While Gameloft has released many games in the App Store, none of them has gotten our full 10/10 seal of approval. Could this game be it?

9mm (Universal: $6.99)

“Dive headlong into stylish gunfights where you’ll jump, shoot and fire clip after clip in stunning slow motion stunts to take out rooms full of criminals. The action really comes to life as destructible environments splinter and explode from the gunfire.”

Presentation

The graphics are what you expect from Gameloft, and I mean it. The description mentions “destructible environments” but I didn’t find any through my play through. The most noticeable difference is that while you move and look around the camera behaves a bit differently than in other Gameloft games, adding a more natural, hasty feel to it.

One nice thing that the game has is that it has a licensed soundtrack, with licensed tracks from some artists such as Freeway & Jake One (who make an in-game appearance) and others, and it goes quite nicely with the game. As for the voice acting, well, we’ll just say it’s about the same as in other Gameloft games (your characters name is John “Loose” Kannon, enough said).

Controls

If you’ve played a Gameloft game before, the controls will seem natural to you already at this point. The typical joystick to move your character, swiping on the screen to change the camera and aim,  and a button to shoot.

New however is a slow-mo button, which, you guessed it, slows down time so you can pin-point shots and wipe out large groups of enemies. You can drag this button and your character will dive in that direction.

As for picking up weapons, kicking down doors, or pretty much anything not covered in the usual Gameloft controls, large icons will appear for you to tap. And making a comeback from their Spiderman game, those “bullet time” interactive cut scenes are back, which involve you swiping where the game tells you.

Gameplay

In the game you play as tough-cop John “Loose” Kannon, who is tired of the drug dealers and has decided to take care of them. Unlike Gangstar, you don’t have a free to roam environment. Instead you have a more classic Gameloft story-plot, which evolves as you play.

Markers….err….mark where you have to go. The single player campaign has 12 levels, although they’re surprisingly short (I finished in about 3-4 hours). Thankfully, 9mm also has a multiplayer mode. You have death-match, and team death-match. Both modes support up to 12 players via Wi-Fi, or two via Bluetooth.

Conclusion

You can expect the usual from Gameloft. 9mm is a universal game, which is apparently Gameloft’s new direction, so you can play on both your iPhone and iPad. If you’re looking for a fun, Max Payne style shooter for the iPhone, 9mm is it. Even if you’ve never played Max Payne (like I), I think you’ll still have a good time with it.

The game is quite honestly one of the studio’s best games to date. They’ve finally gotten sense that people are tired with buying separate iPhone and iPad versions. This alone warrant the 10 out of 10 stars we’re giving this game. Gameloft if you’re listening, please pattern your future games to 9mm!