Morning Star, the upcoming FPS from Industrial Toys and a dream team of video game, sci fi, and comic creators, is also going to have a prequel digital graphic novel called Morning Star Alpha, written by John Scalzi and illustrated by Mike Choi. Not only that, but the prequel digital comic will have interactive elements, in which you’ll get to make choices about characters and stories, which will then inform your actual game play when Morning Star is released later this year. Woah, right? Here’s the first peek at the cover art for this upcoming digital comic, from amazing artist Mike Choi, best known for his work on Witchblade and X-Force.

Here’s what author John Scalzi has to say about it:

“What is Morning Star Alpha? The simplest explanation is that it’s a graphic novel, written by me and illustrated by Mike Choi, which ties into the events of the Morning Star game. But please note that this “simplest explanation” really is too simple. For one thing, Morning Star Alpha is its own app; you explore it on your tablet, and we’ve built the app and the story to take advantage of the medium we’re working in — which means it’s a pretty cool new graphic novel experience. You can make choices in Morning Star Alpha which affect the storytelling, and your actions while exploring inMorning Star Alpha can have an impact in the Morning Star game (and vice versa). You’ll learn more about the characters who populate the Morning Star universe, and what motivates them to action.”

As you can see, Morning Star gonna be a pretty fantastic cross-media experience. And Morning Star Alpha, as president Tim Harris says, won’t be one of those crappy motion graphic “bad cartoons.” Plan on a real digital comic built by the best comics folks in the business, all up in your iPad. Slick!

Source: Industrial Toys

This is it – the first ever look at Industrial Toys’ upcoming sci-fi shooter, Morning Star, a core gaming experience made just for the iPad by industry vets Alex Seropian (Bungie, Disney) and Tim Harris (Denuo, Alley Cat Comics), as well as a superstar team of music, art, and story, including comic artist Mike Choi (Marvel/DC) and author John Scalzi (Old Man’s War, Redshirts).

The trailer shows us a maddeningly brief look at the universe of Morning Star, including the depths of space, the skip ship Joplin, and some scary-ass aliens that we seriously just want to shoot in their toothy faces.

“With Morning Star, we’re looking to change expectations for what kind of experience core gamers get from their mobile devices,” said Industrial Toys CEO Alex Seropian. “We’re breaking new ground on everything from the visuals to the story to the ongoing support we’ll provide in the way of content, events and player involvement. It’s gonna be nuts.”

The development team promises a reimagining of the sci-fi shooter, a no-brainer considering that Seropian was one of the co-founders of Bungie, responsible for Marathon and Halo. They’ve made it their mission to create an exciting, action-packed game with controls, community and competitive multiplayer features designed directly for mobile platforms like the iPad. It also uses the Unreal Engine to make it look super amazing and badass gorgeous.

Set 120 years into our future, Morning Star takes players aboard the MSRV-Joplin, a research vessel newly outfitted with military weaponry to explore a mysterious signal coming from within our Solar System. When inevitable disaster strikes, they’re transported across the cosmos to take part in an epic war that is not their own to undo a bunch of awfulness that goes down.

For more info, check out the official website of the game, which is expected to release sometime in Spring 2013. Hit the jump for even more screens and concept art.

Source: Morning Star Game Website