Game Review
Pokemon Go
Rating: ***
Suddenly, Pokemon is everywhere, in museums, in parks, behind bushes, even the Buckingham Palace. Pokemon Go is the new craze in gaming, Nintendo’s first smartphone offering to Pokemon fans who have been crying themselves hoarse for a better experience at a game. Boom, they give everyone augmented reality to deal with. Pokemons, of course, are creatures which can sometime look like dinosaurs, sometimes like frogs, in a make-believe world where ‘trainers’ capture them and use the cute, gleaming monsters to do battle. What Nintendo has done is set it in a real-time scenario through the GPS, the reason Pokemons can be everywhere, as the player saunters around town. The fight sequences are slick and real—only if you can figure out exactly who to fight or how to power up. There is a tutorial at the beginning, but it may leave the new player more confused. Pokemon Go is probably the beginning of a slew of franchises that will capitalise on the augmented-reality sector that gaming has opened up to. There has been too much buzz about it on social media (Pokeman Go apparently beat ‘porn’ as the most-searched item on the internet this week), and the little monsters have the irritating habit of poking their heads whenever you put the phone on, but just watch where you’re going and this game is a hoot.
