Invizimals

Invizimals is an augmented-reality title that plays like a cross between the ghost-capturing bits in Ghostbusters movies and the creature-battling sections in Pokémon. Using the camera that comes packed with the game, you scan your home for invisible creatures, trap them using something that looks like a tarot card and then evolve them by battling other Invizimals in the game or with friends.

There are over 100 different creatures to find and collect, and each must be captured in a specific way. For instance, you might be asked to splat one with your hand like a fly, temporarily blind one by shining a beam of light into its poor retinas, or even help one that looks like a bear balancing on a beach ball circumvent some traffic cones. And there’s a knack to finding them too; certain Invizimals only reveal themselves on specific coloured surfaces, and some at certain times in the game; so you may find yourself having to keep returning to Invizimal hot spots until they finally grace you with their presence. But this is a perfect opportunity to while away the wait with a spot of creature duelling instead, which makes up the other half of the game.

The fights are played out in real-time, and main attacks are carried out using the face buttons and through strategic depletion of your creature’s stamina reserve – which slowly restores and is key to performing attacks. Unlike the capture element, fights can be played anywhere you can balance the card; meaning you can place it on top of your telly and have the creatures fight on David Dimbleby’s head, or over a Pot Noodle to give the impression that the creatures are fighting on a chicken and mushroom geyser (though we strongly advise you don’t try this at home as it’s both dangerous and stupid – we actually stumped up the monies to do this is in a safe and controlled environment).

We had a lot of fun tapping into our inner child (which was easier than we thought) and messing around with Invizimals, although we did feel it lacked the charm and mass appeal of Pokémon titles. This is chiefly due to the game’s humdrum story, which is played out through a series of FMV clips, the featureless World Map HUB that is used to navigate you to your next mission, and the game feeling more targeted at younger gamers. Our only other gripe, apart from the motion detection technology feeling a little unwieldy at times, was that failure in some later fights would destroy your creature – very frustrating when you’d spent a long time gradually powering them up. Overall though, we enjoyed the capture and combat mechanics, and feel the package holds together really well.