- N.O.V.A. Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance
-
Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance 
Promotion image for the PlayStation Minis release of the game.Developer(s) Gameloft Publisher(s) Gameloft Distributor(s) Apple, Google, Sony Platform(s) iOS, Android, webOS, PlayStation Portable Release date(s) December 17, 2009
PlayStation Minis
- NA December 21, 2010
Genre(s) Action-adventure First-Person Shooter 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, and WebOS and is one of the games containing the Gameloft Live online gaming service. The game's hostiles (known as "xenos") are similar to those in the Metroid series as well as the Halo series.
Contents
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:
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.
An ex-officer, named Kal Wardin, is approached by two soldiers of the Alliance, who proceed to knock him unconscious before gearing him up with a 'Mobile Armoured Suit'. The suit is equipped with a female AI called Yelena, who tells Wardin that the Alliance has recalled him to duty in a time of emergency. She tells him that his objective is to investigate the Colonial Pride, an Alliance space frigate, which recently went silent for unknown reasons. Wardin heads over to a nearby shuttle before taking off into orbit.
On board the Colonial Pride, Wardin finds that the ship has been attacked by a mysterious alien group which the humans know only as 'Xenos'. The crew have been slaughtered, and so Yelena orders Wardin to activate the Pride's self-destruct process. After fighting through a number of Xenos, Wardin is able to start the process, but he is also contacted by an enigmatic AI named Prometheus on the way. Prometheus does not give away his identity, but briefly implies that he can help Wardin to fight the Xenos. Wardin then escapes from the exploding frigate in a shuttle, and makes his way back to the ground below.
Back on the surface, the Xenos have launched an attack by entering the Alliance's territory through portals. Wardin makes his way towards an Alliance outpost, which has been completely overrun by Xenos. Upon entering the outpost, he finds that a huge, spider-like beast has been sent in by the Xenos, and has killed many of the soldiers. Wardin manages to kill the monster and purge the Xenos from the base, before being redirected to a Xeno-controlled facility in an Arctic area. Prometheus also points out to Wardin that there was another frigate alongside the Colonial Pride, which mysteriously disappeared and is key to their investigation.
Wardin reaches the facility, which he finds to be the place of the Xenos' largest portal. Prometheus warns Wardin that should he succeed in cutting off the Xenos' reinforcements, the Alliance will not need him any more and may come after him to kill him. Wardin starts to close the portal, but Yelena states that Prometheus was correct about the Alliance's intentions for him, and she is then deactivated by the Alliance. A group of soldiers are then sent to the area to 'retrieve' him, but Prometheus tells Wardin to escape through the portal to avoid execution. Wardin jumps into the portal and disappears in a flash of light.
Wardin emerges in a mysterious alien city, and the portal closes behind him. Prometheus explains his true identity: he was originally another soldier's AI, like Yelena, but just like Wardin, the Alliance eventually lost their need for the soldier and demanded his death and Prometheus' deactivation. However, Prometheus somehow 'survived' and escaped from the Alliance. As Wardin progresses through the city, he comes across numerous terminals which Prometheus is able to read to determine the Xenos' identities, as well as their motives for the attack. The city actually belongs to a supremely intelligent race known as 'Those Who Judge', or just 'Judges'. The Judges currently live in stasis, and have left control of the city to an 'Automated Defence Program'. The Xenos are actually mere thugs, correctly known as 'Caretakers' - they patrol the city to protect the Judges in stasis, but also act as the Judges' soldiers. Prometheus also explains that the other frigate alongside the Colonial Pride had crash-landed on a meteor near the alien city. The Automated Defence Program had incorrectly assumed the crash as a human attack on the city, and had subsequently ordered the Caretakers to attack first the Pride and then the surface below.
Wardin makes his way to the city centre, where he finds the core of the Defence Program, known as the 'Citadel Guardian'. The Guardian attacks Wardin, but he manages to defeat it by destroying its weapons one by one. Upon the Guardian's defeat, the Program shuts down, presumably ending the Caretaker invasion. A number of holograms of the Judges then appear before Wardin. They tell him that they have seen from him how some humans are able to restore hope, but others, like the leaders of the Alliance, only want wealth and power. They then agree that all of the innocent humans will be spared, but the others, such as the general who commanded Wardin's execution, will be thrown into oblivion. They also declare that Prometheus, who did a lot to protect humanity, will become a representative of the human race, and that Yelena will also be restored.
Release
Reception
The game was generally well received by critics. It received a 9.0 out of 10 from IGN[1] and a "Gold Award" from Pocket Gamer.[2]
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: 12+
- ESRB: T
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.
See also
- Gameloft Live
- Modern Combat: Sandstorm
- Gameloft
- Halo
- Metroid
References
External links
Categories:- 2009 video games
- Gameloft games
- IOS games
- PlayStation Network games
- IPad games
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
