Frontline Commando 2 is the latest shooter to emerge from Glu's freemium blaster factory. But, even though it takes the same structure as many of the company’s other titles, it does try to stand apart from its stablemates.

Though Frontline Commando 2’s standard near-future battlefields don't help stand out from the crowd, their visual clarity does. Though the locations and soldiers may look familiar, every environment, enemy, and boss looks crisp and clear on the touchscreen.

If you recognise the setting, then you'll probably be acquainted with the gameplay tropes too. You have to swipe your finger around the screen to aim at enemy troops from your static firing position. The result is a gallery with the added flexibility of a cover system. You can pop in and out of hiding at a moment's notice to take shots, and dash between a few fixed points of cover. Its a small addition to the formula, but it gives you some tactical leeway. Firing from different positions let you more easily target certain opponents, and can help you avoid incoming fire - something which is vital in later levels when things become more frantic.

As the difficulty ramps up, you will need better weapons to take on enemies in the later stages. This is where things start to get insidious. Unlocking new guns at a pace that keeps the game moving forward costs far more currency than can be obtained through organic play. The way the game's in-app purchases are incentivised feels more like being threatened for your pocket money than encouraged to treat yourself.

Frontline Commando 2’s other deviation from similar shooters is its squad system. Up to three team members can join your squad. These additional team members made the online PvP more fun than we expected, as it forced us to prioritise targets in our opponents' squads, rather than blasting at them indiscriminately. It's a worthy addition to the game - though again, IAPs can make matches frustratingly unbalanced.

Frontline Commando 2 is a great looking shooter, built on a solid foundation. Unfortunately, while the core mechanic is entertaining, the aggressive microtransactions mean that progressing through the game quickly becomes either frustrating or expensive.