Invizimals

Paul sees creatures... everywhere

Augmented reality looks set to be an increasingly 'big thing' over the next few years. For those unfamiliar with the term it refers to the idea of a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagery (thank you Wikipedia). To ground that idea in the real world, imagine a time when you use the video camera on your phone (or perhaps some kind of high tech glasses) to look around you and have it recognise places and objects in real-time, popping up product information, building details, local news and travel et al, on screen all depending on where you are and what you're looking at. In the right hands this blending of the virtual with the real opens up some interesting possibilities for games, especially on portable devices. Which brings us neatly to Invizimals, Sony's attempt to bring this fledgling technology into the gaming mainstream.

The idea behind Invizimals is beautifully simple. Take the well established (not to mention hugely popular) monster collection concept behind games like Pokemon and Monster Hunter, merge it with some clever augmented reality technology which uses the PSP camera to take the hunt for monsters into the real world and bingo, you've got the next big thing. At least that's the plan.

The story used to introduce this new fangled technology at the start of Invizimals is that a Sony employee has stumbled upon the realisation that the PSP camera can detect creatures invisible to the human eye, the titular Invizimals. As luck would have it you happen to have exactly the kind of aura these beings are drawn to, because of this you've been asked to help study these creatures. What follows is a series of missions where you learn how to capture and use specific Invizimals all with the help of Professor Dawson, who's brought to life by none other than Brian "Gordon's alive!" Blessed.

In practice this means physically getting off the sofa and wandering around in the real world using the live video feed from you PSP camera attachment (bundled with the game) to locate hot spots where Invizimals are lurking. These are located using a handy on-screen proximity sensor which guides you to your target. Once found, and you've moved close enough, you're asked to place a small plastic locator card on the hotspot (in the real world) and, as if by magic, there appears the Invizimal on screen in full 3D seemingly sat on your desk, chair, jumper, whatever. Then it's up to you to complete a small mini game to capture it and add it to your collection. It's a wonderfully impressive system, at least at first, and you'll pass a few hours just happily discovering these creatures hidden around your home.

However, as fun as this all is to start with, and as impressive as the technology seems to be at first glance, it doesn't take long for the gloss to start to wear a little thin. You soon realise there are some pretty unsubtle visual triggers needed to spark an Invizimal into existence. These tend to be based around colour which, for the killjoys amongst us, means the bulk of the single player game could be whizzed through with little more than a paint catalogue from your local DIY store. It's not always quite that simple though as the game proves to be frustratingly picky at times about what it wants, insisting on seeing some annoyingly specific shades of colour before it'll produce certain Invizimals. This leaves you in the unenviable the position of having to turn your whole house upside down trying to find something with a suitable hue. It doesn't help that you'll be doing so with the knowledge that the games linear progression structure means you'll be unable to move onto the next Invizimal till you've found it. Not ideal for those of us without a house full of brightly coloured toys or clothes.

Once found, actually collecting the creatures isn't without its problems, the aforementioned capture mini games proves to be far more hit and miss than you'd expect. Some are gloriously natural, capturing an Invizimal by having to swat it with your hand shows off the technology in a great light; others however, simply expose its limitations. When you're asked to do things like sneak up on a creature and scare it (by shouting into the PSP microphone) or use the PSP as a motion controller to guide an Invizimal through a set of obstacles the cracks in the illusion prove hard to ignore. Move the camera too low as you sneak and the software finds it hard to track your position relative to the locator card causing the creature to flicker in and out of existence, have to use the microphone and you'll not only feel daft if you're anywhere else other than your own home but you'll be amazed just how selective its hearing is while using the motion sensing in the PSP camera for anything complex and it becomes flaky at best.

Much like Pokemon, once collected you can use your Invizimals in combat to level up their stats. Each Invizimal falls into one of the elemental categories, Ocean, Fire, Desert, etc., and has three different types of attack, fast, medium and strong. Fights play out in real-time and learning how to time blocks proves to be as important as when to land blows. You'll also need to learn to manage your stamina levels with stronger attacks using more of this limited resource so it's no use just wading in with heavy attacks as you'll soon find yourself powerless to do anything (including block) while you wait for your stamina to recharge. As you fight you earn Watts, the game's XP, and the more you earn the more you level up. In a nice touch, as each Invizimal moves through the levels they morph into larger more powerful version of themselves.Added into the mix are Sparks, these are the game's answer to money and can be picked up during fights by pointing the PSP camera at them. They are then used to purchase special attacks, stamina and health packs. The special attacks, called Vectors, are triggered by performing a physical action of some kind with the PSP itself, shaking it to trigger an earthquake for example. The problem is that all this Spark collection and Vector triggering gets in the way of the combat itself a little. While it does mean things are always busy there are times when it feels a little like all the different aspects of the battles are simply masking the fact that really there's not a lot of depth once you master the basics.

Of course capturing and training your monsters is really only half the fun. The chance to pit your collection against someone else's is where a lot of the interest will be. This can be achieved via both ad-hoc and infrastructure connections which means you're not limited to only challenging friends in the same room as you. In either mode you can take part in one off fights or better yet setup your own Invizimals Club for longer term fun. There's also a well implemented trading system for those playground style "I'll swap you this and this and this for that" deals.

Unfortunately, despite many good bits, the idea behind Invizimals promises more than the reality delivers. While undoubtedly impressive the technology underpinning it all isn't quite good enough to maintain the illusion, and the time spent fighting the hardware restrictions will infuriate those without the required patience. When it all works it feels jaw droopingly magical, the problem is it doesn't feel that way often enough. As a glimpse into the future Invizimals is worth a look for the gadget minded while those with a hankering for a Pokemon-esque game on their PSP who won't be put off by the quirks in the tech will have fun too. As a complete package however, it falls ever so slightly short of being a classic.

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By Paul Newcombe