Augmented Reality Tracks Your Environment in Ball Invasion for iPad2 – iPad Game Review
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As the first game around to use the NASA-invented Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) technology, your environment is built around you as you move the iPad’s camera. This need for the camera and the dual-core CPU means this game is only compatible with the iPad 2.
The objective of the game is to shoot and destroy the balls around you, hidden in your own surroundings.
When you begin, the game offers instruction on how to get started. You must first aim your camera at a surface with a lot of detail and then tap the screen to initiate the playfield creation. Once you get calibrated (by sliding left and right then zooming in and out) you are ready to go. My chief complaint here is that the instructional text is translucent and very difficult to read –though to be fair, there is a video tutorial to help you get things working.
Once I got my playfield created I was able to start taking aim by rotating my device in order to shoot balls and destroying my targets. I will admit that my jaw was agape through playing this game, but that joy was frequently interrupted by messages indicating I had lost my tracking for more than 8 seconds and need to be more careful. There isn’t a lot more explanation, but you can also see a ‘Playfield Sync Lost’ message behind this notice so while I must have been doing something wrong, it really wasn’t clear how to stop.
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What I liked: There is no denying the cool factor here. The ability to play this game in a 3-D environment based on your own surroundings is really exciting!
What I didn’t like: It may seem like a silly thing to complain about, but I had to take my Smart Cover off to play. There were warnings that this game uses a lot of memory and may conflict with other things you have running, but I wasn’t able to witness this problem on my device.
To buy or not to buy: This game is worth the buy for the cool factor alone. Game-play is fairly simple and somewhat flawed, but that is to be expected with a new technology. I’d buy the game just to see SLAM in action.
- App Name: Ball Invasion for iPad2
- Version Reviewed: 1.0
- Category: Games
- Developer: 13th Lab
- Price: $1.99 (limited time)
- Score:
