N.O.V.A 3 review.

Gameloft finally released N.O.V.A. 3 today on iOS and so I just had to download it. My first impression is that the graphics on this game played on my iPad is simply breath taking. It's hard to believe that this game is running on a mobile device. Gameloft has really outdone theirselves with this title, with it's amazing graphics, 10 large levels of single player campaign that is fully voiced, and it's full fledged multiplayer with their gameloft live service. This game packs a big punch for just $6.99.

As far as gameplay goes this game has a lot to offer but I will admit that the one issue I have is the learning curve on playing on a touch screen. Gameloft has done well with helping this though with a target assist that feels pretty natural. It is just a learning curve that I have to get over which honestly I am catching on pretty quickly. The screen layout is fairly well layed out with shield and health bar at the top of the screen. You're weapon and ammo is listed to the right of this. You tap to reload and swipe to change weapons. Below that is your grenades which you tap and hold to release. The bottom right you have your fire button, zoom in aim button, and your special power button below that. Your sprint button is to the left middle close to where you touch for the joystick appears to move back and forth. Lastly the menu button is located in the top left corner of your screen.

The environments remind me a lot of a combination of HALO and a little bit of other games like Mass Effect. What I mean by this is that the guns and AI aliens remind me a lot of Halo and the cool special abilities feel like the biotic abilities of Mass Effect. I easily got over the similarities and played through the first level of the game. It felt very filled out with an ok story line and the objectives were easy to follow. After giving the campaign a try a jumped over to the multiplayer part.

After signing into my free Gameloft live I got the above screen as you can notice from the above picture that it has your usual game types even if some of them are strangely named. After selecting the game type you are presented with another screen that shows you your level and a place to customize your weapons from points you acquire from playing multiplayer. This is pretty much the same way most Call of Duty games are when it comes to leveling in multiplayer combat.

Above is one of the many multiplayer maps you are provided which just an open factory setting. Unfortunately, I can't tell you much more about this one because everytime I got into this map I received a server error and was kicked back to the main screen. I did get to play a little team death match which was fun even though I still haven't gotten the controls down yet. I was able to get a couple of kills in the game of 12 vs 12. Other than those few hiccups with the first map I really enjoyed the multiplayer.



My verdict is that this game is a must especially if you have an iPhone o iPad with a retina display. Pick it up today in the app store. This game is also available for android (with most gameloft games it will not be compatible with a lot of android devices so your ability to get the game may very.)