PUBG vs CoD Mobile – Battle among the Best, Top 3 Differences

As a child or a grown-up, I always took the gaming bus, be it the moment of joy when our school exams used to end or in the hard times when life gets stressful. Earlier to be a pro gamer, but now mostly as a go-to place to rest, relax, and entertain. The last couple of years have seen a drastic upgrade in the mobile gaming industry release of some games in all genres, but what I prefer playing is Third Person Battle Royal games. PubG, without a doubt, is ruling it with the number of players and popularity.  Never has a gaming title gained this amount of popularity in the world and indeed not a mobile game. In a country where esports hasn’t been of great significance, and no games could hold the market for long, then Tencent blew it off. Within one year, we saw several social media pages dedicated to PubG and many tournaments going on across the globe. Just when we saw PubG rocketing the esports community, then after a successfully closed beta version, Activision dropped a surprise competitor Call of Duty: Mobile in the industry on the 1^st October 2019, and with it came the unavoidable comparison between the two franchises. I got hooked to CoD: Mobile from the day it launched as the gameplay, graphics, controls, and many features that I found very interesting and got me to stick to the game. Let’s talk about each of them with details and a quick comparison between the two.

Graphis & Maps Layout in COD mobile

 The striking difference you spot when you start the two games is the graphics. With a more polished visual in my personal opinion, Unity Engine has done a great job with the CoD: Mobile graphics, whereas, in PubG, it is associated with a more realistic photo visual powered by Unreal Engine (ironic name for more realistic gameplay).

As far as optimization is concerned initially, a lot of devices were not compatible with PubG, but with the recent upgrades, both PubG and CoD: Mobile run smoothly on almost every mid-range mobile.

There is quite a significant difference when considering the maps in both the games. In PubG with 4 BattleRoyal maps- Orange, Sanhok, Miramar, and Vikendi, on the other hand, with a more compact and the only map available on CoD: Mobile Battle Royal is the Classic one.

In the multiplayer mode CoD: Mobile has brought to us some of the favorite maps from the franchise – NukeTown, Crash, KillHouse, CrossFire, Hijacked, Raid, Takeoff, Firing Range and Standoff where some initial ones whereas in the recent update we could also find some new additions of Summit, Cage, MeltDown and Rust which attract gamers who prefer playing Team Deathmatch mode.

Game Play COD mobile

 Although there are a lot of differences, the basics of the gameplay seem to be quite similar. CoD: Mobile has a more focused Multiplayer mode- frontline, deathmatch, domination, search & destroy, one vs. 1, etc. unlike PubG, which feels more battle royal oriented. The Battle Royal in PubG is yet to offer some interesting elements like helicopters and tanks, which have been included in CoD: Mobile.

Another difference that is observed by many gamers is the red highlight on enemy characters pointing them out, which makes the game more comfortable as it helps in pointing out the opposing teams from a distance and also in close combats helps in differentiating between opponents and teammates.

The most remarkable difference in the battle royal mode of both the games is the reviving option. CoD: Mobile gives us to revive our teammates within a short span even when they are dead, which provides it with a significant leap in the gameplay area. As a player, it gets unbearable for us to watch our teammates playing while we spectate after getting killed as soon as we start the game.

PUBG Mobile Game-Gameplay

Controls in COD mobile

 Controls in both the games are quite similar if we consider the basic layout and are completely customizable. However, with slight differences which make controls and gameplay more comfortable and more fun. Firstly, the noticeable difference is with the crouch/prone/slide button, which in CoD: Mobile has done with a single on-screen button; however, for PubG, a separate switch is provided for each purpose and sliding option is unavailable in the battle royal mode. The other difference is the manual and automatic shooting control available along with one tap, aim and shoot option, which in PubG comprises two different buttons, one mainly for aim and another one to use scope, although there is a separate extra shooting button available in both the games.

Final Verdict:

 Undoubtedly PubG has got its competitor at last, but what will be the future it’s tough to guess. With the market that PubG holds, it’s going to be a fierce competition for CoD: Mobile to leap to the top. In my opinion, the short and sharp gameplay CoD: Mobile is my favorite.

Author : Ahmad Fazal , Electrical Engineering graduate, with a versatile mindset, aspiring to be a Digital Marketer.