Zombie fans are preparing to take on ravenous hordes of the undead as The Walking Dead unveils its brand new AR game for mobile.
Spawned from Robert Kirkman’s popular comic series, AMC has aired The Walking Dead since 2010. Now in its eighth season, with sister show Fear The Walking Dead, and with the comics still going strong, it is anything but the end of the world for the franchise as it branches out into new territory. In the wake of Pokémon GO storming the charts, The Walking Dead is just the latest title to make use of AR technology and cash in on the trend.
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A first trailer for The Walking Dead: Our World has been unveiled on Next Games‘ YouTube channel, and it won’t take gamers long to see some similarities between this game and Niantic’s Pokémon GO. But as they say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it:
Tasked with ridding famous landmarks nearby from the curse of the zombie apocalypse, Our World is based on the TV show rather than the comics. This means that Daryl Dixon will pick up his crossbow with a gaming likeness of Norman Reedus and players will level up to collect new weapons and characters as they attempt to clear their neighborhood. Instead of throwing colorful balls at the undead, Our World uses a handy crosshair system that allows mobile users to put the zombies in their sights and let rip.
The Walking Dead fans will already know about Telltale’s episodic survival horror, but the series is now making the leap from PC to the palm of your hand. Also coming soon – and based on Kirkman’s world – is Overkill’s The Walking Dead game, which takes the action to Washington in a standard adventure title for consoles. While the walkers themselves may be slowing down, The Walking Dead and its games definitely aren’t. Only recently, TWD overseer Scott Gimple promised that the franchise is ready to expand beyond just two TV series, so who knows what else he’s hiding up his sleeve?
Our World will premiere at the Games Developers Conference (GDC), which is expected to showcase even more AR games on March 21-23. It seems like using Google Maps as a geolocation service is all the rage right now, with Harry Potter, Ghostbusters, and Jurassic World all set to release their own Pokémon GO-style titles this year. Westworld is also getting its own mobile game, proving that the 21st Century is prompting the industry to move away from just playing Snake on a Nokia 3310. However, with so many fan-favorite franchises trying to get a piece of the action, how much longer until the bubble bursts?
Although Pokémon GO still remains popular in some areas, Niantic has seen numbers continuously dwindle as it tries to claw back players. With a saturated market on the horizon, some titles will definitely fair better than others. Thankfully, with the might of a world like The Walking Dead behind this one, Next Games could be on to a goldmine. Pre-registration is currently open, with The Walking Dead: Our World aiming for release later this year.
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