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Release date July 6, 2016
Developer: Niantic
Publisher: Niantic
Artist: Dennis Hwang
Composer: Junichi Masuda
Series: Pokmon
Engine: Unity
Platform: iOS, Android

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Synopsis

Pokmon Go (stylized Pokmon GO) is a free-to-play, location-based augmented reality game developed by Niantic for iOS and Android devices. The game was the result of a collaboration between Niantic and Nintendo, by way of The Pokmon Company, and was initially released in selected countries in July 2016. In the game, players use a mobile device's GPS ability to locate, capture, battle, and train virtual creatures, called Pokmon, who appear on the screen as if they were in the same real-world location as the player. The game supports in-app purchases for additional in-game items.

Pokmon Go was released to mixed reviews, with critics praising the game's concept and the incentive to be more active in the real world while criticizing frequent technical issues that were prevalent around the time of the original launch. Despite such reviews, it quickly became a global phenomenon and was one of the most used and profitable mobile apps in 2016, having been downloaded more than 500 million times worldwide. It was credited with popularizing location-based and augmented reality technology, promoting physical activity, and helping local businesses grow due to increased foot traffic. However, it also attracted controversy for contributing to various accidents, as well as becoming a public nuisance at some locations. Various governments also expressed concerns over the security of the game, with some countries passing legislation to regulate its use.

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Game-Play

When Pokemon Go first came out back in July last year I was bang on the game, I would play for 5 hours a day, I was addicted. I'm currently a rank 25 and have 103 Pokemon's in my Pokedex, and my team is Mystic, my best Pokemon is Vaporeon cp 2253. In the Pokemon Go game you start off by making your very own avatar, and then you can start catching Pokemon and having some fun. I really enjoyed the gameplay a lot it was nice and simple to use, my most favorite about the gameplay was battling your strongest Pokemon in gyms, the graphics in the gyms were quite good especially after the updates they did regularly. So how do you catch the Pokemon's, it's actually quite simply you will have to walk around until a Pokemon pops up on your map. There is a radar at the bottom of your map where you can see what Pokemon is nearby if you haven't caught the Pokemon before it will be a shadow so you can't actually see the Pokemon so it basically lets you know you have not caught it yet. There are 3 little footprints at the bottom tells you how far away the Pokemon is, and you basically have to guess the direction, but if you get closer to the Pokemon a footprint will disappear, and if you get even closer another one will disappear when your basically at the right location all the footprints will disappear and you have to wait a few seconds, and the Pokemon will pop up. Before you catch the Pokemon you can use items from your bag like a razzberry, or an ultra ball which will increase the chance of you catching the Pokemon, you can find these items at Pokestop stops. After you have selected what you want to use to you simply have to swipe your finger across your phone, some Pokemon's are harder to catch than others, normally the Pokemon's with the higher cp will be a lot harder to catch, and they will fly or jump around a lot, and if you miss a lot they will just flee. I found it really frustrating at one point because it just seems that the same Pokemon's would always show up, and I personally got bored of the game, so I haven't been very active on it recently but I do know they have had some good updates, and have even added new Pokemon's so I'm going to start playing it a little more when I have time. Overall the gameplay is fairly decent, it's not just swiping and catching Pokemon's you can do other stuff too like go and battle in gym's, you can visit Pokestops and use a lure module and hopefully catch some new Pokemon's.

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Plot

You will start out by creating your very own avatar, and you will have to also pick which team you would like to join, there are 3 teams, Team Instinct, Team Mystic, Team Valor. You will notice on your map big tall buildings with a Pokemon at the top of the building, these are called Gym's, the whole idea of these gyms is for your team to try and claim it. After your team has taken over the gym, other Pokemon Go players in your team can then train their Pokemon and add it to the gym, A gym can have a total of I think 10 Pokemon's. Once you have a gym, other Pokemon Go players will go to your team's gym and have to battle all of the Pokemon's for them to claim the gym, they might only get as far as to knocking out a few Pokemon's, and they will have to try again, the more Pokemon's and stronger Pokemon's in the gym the more chance of you holding these gyms down. You can join more gyms also and put your strongest Pokemon's in the gym to help your team out. The levels you will see in the gyms basically means how many Pokemon's are in that gym, for example, a level 10 will have 10 Pokemon's, so if your on your own the odds are you won't be able to claim the gym without help, so if your on your own you can try and look for smaller levels like a 3 or 4, and you will be able to then claim the gym. The benefit of having your Pokemon's in multiple gyms's you can actually get rewards such as 10 Pokecoins and 500 Stardust every 21-24 hours, so if you have 5 gym's you will get rewarded 2500 stardust and 50 Pokecoins, so it's worth giving it a go to get a few extras. Also battling in gym's will give you xp points 50xp for training in a team gym, and 150xp if you battle in a rival gym. With these Pokecoins you can use them to buy useful things in the shop, that will help you catch more Pokemon's, and try and get your very first catch of a rare Pokemon. When you get your first catch of the day you will get a bonus 500xp for a normal catch 150xp, if it's a new Pokemon you haven't caught before you will get 600xp. You will also want to find Pokestops as you can find Lure module's, razz berry's, Pokeballs, egg's, in these eggs are Pokemon's you have to hatch by walking a certain distance you have a 1k egg, 5k egg, 10k egg. The 10k eggs are what you really want as you can get a rare Pokemon, the best one's I got was a Lapras, Snorlax, Mr. Minme, and to this day I haven't seen any of those pop up on my map, so yeah there are some really good rare Pokemon's in those eggs, and all you have to do is walk. Unfortunately, you have to keep the game open on your phone for the egg's to hatch, so you can't put your phone on standby. "You gotta catch em all" Yes that's the whole point of the game to catch all 248 Pokemon's, also you want a high rank, but are you ready to be blown away? The highest rank is a level 40 and will require 5,000,000xp which is ridicules, so the total XP you will need to reach the highest rank is 20,000,000xp which I think is impossible, I don't know anyone that is a level 40, the highest I have seen is a level 37 but I'm sure there's someone out there a level 40.

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Graphics
The graphics in Pokemon Go is the best it can be as it's only a mobile game, it can be a bit lagging sometimes, but overall it's not bad, the Pokemon's are really detailed, just like you see them on TV. When your battling in the gym's it sometimes also laggy as there's a lot going, but I can put up with that, I like the detail they put in with the attacks like Eletabuzz with lighting bolts, or the ice blast from Lapras really looks good and is enjoyable. The sounds are also great when you're attacking, and when catching Pokemon, you can also hear them which is cool.

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Controls

The controls in Pokemon Go are pretty simply just swipe your phone, too throw the Pokeballs, I haven't had any problems as of yet. I would recommend when catching your Pokemon's to turn on AR mode and not use the real camera view as its a lot harder to though the Pokeballs and catch Pokemon's.

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System minI'mum requirements

Android 4.4 to Android 6.0.1. (Android N will not be supported until the official Android release)
Preferred resolution of 7201280 pixels (Not optimized for tablet)
Strong internet connection (Wi-Fi, 3G, or 4G)
GPS and Location Services.
Intel CPUs are not supported.

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Overall:

Game-play: 6/10
Plot: 5/10
Graphics: 7/10
Controls: 7/10
Overall: 6/10