N.O.V.A. 2 – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance review

N.O.V.A. 2: Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance is a futuristic first-person shooter for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad from Gameloft. If you enjoyed the first title in this series, odds are you’ll be a fan of this game.

N.O.V.A. 2 is definitely a game that’s inspired by the popular Halo franchise, which isn’t a bad thing. In fact, if you’re a fan of the Halo series, N.O.V.A. 2 is a game you’re really going to enjoy. The events of this game take place six years after the the conclusion of the first game, and puts you in the role of Kal Warden as he seeks to restore peace during a bloody space-aged Civil War. Like any FPS game, be prepared to do a lot of running and jumping, and a whole lot of shooting. Thankfully Gameloft has done a great job with the control scheme for N.O.V.A. 2 which adds to the enjoyment of this game.

Movement is accomplished through the use of a floating joystick on the left side of the screen while shooting and jumping are done with two separate buttons on the bottom right of the screen. But perhaps the best feature of the controls of this game is the ease of looking around. With gyroscope control set to “on”, you control where you look just by tilting the device. This makes it easy to quickly lock on to opponents while keeping your right thumb on the trigger button and adds to the feeling that you’re in the game. And of course, as with any Gameloft game, N.O.V.A. 2’s environments are spectacular and the fluid movements and controls make even easier to enjoy the surroundings by not distracting you as you play.

N.O.V.A. 2 wouldn’t be a true Halo-like experience without an online multiplayer, but Gameloft included that as well. N.O.V.A. 2 gives you the ability to play with up to 10 players in various multiplayer arenas and game types. These modes are easy to jump into quickly and in my experience it doesn’t take long to find enough players for a full map.

Great graphics, simple controls, exciting multiplayer, and a diverse list of weapons make this game really fun to play. N.O.V.A. 2: Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance from Gameloft is on sale this 4th of July weekend for just 99 cents in the App Store.