Mass Effect Hits iPhone

BioWare's spacefaring RPG franchise is making the move to Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch, but it's shifting gears pretty dramatically along the way.

According to a Joystiq reader who phoned in claiming he recently took a survey about a Mass Effect game for iPhone and iPod Touch, this version of Mass Effect won't be very much like its console brethren at all. Titled Mass Effect: Jacob's Story, the game adopts a cartoony art style and focuses on top-down shooter gameplay while functioning as a lead-in to the upcoming Mass Effect 2.

The Jacob of the title is one Jacob Taylor, "a biotic-powered super-soldier who stumbles across a plot to terrorize civilization's greatest beacon of hope." Like any good super soldier, Jacob's natural response to stumbling across an evil plot is to shoot bad guys until he saves the day. That seems to be the heart of Jacob's Story: shooting dudes from a top-down perspective. No actual details confirmed, but let me guess: you tap enemies to make Jacob shoot at them.

The survey apparently stated that if the game is successful EA and BioWare would consider turning it into a series, as well as the possibility of similar treatment for Dragon Age. According to Joystiq's source, the game will be two hours long and cost $2.99. Shouldn't be too bad a deal for ME lore freaks, as the game promises to flesh out the backstory for some of the sequel's characters.