Midnight Star represents a great leap forward for mobile games. Though it bears many of the traits - both good and bad of the platform, such as timelocks and IAP - one cannot deny that it also bears the traits of a rather glorious console title as well: Halo.
This is unsurprising as Midnight Star was developed by Alex Seropian, one of the initial founders of Bungie, the studio that introduced us to Master Chief. He recently co-founded Industrial Toys, which would be focused on mobile applications. Industrial Toys brought in legendary author John Scalzi and System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian the score the game. After three years (the game was originally scheduled for 2013) Midnight Star was finally released on February 5. I must say, it was absolutely worth the wait.
There are few mobile games that can hold my attention for long, and I adore the platform. But it's true that many games are downloaded, played once, then removed to make space. Not so with Midnight Star. More than anything else, the game hooks you in the way that only shooters can. It is constant, thrilling and you never want to put it down. I was so close to spending far too much money to speed things along on more than one occasion, and I rarely pay for timelock in-app purchases. Midnight Star is the shooter, reimagined and it is wonderful.
Midnight Star was built from the ground up to utilize all the particular nuances of the mobile device. By removing the need to control one's movement by walking and instead creating a more on-rails shooter commanded by the touchscreen, Midnight Star takes what would be a hindrance--lack of real estate--and turns it into an advantage.
The social aspect of Midnight Star revolves around Challenges, which task you with earning the high score amongst a number of individuals over a certain period of time. I myself managed 4th for one. These will hopefully be expanded in the future, though I would not hold my breath for any multiplayer co-op support. This is thoroughly a single-player experience.
In terms of accessibility, especially during the later levels, you have to make time to play Midnight Star. This isn't a 'oh, I'll go to the bathroom and get through a level' type mobile title--you can be at it for a while. If there's a boss fight, be sure to have at least 10 minutes set aside to handle that. My iPhone 5s was not happy with me. This game eats battery power like a Hummer guzzles gasoline.
Midnight Star ends on a cliffhanger, and I cannot wait until Chapter 2 and beyond to see what happens. Think back to all of your time playing Halo 2, Call of Duty, all your favorite FPS titles. Midnight Star is those games, just in your pocket. Well worth the zero dollars it costs to download.
Plus it has a story! Midnight Star: 1, Destiny: 0
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Midnight Star is available on the App Store.
