With the iPhone's built-in internet access and ability to handle increasingly complex applications, the system seems like natural home for online role-playing games. Developers Gameloft have recognized this fact and released a sequel to their popular game Dungeon Hunter. Unfortunately, this new installment, while ambitious, tends to be clunky and tedious.

Like many role-playing games, users start Dungeon Hunter 2 by choosing their character class, of which three are available. Each has its own strengths, weaknesses, special abilities and armor options. This part of the game is well handled, with each class recommending a certain approach to Dungeon Hunter 2's hack-and-slash heavy gameplay.

Gamers who remember classic dungeon crawlers like Gauntlet will find Dungeon Hunter 2 familiar and easy to pick up. Each character begins with a variety of attacks, and users can even unlock additional ones by leveling up. One of the most exciting features of Dungeon Hunter 2 is the ability to specialize with your character, as each character class has two sub-classes that make additional skills and talents available.

Initially, it's easy to be impressed by Dungeon Hunter 2, as it is a full, expansive role-playing game on your mobile phone. Disappointment sets in quickly, however, as despite the numerous attacks at your disposal, all most situations require is some button-mashing. Additionally, the trite and cliché story does nothing to help distract gamers from the repetitive battles.

It isn't uncommon for role-playing games to have large, complex menu systems, as they are necessary to manage all of the aspects of a player's character. But Dungeon Hunter 2's menus aren't just complex - they're confusing, and laid out in a counter-intuitive fashion that makes it difficult to find what you need when you need it. For a game that puts so much emphasis on leveling up and learning new skills, this is a real problem.

Dungeon Hunter 2's maps and quest logs are similarly difficult to navigate, with extremely small type and little explanation of where to go next or how to set about accomplishing a particular task. And since there's no mini map on the gameplay screen, you can expect to pause and check your position repeatedly during each Dungeon Hunter 2 session.

The worst part about Dungeon Hunter 2's menus, however, is the inventory management. With a number of different armor and equipment slots to fill, as well as a variety of weapons for each character class, gamers need to spend a fair bit of time buying, selling and equipping gear. As if the game's small type didn't make it difficult enough to properly suit up your character, the inventory system is also buggy and poorly laid out. With extremely small buttons that are too easy to bump into, and a truly awful scrolling mechanic, picking the correct armor and weapons for your hero takes far too long.

Perhaps realizing how miserable inventory management is in Dungeon Hunter 2, the game's developers included an auto-equip option. Though it is meant to immediately give your character the best equipment that you have in your possession, it works according to bizarre, seemingly inconsistent rules that tend to value special features over actual protection given or damage done.

Despite a number of gameplay problems, Dungeon Hunter 2 still manages to be an impressive release for the iPhone, with crisp clear graphics, lots of leveling options and even online multiplayer capabilities. But even with all of these working in its favor, the best anyone can say about Dungeon Hunter 2 is that it's "Really good for a mobile game." With a $6.99 price tag attached, however, that's just not good enough.

Dungeon Hunter 2 is an ambitious game, and a vast improvement over its predecessor. But with repetitive action, an uninspired storyline and a broken inventory management system, the game is still not quite ready for primetime, especially at such an inflated price. Hopefully, Gameloft will continue to iron out the problems in this series, and end up with an absolutely stunning Dungeon Hunter 3.

Final Score: C-