Call of Duty: Heroes Released

Though the third-person Call of Duty game may have been canceled, publisher Activision is not giving up on extending the blockbuster shooter series to new categories. The company today released Call of Duty: Heroes, a free-to-play 3D strategy game for iOS, Android, and Windows.

Heroes--which was originally announced in August--features characters from the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Black Ops franchises, including Captain Price, Soap MacTavish, and Mike Harper, among others. The game lets players customize their bases and face off against friends though online battles.

You'll start with a small outpost and must construct and upgrade it with new weapons and equipment, including sentry guns, SAM turrets, mines, and more than 30 upgradeable structures. Since it's a Call of Duty game, you can also level up your characters and utilize killstreaks such as UAVs and drone strikes to help you along the way.

Heroes was developed by Chinese studio Faceroll. It's available now as a free download for iOS and Windows 8 tablets, while the Android version is "coming soon." For an optimal experience, Activision recommends playing Heroes on an iPhone 5 or newer and iPad Air 2 or Mini 2 or newer devices.

Since it's a free-to-play game, Activision makes its money by offering microtransactions. We tested the game today and found a maximum single purchase option of $100. Microtransactions, of course, are standard practice for mobile games, and Heroes also offers add-ons for less.