The iPhone version of Mass Effect is currently being test-marketed via online survey, touting an "animated graphic novel experience" that blends "nuance[d]" story telling with "gripping top-down shooter combat."

Mass Effect: Jacob's Story stars Jacob Taylor, "a biotic-powered super-soldier who stumbles across a plot to terrorize civilization's greatest beacon of hope," who must save the galaxy, naturally, but with an Apple brand touchscreen. All this galaxy saving can be yours for $2.99, apparently.

The official description of the game, as told via online survey is as follows.

The award-winning Mass Effect game universe has now arrived on your iPhone and iPod Touch! Tales of human courage and individual human achievement resound throughout the galaxy. Here is your opportunity to play the story of Jacob Taylor, a biotic-powered super-soldier who stumbles across a plot to terrorize civilization's greatest beacon of hope. Can you prevent a heinous attack that threatens to knock humanity off the galactic stage?

• Gripping story line that enables you, playing super-soldier Jacob Taylor, to prevent galactic chaos
• Stylish art presentation delivers an animated graphic novel experience
• A blend of nuance story telling with gripping top-down shooter combat
• Experience the back story behind some of the main characters in the upcoming Mass Effect 2 (for Xbox 360 and PC)
• 2 hour story-based experience with stunning graphics, animated presentation and top-down arcade-style combat"

Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator for Bioware, came forward recently with some added details concerning the title to clear up any confusion. He said, "There have been a bunch of rumors and guesswork on what was some leaked information about a Mass Effect game coming for the iPhone and iPod touch. I've been checking into the details and making sure I have my facts straight and here are the real deal facts:

1 - Yes, this is not a hoax or fake story. BioWare is making a game for the iPhone and iPod Touch based in the Mass Effect universe.

2 - We were going to announce this, but one of the testers at a focus testing group broke the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) and things were revealed before we had the chance.

3 - The game is going to be available for the iPhone AND the iPod Touch.

4 - The story of the game is not a "bridging" story between Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2. It is a cool little side-story about one of the upcoming Mass Effect 2 characters. It is not "required reading" to enjoy the core trilogy, but if a fun optional "extra" game.

5 - The development on this game is being done by a separate, dedicated team with no connection to any Mass Effect DLC development or patches so this is not "the reason there hasn’t been new DLC or patches".

6 - BioWare and the Mass Effect team want to branch out in a number of ways with the ME universe, and this is just one example of such branching out. We think the iPhone and iPod Touch are exciting new platforms for games, and this game was designed for these platforms from the ground up.

7 - More information about the this game is coming later this month. None of the info that was leaked is ‘official’ by any means – it was research. We'll have much more information in the future.

Hopefully this will answer some of the questions that have arisen around the game. As I said, this is just the start of the information on the iPod/iTouch game. It is also a part of the opening of the Mass Effect 2 floodgates with a heap of cool information that we'll be releasing in May and June. Make sure you stay tuned for more updates and more coolness."

So there you have it. Mass Effect will be hitting iDevices. I did have some suspicion that this was what was keeping any new ME1 content from trickling out - but apparently that isn't the case.