your patience

With better writers, Hero Forces could’ve been a fun parody of modern military shooters. It has organizations with ridiculous acronyms (H.E.R.O. versus D.O.O.M.), cheesy dialogue, and hordes of zombies. But the only thing I was laughing at was how much time I wasted playing this game.

Out now for iOS (I played on an iPhone 6 Plus) and Android devices, Hero Forces is a free-to-play cover-based shooter from Chinese publisher Playcube. In addition to its silly premise, Hero Forces follows in Call of Duty’s footsteps by providing three different ways to play. It has a single-player story campaign, competitive multiplayer, and a cooperative survival mode with monstrous creatures. Sounds kind of neat, right?