Sony's Ghost Corps, the caretaker of the Ghostbusters franchise, just released some pre-alpha gameplay footage from the upcoming Ghostbusters World location-based AR game to whet the appetites of would-be hunters of the paranormal.
Built on the new Google Maps API, the game looks about as similar to Pokémon GO as expected.
Players navigate a map of their surrounding outdoor environment, with various ghosts floating around the map instead of pocket monsters. To reveal nearby ghosts, players use the famed PKE meter from the films. In a clever twist, the PKE meter is again employed in the AR experience to scan for horizontal surfaces via ARCore.
To catch ghosts, Ghostbusters World opts for an AR experience akin to the gym battles in Pokémon GO.
Don't Miss:'Walking Dead' AR Game Powered by Google Maps Coming This Summer, Gameplay Footage Released
To amp up the difficulty, ghosts move around the space and attack, challenging players to defend themselves with counter-attacks.
However, in the end, the ghosts are caught much like Pokémon are. Once players reduce the ghost's health to 50%, players can slide out a ghost trap to capture the apparition. While this component is consistent with Ghostbusters canon (which precedes Pokémon by about a decade), the ghost trap is too similar in function to that of the Pokeball dynamic to ignore.
Though it would be easy to dismiss Ghostbusters World as a shameless copy of Pokémon GO, the slight changes appear to give players a more compelling reason to continue playing in AR than its predecessor has.
- Follow Next Reality on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Flipboard
- Sign up for our new Next Reality newsletter
- Follow WonderHowTo on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Flipboard
Cover image via Ghostbusters World/YouTube
Comments
Be the first, drop a comment!