This spring, developer Industrial Toys plans to redefine the mobile first-person shooter with the sci-fi epic Morning Star, but first it's going to redefine the interactive digital comic book tie-in with Morning Star Alpha.
When Industrial Toys founder and president Tim Harris contacted me about the upcoming announcement of a supplemental stand-alone app based on the Morning Star property, I immediately what sort of project he was talking about. You don't recruit the likes of artist Mike Choi and science fiction author supreme John Scalzi without getting some sort of comic book out of the deal. They've got a huge new universe to explore, and what better way than a gorgeous work of illustrated fiction?
This isn't going to be your average digital comic book. For one, it's not going to be one of those glitzy animated affairs—Harris and I agree that they are a blight on the comics industry, taking control of the experience away from the reader. In fact, it's the antithesis of what Morning Star Alpha aims to do—give the reader more control over their experience, both in the comic app and the game itself.
Morning Star Alpha will feature interactive moments—think Choose Your Own Adventure books. The choices made in the comic's story will carry over into the full game when it launches. Treat a character one way in the comic, and they'll react accordingly in the game.
If that sounds awesome, it gets better.
Once the Morning Star game releases, actions taken in the game will populate new content in the comic book. Playing through the game will unlock new chapters in the comic story, and those chapters will further influence them game. The two different apps will feed off of and fuel each other at the same time, giving players a chance to explore the rich fiction Scalzi has crafted in a way not possible in a game alone.
Click for the full Mike Choi effect. I dig the freckles.
Morning Star Alpha will be out this spring, shortly before the release of Morning Star proper on iOS. Stalk Industrial Toys' webpage to stay abreast of this exciting new universe.