Ingress Prime With New Visuals, Features Launched for Android and iOS

Ingress, a location-based augmented reality game, launched by Niantic in 2012, was one of the first mobile games to leverage AR and exploration. The game that paved way for hits like Pokemon Go, and many other AR games that followed suit in the coming years, has finally got a much-needed reboot. The new visually overhauled game has been launched on Android and iOS, and is being called Ingress Prime by Niantic. Existing users get Ingress Prime in the form of an update, and new users can download the game from respective Android and iOS stores.

The core gameplay hasn't changed, but with Ingress Prime, Niantic has introduced cleaner visuals, a new UI, and modern graphics. It brings improved sound quality, better inventory management techniques, and easier attack and defence modes. Prime also comes with a new tutorial that properly explains the point of the game, and therefore allow players to make an informed decision, of whether to join the 'Enlightened' clan or the 'Resistance' clan. The new onboarding tutorial now explains the basic gameplay mechanics, the storyline, how to uncover and control Portals, and also how to acquire Exotic Matter (XM).

For those who already play the game, Ingress Prime will now allow players to 'Recurse,' resetting Agent level and faction choice while retaining all badges and gaining a new badge to denote their status. Existing users can carry over their status, but if they choose to start over, Niantic will offer them a 'Prestige' badge for losing their rank, and also keep their inventory and max AP, apart from offering special perks. The reboot additionally also brings also quick-swipe menus, one-finger map gestures, Facebook account-linking, and improved anti-cheat and security features.

Niantic has built Ingress Prime on the same engine as Pokemon Go, which means that features of the latter, may trickle into the former as well. This means that there is hope that the newly introduced Adventure Sync feature may come to Ingress Prime as well.

The new Ingress Prime can be downloaded from the Google Play Store or App Store for free.