N.O.V.A. Legacy – the N.O.V.A. remake for Android – is out now

Gameloft – known in the past as whizzes in terms of translating console gaming experiences to mobile devices – have been clever at churning out sober, well-made productions based on good licenses. One of their greatest successes was N.O.V.A: Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance, a futuristic FPS clearly inspired by HALO. Several games later, after making the move to the freemium model, Gameloft have just put out N.O.V.A Legacy, a remake of the first game with a nice update to the graphics.

The bulk of the one-player bit of the game is nothing more than a remake of the original N.O.V.A. campaign, where you play a soldier whose mission is to save humanity from an alien invasion by the so-called Judges. The levels are short, and though you move around with touch controls, they are intuitive enough not to be frustrating. (Rather like in the latest titles from the Modern Combat, from the same developer.)

Besides the single player – and predictably, given the freemium model – the game also has limited-time events with expiring challenges in resistance and defense modes during a set timeframe. The idea behind this array of gaming options is to upgrade your armory and unlock new equipment in the endless free-to-play power spiral. Not to mention the “energy” needed to repeat missions, which involves a lengthy spell of fun. Besides all that, it includes a real-time arena mode that lets you play in a classic deathmatch system in groups of up to six players.

The game still hasn’t officially launched globally, but is available in several countries and its APK can be downloaded and installed through Uptodown with no regional restrictions.