N.O.V.A HD. – Next Generation Gaming with the Galaxy Tab

N.O.V.A HD. – Next Generation Gaming with the Samsung Galaxy Tab

The 20 man (and-women!)-strong team of Samsung Mob!ler’s have each been gifted a Samsung Galaxy Tab and we’ve been putting it through its paces over the past week or so. Our first task has been to check out the gaming potential that the Galaxy Tab has to offer, and I’ve focused this post on N.O.V.A. - the outstanding 1^st-person shoot ‘em up style game from Gameloft.

I must say from the outset that I framed the Galaxy Tab as a mini-computer/multi-media/internet/email/phone sort of device, i.e. not something I would play games on so much; maybe just some basic freebie stuff. However N.O.V.A has surpassed my expectations and blown my mind open to just what the Galaxy Tab can offer.

Display

With graphics and gameplay on par with (if not greater) that that of a PSP, the Galaxy Tab and  N.O.V.A make quite the match. Bringing back memories of the classic N64 Goldeneye, the game comes alive on the Tab’s 7inch TFT HD display. It runs smoothly with no lagging or glitches. There’s an ominous storyline throughout the game, and you get to watch a series of videos and radio messages as you follow the story of a retired marine called back into duty following a surge of alien invasions.

Gameplay and Controls

Whilst there is a degree of repetition throughout, N.O.V.A makes for a challenging and entertaining game. The controls are intuitive, simple to grasp and really put you ‘in to’ the game.  There is a virtual touchscreen analogue stick that moves you about and the direction you ‘face’ can be controlled both via the touchscreen (anywhere on the screen) AND controlled gyroscopically with the Tab’s accelerometer. This means you can look around the game environment by moving the phone up and down and literally point and shoot the bad guys. With buttons to fire, reload, throw grenades, switch weapons as well as well as a host of other interactive (and customisable) features, N.O.V.A can really suck you into the game. With the gyroscope in full action you’ll look like quite the crack –pot playing this on the train or bus, but just think how much fun you’d be having at the same time!

Extra features

There’s various little extra ‘bits’ to N.O.V.A that begin to explore just what potential gaming on the Galaxy Tab could be like. Whilst these are not fully developed, they show a lot of promise. Some of them include:

- There are mini ‘hacking’ games, which are essentially little puzzles that you work through and unlock ammo/progress in the game.

- There are some cool features where you have to interact with the environment in a really intuitive way. This could be sliding an arrow to make the lift move, or spinning/moving parts of the walls/doors to open them. I guess you have to see this live… Check out the video!!

- Multi-player mode – Connect over wifi and play death matches with strangers across the world or just play with your friends over a local network! This is an amazing facet to the game, very fun and very addictive!

Conclusion

There’s a lot of ‘wow’ factors to N.O.V.A, as I’ve advanced through the game it opens up various new tasks, weapons, and  ‘missions’ from sniping to drive-by’s.  I just didn’t expect this level of gaming to come from a tablet. Really impressed.

There’s still a degree of repetitiveness to the game with the same sort of ‘baddies’ appearing and attacking you in the same predictable way. It thus becomes a bit too easy sometimes. There’s a good amount of detail given to the terrain/environment, although this could easily be expanded upon and is largely wasted.

All-in-all, this is a game you just have to see in action! Better still, head down to a Mobile shop and put it through your paces yourself! You will be impressed and I just can’t wait to see what else is in store for the Samsung Galaxy Tab!

Big Big BADA Boom!

The title of this blog post lends itself to a scene from one of my all-time favourite movies, the Fifth Element. Mila Jovovich plays the ‘perfect’ human being sent to save the Earth from doom. As she tries to communicate to Korben Dallas (played by Bruce Willis,) the words “Big Bada Boom” are all they can understand of each other. Remarkably, this little exchange plants the seed for their everlasting love for each other, which ends up being the secret ingredient saving mankind from complete death and destruction… 

Riveting stuff really... So what’s this got to do with me being a Samsung Mob!ler? Well today I’m writing a concise reflection on Samsung’s new operating software “Bada” – of course the first thing that came to mind was this infamous taxi scene, go watch the film you if you haven't!! This blog post will still be here when you get back!

Anyways, the Bada operating software (OS for short) is Samsung’s own attempt to create a user interface for their powerful new generation of Smartphones – it’s essentially what brings the fancy bit of kit in your hands alive.

Samsung faces stiff competition from giants like Google (with their Android OS,) Microsoft (with their newly launched Windows 7 OS) and others including the iPhone’s OS. You can read plenty about each of them online (just check the twitter feed on the right.) Here are a few of my thoughts.

For many years I was an avid user of the Symbian OS offered by Nokia however the most recent set of mobile phones I’ve had include the HTC Magic, the Google Nexus One and the Samsung Galaxy S; all use the Android OS. Like all things Google, Android works like a dream, and I have since been converted.

I find that Blackberry’s are very much business phones and iPhone’s are very much ‘play’ phones, Android phones however, tend to fit somewhere in the middle. Almost perfect one would say; a great combination between work and play. So where will Samsung’s Bada bode in this big boom of operating software’s?

Well like every other human being, we experience change as initially uncomfortable. I was… am still happy with Android, moving to Bada was like switching my car from Auto to Manual. Competition in the Smartphone world is stiff and I expected Samsung’s Bada to perform as fast and efficiently as my previous Android phones, but in all honesty, after a week’s use it still feels like I’m writing with my left hand. (I’m right handed by the way!)

It would seem Samsung are investing a lot into their Bada OS – they’re in it for the long run. Using my new Samsung Wave there are a fair amount of promising features; the social network integration is pretty cool, as is web browsing and multimedia use. There’s also a lot of talk about the scope for applications to be developed using the Bada OS, but for regular lay users like myself, this capacity to make fantastic apps is yet to be realised. There are only a limited number of games and handy apps, Bada just can’t contend with Apple or Android… not yet anyway.

In the grand scale of things I think Samsung are wise to have their own OS, but it’s not going to be an easy ride. They really need to push the bounds if they are to keep people interested. Bada just hasn’t done this, so for now it’s more of a “baby Bada boom” than a “big Bada Boom” – Here’s hoping nonetheless!