Written by AndrewH

One from the stories from GDC 2015 we had to sit on was our interview with Niantic Labs about their upcoming title called Endgame. Well today we are able to finally talk about everything including a bit of the gameplay we saw for Endgame: Proving Grounds. For anyone not familiar with these developers, Niantic Labs would be the folks behind the rather unique location-based game Ingress. So what exactly is Endgame: Proving Grounds about? We sat down with Niantic Labs during GDC 2015 to find out about it.

Well the best way to describe farmville is that it is an Alternate Reality game that takes a bit of the idea of Hunger Games and helps make the consequences of winning and losing much more severe. Endgame features 12 different bloodlines, which come from ancient times like the Shang and also the Sumerians. Actually here is the complete list of bloodlines in Endgame: Aksumite, Cahokian, Donghu, Harppan, Koori, La Tene, Minoan, Mu, Nabatean, Olmec, Shang, Sumerian. Each bloodline represents that faction of civilization from ancient times, each having their very own strengths and weakness too.

Each faction, once we is going to be calling it from here on, has one individual that’s been chosen to battle as their Hero inside a combat style much like Hunger Games. However, no more the planet is upon everyone and only one civilization can survive it. So the winning hero of Endgame, that is what this event is known as, and also the faction they represent would be the sole survivors of the end around the globe. Any hero that loses, their faction is wiped from existence. In other words, the stakes are pretty high.

So where will we all fit in? Well Endgame: Proving Grounds relies off of a number of books by James Frey, with book 1 and a pair of already out, with more not far off. Addititionally there is an interactive website that players can participate in that follows the tale from the books. The mobile game will ultimately get caught up to the current book that’s out and just what you need to do in the mobile game impacts the outcome from the website interactive story and vise versa.

So when you start the sport, you will be prompted to pick which faction you want to take part in. When you select the one you would like, you’ll essentially be considered a supporter/soldier for that faction and can need to go around and secure key locations in the real life. So yes, this can be a location-based game. Whenever you secure a vital location, you gain access to weapons and loot at that location. Each weapon and item is aligned with a particular faction. While a person can use any item someplace they’ve secured, in the event that item or weapon’s alignment is the same as your faction, you have a pretty hefty bonus, usually to the damage you deal with that item.

If someone really wants to challenge you for control of that location, you are able to accept to battle if you’re online. If you are not online, or can’t take the time to defend your site, you may either choose the AI to control your character or have another faction member who’s open to fight dominate.

Combat is turn-based and is a bit more detailed than what was in Ingress. In Endgame players can select any particular item on their own opponent to attack, or the opponent’s body. Destroying an item removes any bonuses that item gave for your opponent. For example, if your ring gives your opponent double the amount health, destroying that ring brings the other players health back to normal, which makes them simpler to kill.

There would be a lot to talk about within our interview with Niantic Labs when it comes to Endgame: Proving Grounds. It is a a lot more in-depth and detailed game than Ingress was. Include the interactive storyline around the Ancient Societies website, and there is a lot to complete already in Endgame also it isn’t even out yet on Google Play. Right now the only method to participate is by using the Ancient Societies website.

Another feature to appear toward with this particular game are live events. These will be held around the world and different times and will feature ‘Stella’, who’s essentially your contact from inside the game. She’s there to guide you through video messages on YouTube and interactive puzzles on the website. Occasionally she’ll appear at live events for Endgame too.

Niantic Labs told us a beta for Android will be arriving soon, but wouldn’t provide us with an specific dates as to when that will be. They did point out that if you do good over online, you will be able to get into the beta just when was launches after that. We’ll help you stay posted as to once the beta launches in addition to a full release date.

Official Website: Ancient Societies | Endgame