Here we Pokemon-go again

Before Nintendo, there was Niantic Labs. 

Before Pokemon Go, there was Ingress.

All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again.

Okay, I admit. I went a bit overboard with that last line. Maybe it's because you just can't escape those pesky Pokemons at the moment. They, or at least the people hunting for them are all over the city, or more precisely, all over the country. And they're certainly all over the media, with every publication and TV station apparently jumping onto the bandwagon. What pretty much nobody seems to remember is that this type of augmented-reality game isn't exactly new, far from it. Back in early 2013, Niantic Labs, then a Google subsidiary, published a game called Ingress.

In...what? Well, originally called Google Ingress, it was the first really big augmented-reality title. It can be best described as the older, nerdier sister of Pokemon. The premise of the game is simple. During a series of experiments with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), scientists at CERN discovered a new, hitherto unkown type of matter seeping into our universe. This material, which appears to exist as matter and energy at the same time, resisted any efforts to investigate further, and was found to apparently have mind-altering properties. It is therefore simply referred to as Exotic Matter (XM). This stuff enters our universe in two different ways. It can either slowly seep in over a large area, or it is injected in highly concentrated streams via Portals. These portals are the main focus of the game. I mentioned earlier that XM can affect the human mind in ways that are not yet fully understood. It is possible to control this effect in broad terms by linking three XM portals. The triangles formed by these links establish a control field, and whoever established such a field is able to exert some control over the mind-alteration capabilities of Exotic Matter.

The green and the blue, this is what it's all about. Apologies to Amy MacDonald for ripping of one of her song titles ;)

Human reaction to these discoveries was predictable. It split into two factions that are constantly at each other's throats. Any new player who joins Ingress will have to choose between these two factions before getting into the game itself.

On one hand, we have the Resistance, manifestation of humanity's age-old instinct to reject anything even remotely new, unknown or strange. Operating with all the fervour of vegan anti-nuclear protestors, this faction believes that XM needs to be kept under strict control, their control, obviously, rather than being used to the advantage of humanity.

On the other hand, we have the Enlightened. These guys jump on anything new with all the enthusiasm of an Apple Afficionado going after the latest iPhone, or a bearded hipster hunting done yet another obscure Neo-Progressive-Folk-Punk-Hop band. They see XM as the key to the next step in the evolution of humanity. This is the faction that I'm aligned with. After all, after three and a half years at Apple, I know a thing or two about assimilation. ;)

I a gree that it seems a bit overloaded at first sight, but you've got all that defines Ingress in one image. Portals, Resonators, Exotic Matter, as well as XM Bands and Control Fields.

You can get details and status to every portal in range of your scanner by just tapping on it.

From Shields to protect your own portals to weapons to take out those of the opposition, everything is stored in your inventory.

What would an MMO be without copious amounts of statistics?

You can also get a more detailed, regional breakdown of current operations. Not looking good for the smurfs there ;) 

The main tool in this fight is your smartphone, or Scanner, as it is known in-game. The scanner enables you to “see” the exotic matter seeping into our world, and interact with it. It also enables you to deploy, attack, or maintain resonators to claim portals, shields or turrets to defend them, or simply to hack them. Hacking is the Ingress counterpart of farming or mining a resource, and is your main source of any “hardware” you need to progress in game. It also provides you with an overview of your inventory, as well as information about how the fight between the Enlightened and the Resistance is turning out. Please note that the game can ONLY be played on iOS or Android devices, and since most of these portals won’t be anywhere near a WiFi hotspot, a smartphone, or a tablet with cellular data module is highly recommended. 

As far as the gameplay is concerned, you’ll be doing a LOT of walking, so if you’re a habitual couch potato, this game is not for you. Unless you happen to have a portal right outside your living room window like yours truly. Portals are located near points of interest, like monuments, public artwork, or listed buildings, to name a few, and you’ll have to get within 40 meters of them for your scanner to be able to interact with them. Furthermore, control fields are more “lucrative”, the larger they are, so you’ll want to make sure to have a fair distance between the different portals marking the corner of a control field. Of course, establishing fields isn’t everything. The XM bands that form the edges of a control field cannot cross, so a small band at the right position might be all that’s needed to prevent the opposition from establishing a control field that covers half the country.

Another view of the portal. As you can see, all resonators assigned to this portals are doing pretty well.

Resonators aren't everything, though. As you can see from the screenshot, this portal is also reinforced with a shield, and another item that I can't identify from the top of my head.

The story of the game is told via videos that can be gained from hacking portals. Due to the MMO nature of Ingress, story missions and events can see hundreds of ingress players flock into a certain area to take certain crucial portals, or anomalies. These are organised by Niantic Labs, the game developers. I haven’t looked into the multiplayer aspect of Ingress too much yet, I’m still getting to grips with the basics. I have however been able to keep a small green enclave out in Fitzgerald Park over the last few days, despite the Cork area being dominated by Resistance forces. Well, it is the “Rebel City” after all, although it should be noted that many of the revolutions that the Corkonians so fervently supported ended in a full scale defeat and bloodbath. 

Overview of the tactical situation in Cork. This view is available to Ingress players on Mac or PC and will enable you to get a quick overview before heading out into the field.

Still, the game is a much more interesting and evolved concept than running around and trapping cute anime beasts in far too small balls, and forcing them to fight each other to death. Due to the way the story is told in Ingress, you can never be quite sure that it is just a game. Oh, and one more thing. Looking at screenshots from Pokemon Go, does anyone else think that the interfaces look pretty much alike? It seems to me as if Niantic just took the existing framework from Ingress, and put a different skin and some Nintendo IP onto it. So much for it being something completely new!