Game Reviews Volume 2

Pokemon GO (iOS, Android)

I'm going out on a limb and saying that Pokemon GO had one of themost messed up, but most successful launches in video game history.Releasing in the United States on the 6th July, Pokemon GOwas subsequently shared on download mirrors and has been available tothose willing to do a little leg work no matter where they live inthe world. It launched in the UK on the 14th July, thoughby that time millions of UK citizens were already caught up incatching our favourite monsters, travelling for miles and miles andof course representing our teams trying to dominate the gyms in ourlocal areas. But just because it's popular doesn't mean it'sperfect...so let's take a closer look at the game that has literallytaken the world by storm.

The basic concept of Pokemon GO is that it utilises a modifiedversion of Google Maps, whilst also having access to your phonescamera, GPS and pedometer to provide an augmented reality Pokemonexperience wherever you go. If that's all a bit techy for you thenthe simpler version is that it uses various gizmos built into youriPhone or Android device to allow you to catch Pokemon in the realworld. But the rabbit hole goes much deeper than this, Pokemon GO ispacked with various other things to do that will keep you hooked longafter the initial draw of being able to chase down a Charmander atyour local Tesco's.

First up you have the Pokedex, a staple of all Pokemon games. GOprovides you with the original 151 Pokemon to hunt down, allowing thetrue collectors out there to go wild trying to get every one of thegames monsters. It'll take you a while as rarer Pokemon only spawn 1in every few thousand, but not only that you're going to have totravel as far from your point of origin as you can in order toactually find them...otherwise be prepared to be stuck with Pidgey's,Rattata's and Weedle's for a long damn while.

Next up, you can evolve Pokemon using candies provided bytransferring several of one Pokemon to Professor Willow. You can alsohatch eggs by walking either 2, 5 or 10KM, the further the eggrequires the rarer the result will be.

Then you have the gym's. Rather than working like gym's do intraditional Pokemon games, they are empty until someone comes andclaims it. Once you claim it you can put your most powerful monstersin there to defend it for your team of choice (Instinct, Mystic andValor), after some time you'll begin earning rewards from managing tohold that territory long enough. However if you want to claim andalready owned gym then you'll have to battle the Pokemon stored therein real time. No turn based combat here, you have your best 6 Pokemonto take down as many monsters are defending the gym (anywhere between1 & 6).

Of course to do all of this you need items. Potions, revives,Pokeball's, egg incubators and the likes. These are available throughPokestops, locations marked on your map that every 5 minutes will beavailable for you to interact with and collect some small rewards. Ifyou live in a town or city then lucky you, lots of stops mere metresfrom each other, unfortunately if you live in a slightly more ruralarea (like myself) then you'll have to travel quite some way to findany.

You can purchase items with microtransactions, though realisticallyif you interact with enough Pokestops then you'll probably never haveto actually buy anything assuming you manage your resources well.

So that all sounds awesome right? No doubt you've already played itanyway. But from a critical view is the game actually any good?Well...no not really. It's certainly got addictive, engrossinggameplay mechanics that are great to play with a group of friends.It's also brilliant for meeting new people, forming new friendshipsand even just to liven up your daily travels.

But Pokemon GO suffers from some pretty debilitating problems as oflaunch, not to mention that not all the features promised for thelaunch are actually there.

Firstly you're going to want to invest in some portable chargersbecause GO will decimate your battery in just a couple of hours. Irecently upgraded my phone to a Google Nexus 5, which for the lastmonth or so has lasted me pretty much an entire day on a singlecharge, even with heavy use. But after just 3 hours of Pokemon GO onpower saving mode my phone is ready to die.

On top of this be aware of your data allowance. The need to downloadand refresh Google Maps on a regular basis, as well as downloadPokemon locations, gym and Pokestop info really eats away at it aftera while. Over a week of play I have used around 300 megabytes ofdata, which for some people may be normal, but normally I barely use500 megabytes per month.

Next up the game is buggy beyond belief. Server issues plague thegame during peak times (midday, end of school, early evening) makingit difficult to even play the thing, but assuming you can get onyou'll regularly encounter bugs that require a force quit and rebootof the game. It can also take quite a while for the game to load upinfo about Pokestops and gyms, which can in itself cause the game tocrash.

It's in serious need of some patching to even be in a considerablyplayable state. Usually once you're on you're fine for a while, butit's so temperamental that it's a gamble whether it'll work at all.

Then of course there are features mission like trading, PvP battlesand legendary Pokemon. The issue of Legendaries has been addressedalready, with the promise of timed events where a particularlegendary will be available in specific places for a short period ofpre-determined time. Though these have yet to happen anywhere in theworld so it's a good question to ask where and when these areexpected to happen, as well as how catching one will work if you wantto keep the monster something rare that not everyone will be able toown.

I'm also sure that you've heard of the horror stories that havearisen over the past week. Players encountering dead bodies whilstexploring, people being lured into traps set by malicious players andof course serious injuries that have been uncured by players notbeing aware of what's happening around them.

The game does warn you to stay safe, which should come as commonsense, but there could perhaps be more features put in place toprotect players.

These stories should not scare you into not playing the game as theyare few and far between, not to mention something that was bound tohappen with a product of this nature, but it is a warning to knowwhat kind of risks you may be taking when playing.

As a whole, though Pokemon GO is certainly not a polished, or evenfinished product. It is absolutely undeniable that it is perhaps themost fun you can currently have with your phone. That's why the scoreat the bottom is in no way reflective of how good the game actuallyis. I highly recommend giving the game a go before the fad passes andonly more dedicated players remain. Hopefully it is a product thatdeveloper Niantic will continue to improve and work on over thecoming months to become a more polished product, but until then it'sjust a buggy mess that has still managed to make millions of peoplego head over heels for it.

PokemonGO – 5/10

+RidiculouslyAddictive

+PokemonIRL!!!

+GettingA Gang Together & Playing Together

+Lotsof Potential

-SeriousServer Issues

-RiddledWith Game Breaking Bugs

-LeechesAway At Battery & Data

-ProbablyJust A Passing Fad