We’ve long been hearing about the upcoming release of the latest AR game from Niantic, the company behind Ingress and Pokemon Go. That upcoming release is called Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and today marks the next phase in its release: pre-registration on Google Play.
While there’s still A LOT of details yet to come, we are beginning to see the first glimpse of the in-game UI and elements of game play. We know you want to see the game play, so here it is.
The story will see you as a new recruit in a new secret group of wizards called the Statute of Secrecy Task Force, established by the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards. This new group has been pulled together to combat an unseen force “The Calamity” which is seeing magical items popping up in the muggle world.
You’ll be led on a real world based AR adventure as you travel around the country side looking for port keys, enemies and all manner of Harry Potter goodness. The game will use Inns to replenish your strength to continue in combat, which are likely to be based on the same real world locations used for Ingress and Pokemon. If only I had some closer to my house.
No wizarding game would be complete without a little wand work as well, you’ll be able to specialize in different magical Professions, choose between Aurors, Magizoologists, and Professors each with their own set of characteristics. Some enemies will require multiplayer attacks combining the abilities of each of these classes of character.
I have to admit, I’m a fan of the Harry Potter franchise and I’m looking forward to playing in that world, even if it means moving around in mine. If you want to pre-register for the game head on over to the play store and sign up.
Be interesting to see what the initial player influx and inevitable drop off. Still unsure if I’ll give this a go.
The older I get, and thus the less spare time I have the less I’m interested in real World location based ar games. I want to have fun with the game play but I don’t have time to visit the stops
I agree entirely, Duncan.