N.O.V.A, Gameloft’s new $7  first-person shooter, was released to the masses yesterday, and it’s looking pretty good. You play an armoured marine with regenerating shields who fights against quasi-reptilian alien soldiers with beam weapons, so I’d say the Halo inspiration is pretty clear. The game features a 13-level single player campaign with some surprisingly decent voice work, local and global multiplayer, and a good set of touch controls. The only strange thing about the game is how fuzzy the main menu looks – it’s almost difficult to read because it looks so out of focus, but heck if I’m going to take away any points for that.

I’ve already played two titles that have captured the excitement of an FPS on the iPhone (Eliminate Pro and COD Zombies), but N.O.V.A is the first title I’ve seen with a really impressive looking campaign. I criticized Ace Combat XI for not properly adjusting the breadth of the console experience to the iPhone, but N.O.V.A is looking like one of those titles that gives this mobile Apple platform the respect it deserves. Look for the JAiB review in the coming days.

In other news, Gameloft also has a 7-day sale going on for seven of their “hottest” titles. These titles aren’t exactly the ones I would have expected to be the “hottest”, but they are all on sale for $0.99, so browse away.

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