Before this game, NOVA was probably considered the best iPhone FPS. Unsurprisingly, Gameloft beats their own previous effort. Ladies and gentleman, prepare for a new breed of online iPhone gaming for the iOS.

Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus ($6.99)

Modern Combat 2 defeats all iPhone boundaries set by small screen size and absence of physical buttons to deliver the most outrageous FPS and multiplayer experience that extend far beyond the iPhone.

Presentation

Everything about the game reminds me of MW2, and yet, I’m at peace with this. The environments, kill streak achievements in multiplayer among other things, are pretty much identical to MW2. The graphics are amazing, Gameloft is definitely stepping up their game on this one.

Visually the most striking thing was the kill streak cam. We got a small glimpse at this in BIA2, but it’s nothing like it is now. At first I could have sworn it was a cut scene because of the detail (and just how awesome looking it looked), but after playing with it I realized it was all live. With retina graphics, MC2 has some of the best iPhone graphics of all time.

Controls

Controls follow as usual from Gameloft. D-Pad for movement, shoot button, grenade button, etc. As always, the controls are smooth as can be, with the only new thing being that you can tap a button when available to order an airstrike. You can also customize the controls around to your liking, if you don’t like them for some reason.

Gameplay

As mentioned above, it really is a lot of like MW2. A lot of the things from the first have been improved, and some things have been added. For example, the quick action events from Spider-Man are now part of the game. Be quick or get stabbed. Also a first for an iPhone FPS is the ability to choose where an airstrike can occur. Also “borrowed” from MW2 is a neat little feature…

Whenever you blast or kick open a door, to say a room filled with hostages, the game slows down, giving you the ability to take all the baddies down immediately, but without the training a real soldier would have. As to multiplayer, Gameloft is right, this is the best multiplayer experience on the App Store. First of all, the progression of ranks, like in Archetype and Eliminate was added.

Aside from that, multiplayer mode has a vast selection of incredibly fun game modes. You can do team deathmatch, capture the flag, team battle, and defuse the bomb, with up to 10 players at a time. And yes, there are kill streaks. The campaign has an average length, but the multiplayer is a strong rival to the single player campaign.

Suggestion

Multiplayer rankings are.currently.broken. Yes I said broken. Currently, the game does NOT save your rank and kill/death ration upon exit of the game. It’s a little surprising to see such a big oversight like this one. I know Gameloft is fixing this right now, so don’t get too involved in your rankings at the moment.

Conclusion

My props to Gameloft for this one. They’ve outdone all their previous FPS, and created the what may just be the iPhone’s best FPS. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us when they release N.O.V.A 2. Looking at Eliminate, Modern Combat, Brothers In Arms, NOVA and Archetype, all those games mentioned PALE in comparison to Modern Combat 2. Get to fragging everyone!