Pokémon GO is an augmented reality game, developed by Niantic for iOS and Android devices, and was originally released on both platforms on the 6th July 2016. Niantic is famous for their fledgling AR technology and are known for their previous title Ingress, whilst having a new Harry Potter AR game coming out in the near future.
How to Download Pokémon GO
Do download the game in order to start Pokémon hunting click on the Download button at the end of this review. You can enjoy the game on your iOS and Android devices. Thus to download the game visit either the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. To start downloading click on the Download button at the end of the review. If you like catching Pokémon you should also check out Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon.
The Game Review
When it comes to the story in Pokémon GO, it’s pretty much non-existent with this game, as it’s pretty much a case of, “Pokémon have entered the real world, go out there and catch them”. The lack of any story is not a problem, as the pure fun that the player gets from going out and catching all of their favorite monsters from their childhood tends to be enough to carry this game and its experience.
This is how the game works: the title employs GPS technology to determine where the player is in real-time and uses a version of Google Maps to portray the landscape around the player. From this point onwards, the player is tasked with going out into the world, walking wherever they might usually go and even some places that they wouldn’t initially think about to capture Pokémon. As the players walk around, Pokémon will randomly pop on screen and by tapping them on-screen will give the player the chance to try and capture them. To capture the Pokémon, all the player has to do is tap and hold the ball and then toss it toward the Pokémon and then there will be a small chance to capture it.
Other than simply collecting, capturing, evolving, and leveling Pokémon, players are also given the chance to join one of the three global teams, Mystic, Instinct, and Valor – with each one corresponding a color, such as blue, yellow, and red. By picking this team, the player can then go out into the world and battle gyms to take them over for their particular team. By taking over these gyms, players can put there strongest Pokémon inside it and leave it to defend, allowing them to gain some coins to pay for Pokeballs, cosmetics, or other useful items in the game.
The combat in the game when taking over a gym or doing battle in a raid involves the player with tapping the screen to make their monsters attack and then tapping a special attack button when they want them to do a stronger attack. They can also swipe left and right to make them dodge incoming attacks to mitigate the damage overall.
The biggest comparison this game can make tends to be Niantic’s previous game, Ingress, which used many elements of the same system, just without the Pokémon motif on top of it all. From the looks of things, Niantic took a lot of the best working features for Ingress and put them into Pokémon GO as well.
Fans of the Pokémon series or for those who like a little bit of AR when they go out for walks are going to love this game, and it’s part of the reason it was so popular at the time of release. Even now plenty of people still play the game to party up with some friends and go Pokémon hunting!
