NOVA 2 - What We Want
by Chris Thomas on Saturday 23rd Jan 2010

While Gameloft have yet to announce a sequel to NOVA, the original release was very well received both critically and by fans alike. It stands to reason that Gameloft will release a sequel but how to improve on the original? We asked ourselves this question and put together the following list of features, ideas and requests...

Co-Op Campaign

Like any great single player game things can usually be made even better with a friend and we’re confident that NOVA would be no exception. Allowing gamers to tackle the campaign with a friend would provide much needed scope for more varied tactics when fighting against the hordes of enemy aliens. Rather than just equipping the shotgun and getting in the face of the Xeno, having a friend would allow you to flank and out-think your enemy instead of simply relying on your rechargeable shields and vast quantities of shotgun ammo. Level design could also be improved with multiple twisting paths and larger open sections allowing for fire fights that feel more epic in scale.  Furthermore letting a friend join the mix would also massively enhance vehicular sections, but we’ll go into this in more detail a bit later.

 
3GS Specific Enhancements

Nobody will deny that the original NOVA is a good looking game and undoubtedly an ambassador for the iPhone in terms of what the platform is capable of visually. That said the 3GS model is capable of more and it would be great to see Gameloft take advantage of the added horse power. Without drastically improving the poly count of the characters and environments and potentially changing the game on a fundamental level the 3GS can afford more processing power for aesthetic enhancements be they more advanced particle effects or even just better lighting. Other developers have already started incorporating 3GS specific game enhancements so there is no reason why a company with Gameloft’s resources couldn’t endeavour to do the same.

Vehicular Combat

If you’re going to ape the visual and play style of HALO you might as well go whole hog… or should that be whole warthog? Some of the most memorable moments from HALO involve the vehicles particularly in the co-op or multiplayer game modes where one player would drive the Warthog and the other would man the turret. It almost always results in riotous fun with the gunner typically shouting and cursing at the driver’s inability to keep the vehicle steady while the driver laments his colleagues atrocious aim. Or maybe that’s just me. Either way vehicular combat done well and integrated into the multiplayer experience (co-op or otherwise) would really help to add texture to the gameplay and decrease some of that repetition that at times crept into the original game.

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