Gameloft delivers a bite-sized version of Halo.
The action is more or less the same as Modern Combat, but the setting is completely different. Instead of terrorists, you will be facing off against aliens that resemble the Covenant more than just a little. The locations are much more varied than Gameloft's last foray into the genre, as are the weapons. You will find yourself in a military base, arid jungles, freezing snowstorms, and even an alien planet during the adventure. The guns are the standard affair, with a pistol, shotgun, assault rifle, rocket launcher, and sniper rifle. Late in the game, you come across alien weaponry that steals the show.
There are plenty of extras thrown into the action to keep things varied. At several points, mounted turret sequences, on of which occurs on the back of a vehicle, send waves of enemies at you. Locked boxes require a hacking mini-game to be completed to open. In this hacking sequence, you must guide a laser using a set number of mirrors to it's destination without hitting specific areas that will short out your attempt. It couldn't stand alone as a puzzle game, but it is a welcome addition here.
The controls work quite well, but strangely, aren't as fluid as Modern Combat. There are three different controls schemes, but my personal favorite, the dual joysticks, is glitched to the point that it is unusable. When using this mode, my character inexplicably looked straight up at the ceiling several time per level. Also, the shotgun shoots far to the left of the crosshairs when using this scheme, almost off screen. The other two control layouts work well enough, but none felt as good as the controls in Modern Combat. The developers were well aware of the limitations of a game console lacking buttons, so they have implemented a very forgiving aim assist. It doesn't play the game for you, but it stops intense battles from getting frustrating.
The game has a decent length for a seven dollar application. It took me about four hours to complete, but there are three difficulty levels and achievements to unlock that extend playtime. Multiplayer is available as well, but the only option is deathmatch or team deathmatch with only four players allowed max. It's a cool addition, but online multiplayer has a long way to go on the iPhone. A nice start would be with some co-op that allows two players to tackle the campaign together.
[Spoilers follow about the story, but it's such a bad plot that it probably won't matter] Since it is the first sci-fi FPS on the iPhone, the developers apparently felt it was perfectly acceptable to make the plot as generic as possible. You play as a retired Marine that has a reputation as a loose cannon that is called back into service. The planet is under attack by an alien race know as the xenos, a poorly veiled copy of the xenomorph from Aliens, complete with parasites that attach to the victim. Shortly, it becomes apparent that the government may not be telling you the whole truth, thanks to a mysterious informant only known as Prometheus (near the end, he reveals his name is in fact Prometheus, so him being mysterious about his identity becomes pointless). You are also accompanied by an AI assistant who only appears as a blue image, is female, and seems to only exist to be a complete copy of Cortana from Halo. Near the end, things begin to actually get interesting as a government conspiracy starts to surface, but this plotline is promptly dropped and never referenced again. Everything about the story as a very '3 AM on Syfy' feel. It doesn't help that the voice acting as some of the cheesiest I have heard since the early days of spoken lines in video games. Gameloft, in your next major release, please hire a writer. I'm not even asking for more than one. Just a single person that at least has some experience in story telling.
It is easy to find fault with the game, but it is all forgotten when the same adrenaline rush occurs in the intense moments that I have in retail home console games. NOVA delivers some great action with a good variety of locations. There is still some work to be done in order to make the FPS genre truly amazing on the iPhone, but for the price, NOVA is an excellent value.