N.O.V.A. Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance

Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance, better known as N.O.V.A. for short, is an action-adventure game video game for the iPod and other Apple products made for Apple by Gameloft. It was released on December 17, 2009 for iOS, WebOS and is one of the games containing the Gameloft Live online gaming service. It was later released on the PlayStation Network for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 on December 21, 2010, just five days after the release of N.O.V.A. 3. The game's hostiles (known as "xenos") are similar to those in the Metroid series as well as the Halo series.

Gameplay

N.O.V.A. is primarily a first-person shooter, with one on-rails driving segment. Throughout the game's twelve levels, players fight alien enemies known as Xenos. The game takes major cues from sci-fi console shooters, such as the Halo and Metroid series. The player can use eight weapons that resemble futuristic versions of weapons found in one of Gameloft's previous works, Modern Combat: Sandstorm.

Multiplayer

Players can use multiplayer in N.O.V.A. in the following ways:

• Local Wi-Fi
• Local Bluetooth
• Online (via Gameloft Live)

Plot

In the far future, Earth was no longer able to sustain life on its crust. Because of that, huge satellites called "Near- Orbitals", were designed and built for people to live on. In order to protect themselves, mankind formed a group called the Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance .You play as a member of the Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance and defend the satellites against the aliens that seek to destroy mankind.

Release

Reception

The game was well received by critics and has a Metacritic score of 94/100 based on nine reviews.^[1] Levi Buchanan of IGN awarded the game a 9/10, calling it "the best first-person shooter on the iPhone right now."^[2] Pocket Gamer gave the game a 9/10 and a "Gold Award" .^[3] Slide to Play gave a perfect 4/4, saying "Fans of FPSes shouldn't let this one slip by. Halo ripoff or not, it packs a lot of great content into a tiny, modestly-priced package."

HD

A high-definition version of this game was released on the App Store on April 1, 2010. However, it is only compatible with Apple's iPad tablet PC.

On July 21, 2010, N.O.V.A, along with Modern Combat: Sandstorm, Gangstar: West Coast Hustle, and Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles, was heavily updated for the iPhone 4. It includes gyroscope control, HD and 3D graphics, and is compatible with multitasking on iOS 4.

On August 31, 2010, the free version of N.O.V.A. HD was released for iPad.

Rating

N.O.V.A. has the following ratings:

• Apple: 15+ (for violence and blood)
• ESRB: T (for violence and depictions of blood)
• PEGI: 15 (for depictions of violence)

Sequel

A sequel to N.O.V.A. was developed and published by Gameloft and released in the iTunes App Store on December 16, 2010, titled "N.O.V.A. 2: The Hero Rises Again". The game innovated on the many designs created by the first N.O.V.A., and added many new features such as 10-player online multiplayer matches, retina display and gyroscope support for the iPhone 4. Later, on May 10, 2012 N.O.V.A. 3 was released on the App Store, also developed and published by Gameloft. It added new features such as 2-man cars in multiplayer and updated graphics after working an in-house editor.

See also

• Gameloft Live
• Modern Combat: Sandstorm
• Gameloft
• Halo
• Metroid

References

External links

• The Gameloft Website
• N.O.V.A. on Gameloft
• N.O.V.A. HD on App Store
• iGameStats Average Score: 9.1 (Based on 12 reviews)