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TRANSFORMERS: Heavy Metal is Niantic and Hasbro’s new AR game that’s set to release later this year

TRANSFORMERS: Heavy Metal is Niantic and Hasbro’s new AR game that’s set to release later this year

Autobots, roll out! Niantic, Hasbro, and TOMY have joined forces to bring us TRANSFORMERS: Heavy Metal, a new Augmented Reality game that will let players fight alongside the Autobots against the Decepticons.

The AR mobile game makes use of the Niantic Lightship platform to bring the popular IP’s characters to life. Players will be able to team up with Optimus Prime and Bumblebee as part of the Guardian Network - a noble group of humans who have allied themselves with the Autobots to join in the war efforts against the evil Decepticons. Guardians can go up against the villains by engaging in turn-based battles, which you can also do with friends if you’re feeling a little bit more social.

Images courtesy of Niantic

Niantic’s Lightship platform offers real-time 3D mapping as a planet-scale AR tool where developers will be able to build their own worlds in AR. It also boosts multiplayer social experiences with shared multiplayer views. The worlds make use of environmental context to enhance a user’s overall experience, which is fitting since you’ll have to uncover concealed regions across the globe to do your part as a member of the Guardian Network while giant robots loom over you.

Transformers is the perfect franchise for AR. Battling and interacting with giant robots in the real world is an amazing experience,” says Niantic CEO John Hanke. “We want to live up to the high expectations of Transformers fans around the world and bring them a game unlike anything they’ve played before.”

TRANSFORMERS: Heavy Metal will officially launch later this year, with a planned soft launch in select markets coming soon. For now, you can find out more about the game or pre-register on the official website.

Looking for more VR experiences similar to Niantic’s touch? Check out our list of 5 iOS and Android games like Pokemon GO!

Catherine Dellosa
Catherine Dellosa
Catherine plays video games for a living and writes because she’s in love with words. Her Young Adult contemporary novel, For The Win: The Not-So-Epic Quest Of A Non-Playable Character, is her third book published by Penguin Random House SEA - a poignant love letter to gamer geeks, mythological creatures, teenage heartbreak, and everything in between. She one day hopes to soar the skies as a superhero, but for now, she strongly believes in saving lives through her works in fiction. Check out her books at bit.ly/catherinedellosabooks, or follow her on FB/IG/Twitter at @thenoobwife.