If you love FPS games on your iPhone, you may want to try Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus. As a game that promises multiplayer capabilities, a large variety of weapons and loads of shooting and killing, Modern Combat 2 really does seem to push the boundaries for what has so far evolved on the smartphone gaming platforms. I was able to get some hands-on time with the game recently at Gameloft’s studios here in NYC, and though it didn’t seem like the final version the game certainly didn’t seem to disappoint at all.
Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus takes place after Modern Combat (another Gameloft title), with the protagonist finding himself starting out deep in the jungles and about to be killed until rescue arrives. Similar to Call of Duty: World at War’s
Because the game was created for the iPhone, there are several different ways to play, and they’re all easily customizable in the menu. As an avid Counter Strike Source and Left 4 Dead 2 player I found myself turning the panning sensitivity down considerably as well as turning off the inverted controls. To move around, the player uses a D-pad that pops up on the bottom left side of the screen. To shoot, the player clicks on a fire button. The protagonist can only carry two weapons at a time that can easily be switched using a swipe gesture on the top right. When in combat, the player has the option of performing a knife kill by getting close up to their enemy and attacking. Thankfully, the reticule has almost automatic aiming (though the player has to do some work to lock onto a target.)
The weapons all feel and act differently. I was able to try out the M16, M9 pistol, AK47, and shotgun. All weapons also have accessories and players will find that they will really appreciate use of the silencer. There are lots more weapons than this, I actually really wanted to play with the sniper rifle but didn’t get a chance to. Players will find themselves taking cover often and then popping up to shoot at enemies. Additionally, moving from point to point will become very necessary in order to gain any ground at all. Depending on gameplay styles, different players will also choose different weapons. For example, the AK47 feels much like it does in Counter Strike Source, performing best in short round bursts.
As shown in the pictures, players will get different sights to aiming. I didn’t see this previously, nor did I get to check out the mounted machine gun. I was also able to see snowy regions, the jungles and a desert region as well. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any stealth missions or night missions.
Hopefully, we’ll be getting the final version shortly, so expect a full review soon.
