N.O.V.A. – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance is a brand new first person shooter made by Gameloft that is one of the most hyped titles ever to enter the App Store. N.O.V.A. has a sci-fi theme that has a basic connection to Halo. The story in N.O.V.A. revolves around retired Marine Kal Wardin who has just been called back into active duty because of an alien threat, known as “Judges”, against the Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance.

Does this sci-fi FPS live up to the massive hype? Is it the go to FPS for the iPhone? Let’s find out.

Features

N.O.V.A. features a single player campaign mode that progresses through 13 levels across five environments. A deluxe storyline is included with detailed cut scenes and voice acting to give more information about the mysterious “Judges” alien threat. Every level gives a breakdown of stats and any achievements you raked up which are kept on Gameloft Live.

Multiplayer is also included, either locally over WiFi or Bluetooth, or the big feature, online. You can play a deathmatch online using Gameloft Live servers to play anyone in the world on five different maps. Every game contributes to your overall rank to compare on the global leaderboards.

Three control methods are included to find out which one fits you best, and they’re the exact same ones found in Modern Combat. The default control uses a virtual control stick on the left, and firing button on the right. You drag on the rest of the screen to move the camera angle and aim. In playing the default controls worked the best.

The next control mode uses the left side of the screen to move, and the right side to aim and fire. Finally the last control mode provides dual sticks, again movement on the left, and aiming/firing on the right. During the entire game there is a blue arrow that points you in the right direction. Six weapons are available including the rifle, shotgun, sniper, rocket launcher, plasma gun, as well as grenades, and you’re occasionally able to use turrets.

The Good

N.O.V.A. has so much good going for it, and even taking away all the visual candy it’s still a great game. This truly is a FPS single player campaign game that we’ve yet to see on the iPhone. As the only other comparable title would be Gameloft’s other FPS Modern Combat, which pales in comparison.

The game is just everything I expected, and more. It’s so engrossing to get your fingers at the ready and blast through aliens in deluxe worlds. The storyline is nice and detailed, and adds reason to keep going through the game. Every single objective in the game keeps the action moving never leaving a dull moment.

The enemies come at you vigorously, and they have a good shot so you really need to be careful. Part of the game requires more than just shooting, which is always a nice change of pace. Overall everything you would expect in terms of gameplay in a console FPS is included in N.O.V.A.

There’s no doubt the gameplay is great, and the entire game is enhanced by the 3D rendered visuals. All of the five unique environments are deluxe and finely detailed, rivaling any portable game anywhere. The presentation of everything is great including the alien design, and shooting them. Overall everything pops with color and puts you into these sci-fi environments.

A wonderful soundtrack is included, which has a basic military theme but infused with sci-fi fantasy. There’s no reason to play your own music, because this soundtrack goes perfectly with the gameplay. The included sound effects are good too, from the grunts and gruffs of larger enemies to the hissing whispering (ala The Others in Lost) from the main aliens.

The controls are good with three different choices, but they’re still not great. They take awhile to get used to, and even then are just on par with Eliminate’s controls, and both get slightly in the way of playing the game.

Playing the entire campaign mode will take a considerable amount of time, and you’ll love every minute of it. Also, once you beat the single player mode on normal you can unlock hard mode to play through it again, and there are achievements on Gameloft Live too. A great save system is included which picks up at your most recent checkpoint, and there are a lot of checkpoints.

Just the single player mode makes this game well worth $6.99, but also included is online multiplayer which is pretty good. Online deathmatches on the go wherever you are on five different maps as just in addition to the campaign.

The Bad

As good as the game is, there are some definite flaws. The main problem revolves around the online multiplayer, at least in comparison to Eliminate Pro. The first concern is that you have to go through picking the room you want to play in with no indication of the player rankings, and some matches don’t have time limits.

Also when you join some matches they may be nearing an end, and the load times are quite considerable. The ranking system is basic at best, and ranking isn’t valued based on the opponents played. Gameloft has a long way to go in the multiplayer aspect to even be a worthy competitor to Ngmoco.

When playing Eliminate Pro the matches start automatically pitting you against similar ranked opponents, and having everyone in the match begin together. Also the load times are quick, and each game lasts for a certain amount of time. The ranking system is superb using Plus+, and your ranking is dependent upon the opponents you play. Each match contributes to your overall level to increase your weapons, armor, and skill level.

There are obvious problems with the multiplayer, and another problem is the controls, which like Eliminate, still aren’t completely smooth to play FPS on the iPhone. I guess we have to keep waiting until a company can truly figure it out. Don’t get me wrong, they’re good, just not great.

The Verdict

N.O.V.A. is the FPS we’ve all been waiting for and, amazingly, actually lived up to the enormous hype. It’s the best FPS on the iPhone, the best action game on the iPhone, and one of the best games overall. Gameloft has finally delivered that outstanding game that we’ve been waiting for, as some of their other titles kept coming up just short.

The multiplayer is lacking, so my best suggestion would be to get N.O.V.A. for the outstanding single player campaign, and then the free Eliminate Pro for wonderful multiplayer FPS.

N.O.V.A. is a must buy for $6.99, so get downloading today to have a wonderful FPS experience any time at all.

***To win a copy of N.O.V.A. just leave a comment below telling us about how important reviews of EA and Gameloft games are. Their games sell really well, and they do so much marketing. Would you prefer more reviews of smaller games? We will still do EA and Gameloft games, but maybe not all of them, and not as timely. Let us know.

The winner will be chosen randomly at the end of the day tomorrow (12/19 at 11:59 PM PDT). Download codes are only redeemable through US iTunes accounts. Please remember to include a valid email address so we can contact the winner. Also see our video review of the game.