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Midnight Star blasts off on Ireland's App Store
Midnight Star, the mobile FPS from Halo co-creator Alex Seropian, is live on the Ireland App Store. This is the game's soft launch, allowing developer Industrial Toys to get some extra testing in and punch out the final problems. "We need to flesh out and destroy any remaining bugs, test the RPG systems to make sure the game loops feel fun, turn some dials, etc.," Community Manager Johnny Skwirut writes. "Once we fix and tweak everything to make the game as good as it can be, we will release globally so the entire world can play the game together." We got our fingers on a pre-release version of Midnight Star at E3, and found it to be a robust, mobile-focused FPS, with a few twists. [Image: Industrial Toys]
Midnight Star is a mobile FPS that works (no, really)
From the mind that co-created the Halo universe, Midnight Star is a robust, alien-infested first-person shooter – for mobile devices. Wait, where are you going? Hang on! Just – hang on. Midnight Star is a good mobile shooter. The game comes from Alex Seropian, the man behind Halo, and Tim Harris, a former comic store owner and co-founder of game studio Seven Lights. Together at Industrial Toys, Seropian and Harris have been promising Midnight Star as a mobile shooter with innovative controls that make sense for the touchscreen platform, something the jaded mobile masses can believe in. And so far, Midnight Star delivers.
Halo co-creator gets $5 million investment for tablet shooter
Accel Partners has invested $5 million into Alex Seropian's startup studio, Industrial Toys. Seropian previously co-founded Bungie, where he acted as President and CEO during the creation of Halo: Combat Evolved. His new game, Midnight Star, looks to be something of a spiritual successor to the Halo games; a sci-fi first-person shooter (with some familiar imagery, judging by screenshots) for tablets. Accel has previously invested in studios like Rovio (Angry Birds) and Supercell (Clash of Clans). A representative of the company told GamesBeat that the investment was "about the game," and that "[Industrial Toys] have a vision and focus on quality. They made their first product on a scrappy budget, but it is going to be very polished." Seropian also commented to GamesBeat, saying that it seems "obvious" that core gamers will migrate from consoles to mobile platforms. [Image: Industrial Toys]
Halo co-creator's mobile FPS now called 'Midnight Star'
Midnight Star is the new name of Industrial Toys' ambitious mobile FPS, changed from Morning Star after studio founders Tim Harris and Alex Seropian discovered an existing trademark of the same name. They're creative guys – Harris founded the studio Seven Lights and Seropian helped create Halo – so they were able to insert the new name into the game's lore. They're also lucky – the logo for the game is an M with a star under it, and rarely do its assets say the full "Morning Star." Welcome, Midnight Star. Industrial Toys has been pitching Midnight Star as an innovative shooter for mobile platforms; AAA on iOS. Harris tells me over Skype what this means for the game's controls: Tap one finger to shoot, two to bring up a shield and other common gestures for specific weapons, such as pinch to zoom in a sniper rifle. The game is technically on rails, but it offers players the ability to control the camera. Two hexagons on either side of the screen light up with the number of enemies surrounding the battlefield, and the indicators change colors as foes prepare to attack. Players can tap the hexagons to swing the camera that way and take care of business. The aiming reticle is positioned above the player's finger so it's always obvious where it's pointing, and the enemy AI system is dynamic, "not unlike Halo," Harris says. Enemies respond to a player's actions, ducking for cover when a sniper zooms in on them, staying back in one playthrough and charging forward for a melee attack in another.
