Seriously flawed – Midnight Star Review

The game’s ramp-up of difficulty is a major problem. Early levels are cake, later levels are effectively impossible without serious grinding or (imagine that) paying for in-game currency. Even with plenty of Tech Points, though, late game progression is seriously marred by the inability of the game to track multiple enemies and user input at the same time. Shields will fail to deploy. Taps in the (horrible) melee combat mode will get lost, meaning you get hit. This is especially troublesome since the game’s scoring system is predicated on you NOT getting hit — a multiplier ramps up for every mob you kill without taking damage. This means a minor tap midway through a level can ruin the attempt — in some cases, you may as well start over. Weapon choice is also a problem. For example, there’s a .50 cal sniper on offer, but somehow in the future of Midnight Star, they’ve managed to develop one that’s only useful for head shots, and even then only works well when the enemy is (a) unhelmeted and (b) FACING YOU. I mean, seriously? Like the scoring system, this flaw has a one-two punch aspect: it wouldn’t be so bad if it were possible to find the good weapons through an inexpensive trial and error process. That’s not the case here. Getting access to guns and upgrades requires the in-game currency that’s scarce by design, which serves as an enticement to buy some from Industrial Toys using REAL currency. Like I said, seriously flawed. it’s free, so there’s that. I’d be a lot more annoyed if I’d paid anything for it (or bought in-game currency).
Review by Ubermonkey2 on Midnight Star.