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‘Recoil’ is like playing Call of Duty in your backyard, and we’re into it

Nicole Edsall
By
Pokémon Go made “augmented reality” a household term, but what if you would rather play soldier than trainer? Skyrocket Toys’ answers the call of duty with 
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Recoil, an outdoor multiplayer AR shooter game that’s kind of like, well, Call of Duty. Using a Wi-Fi hub that broadcasts a 500-foot diameter “playing field,” you and up to 15 friends have lots of space to duck, hide, and attack using guns that attach to your phone for an augmented-reality experience. Set up sniper nests, create barricades, and call down air strikes to defeat your enemies. We had a chance to try it out!

Lock ‘n load

The basic Recoil starter set includes two RK-45 Spitfire guns, a Wi-Fi base station, two belt clips, and and two phone clips. Before you can start playing, you need to download the Recoil game app from the App Store or Google Play Store. The first thing the app will tell you to do is use headphones. Recoil features 3D audio, so you can hear where you are being shot at from. Next, you’ll use the app to set up the base station, and follow the rest of the steps in the app to set up your gun.

During the game your app will display a game screen. On this screen you will see your health bar, how much ammo you have, and a mini map of the play area.

On the battlefield

To start a game, one person hosts a lobby that other players can join, and sets up all the rules. Once everyone has joined, the host taps accept and the game begins.

Like most first-person shooters, you have a certain amount of health, which gets whittled away every time you are shot, or get hit by a grenade or air strike. When it’s gone, you’re dead. You also have a limited amount of ammo. When your clip runs out of bullets, hit the button on the bottom of the gun to reload. To get more bullets, run over the ammo that appears on the mini map of the play area on your phone screen. As in Call of Duty, crates will show up on your mini map containing power ups you can use if you run over to them, like air strikes.

It plays a lot like laser tag, taken to a whole new level by all the augmented-reality perks piled on top. Watch David Cogen from TheUnlockr take to the battlefield in our video review.

David Cogen, a regular contributor here at Digital Trends, runs TheUnlockr.com, a popular tech blog that focuses on tech news, tips and tricks, and the latest tech. You can also find him over at Twitter discussing the latest tech trends.

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Nicole Edsall
Nicole Edsall
Former Digital Trends Contributor
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