''Midair'' is a

free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...

by Archetype Studios. The game emphasizes freedom of movement with

jetpack A jet pack, rocket belt, or rocket pack is a device worn on the back which uses jets of gas or liquid to propel the wearer through the air. The concept has been present in science fiction for almost a century and became widespread in the 1960s. ...

s and

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

, while also featuring large open maps and vehicles. The game was developed using

Unreal Engine 4 Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game ''Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of genre ...

, and was released on May 3, 2018.Midair Free-to-Play Release Date: May 3rd
on playmidair.com

Gameplay

''Midair'' features mechanics similar to games from the

Tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

game series, including mechanics such as 'skiing' which allows the player to glide across the terrain. A 3/4/5 weapons system similar to Starsiege: Tribes and

Tribes 2 ''Tribes 2'' is a first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Dynamix and published by Sierra On-Line in 2001 as a sequel to '' Starsiege: Tribes''. Setting Set in the year 3941 of the fictional Earthsiege universe, ''Tribes 2'' ...

is implemented; 3 weapons for Light armor, 4 weapons for Medium armor, and 5 weapons for Heavy armor. There is no health regeneration in the game. The game features the ability to equip certain abilities and items, as well as the ability to modify the game using certain 'packs' (such as health regeneration, cloaking, etc.). The features include the deployment of moving and non-moving entities such as vehicles and stationary sentries.

Game Modes

Game modes currently include

Capture the Flag Capture the flag (CTF) is a traditional outdoor sport where two or more teams each have a flag (or other markers) and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base", and bring it safely back to their own base. ...

, Light Capture the Flag, Arena, and Rabbit. Public matches consist of team-sizes similar to Tribes: Ascend's 16v16, while competitive team sizes vary between 5v5 and 11v11, depending on the game mode.

Monetization

''Midair'' features an unlock system and a progression system. As players progress, they will unlock items such as weapons, packs, items, and deployable structures. Players have the option of buying a DLC _{(downloadable content)}, which unlocks all current and future items. Cosmetic items must be purchased separately. This is comparable to SMITE's one-time payment option.

Development

The project originally began as a port of '' Legions: Overdrive'' to the

Unity Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a h ...

game engine in 2012 by former ''Legions: Overdrive'' developers. After taking into consideration how much time and effort would be required, the team decided to make a full-fledged sequel to ''Legions: Overdrive''. However, in 2013 the developers decided to change plans and develop a new game altogether. After working with Unity for roughly a year, the developers switched to Unreal Engine 4 shortly after the engine's release in March, 2014. On August 15, 2014, Archetype Studios officially announced as the development studio for the then-titled ''Project Z'', along with an official website and concept art for the game. Midair made its first public unveiling to those who attended the studios (off-site) presentation during

PAX Prime PAX (originally known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming culture festivals involving tabletop, arcade, and video gaming. PAX is held annually in Seattle, Boston and Philadelphia in the United States; and Melbourne in Australia. PAX was ...

2014 on August 30, 2014. On April 26, 2015, the game was officially renamed to ''Midair''. The official website was launched, and a teaser trailer was released. On August 29, 2015, a pre-alpha build was available to play during

2015. On December 22, 2015, a

Steam Greenlight Steam is a video game digital distribution service and storefront by Valve. It was launched as a software client in September 2003 as a way for Valve to provide automatic updates for their games, and expanded to distributing and offering third ...

campaign was launched for'' Midair''. The first official gameplay trailer was also released. On December 29 they achieved Greenlight status. On May 5, 2016, Archetype Studios launched a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

campaign on

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

for ''Midair'' with a goal of $100,000. On June 4 the campaign ended with $128,000. On March 26, 2017, ''Midair'' entered the alpha stage of development. On August 17, 2017, Archetype Studios announced that the closed beta for ''Midair'' would launch on August 25. They also announced that the full release would be pushed from November 2017 to Q1 2018. On August 25, 2017, ''Midair'' entered the

closed beta A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...

stage of development. It was also released on Steam's Early Access platform, as well as

Itch.io Itch.io (stylized as itch.io) is a website for users to host, sell and download indie games. Launched in March 2013 by Leaf Corcoran, the service hosts over 500,000 games and items (assets, ebooks, music) . Itch.io also allows users to host ...

. On May 2, 2018, the game was released to the public. On Jun 7, 2018, Archetype Studios released a patch with new content and gameplay fixes, along with news stating that they would be scaling back development. On January 10, 2019, Archetype Studios released patch 1.0.2. It featured several new maps and gameplay updates, mainly from the community. In November 2022, Midair still existsDev Log #24 – New Community Development Effort, 1.0.2 Patch Notes
/ref>

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.playmidair.com/ First-person shooters Free-to-play video games Unreal Engine 4 games 2018 video games Windows games