The Space Invaders failed to conquer the world thanks to the brilliant arcade gamers of the 70s and 80s. But these alien invaders never really left us. They have been around and on July 18, they strike again, this time, these space invaders take a jump out of the screen to the real world, well, the real world as seen through your mobile phone by the way of a new mobile game, Space Invaders: World Defense.
Square Enix with TAITO, in collaboration with Google, are the enablers of this new invasion that requires players to step out into the world outside and take down the invaders from space. So, yeah, it is an augmented reality reminiscent of Pokémon Go and the now-defunct Harry Potter Wizards Unite.
But it is not just another AR game, though. This new immersive AR game incorporates the Streetscape Geometry API, a new feature of Google’s ARCore Geospatial, and the latest augmented reality technology on Google Play and the App Store.
Unlike the classic game where the invaders descend from the sky in neat rows and are basically sitting ducks, you are expected to explore your neighborhood, find, and defeat the Space Invaders.
“Players will earn points by exploring their neighborhoods and defeating the Invaders they encounter. Players can unlock special power-ups, participate in area-specific rankings, and share gameplay images and AR selfies on their social channels.”
In case anyone is curious about what Streetscape Geometry is, here are the official words:
“Streetscape Geometry: It is possible to acquire 3D model data of buildings within a 100m radius of the user’s current location. This function allows AR objects to be hidden and visible (i.e. occlusion expression), to reflect on buildings in real space, and to attach AR objects to specific buildings, enabling the development of highly immersive AR content that blends into real space.”
Space Invaders: World Defense mobile game is available now to download and play for both Android and iOS devices. Keep going for a couple of promo videos.
Images: TAITO.
