Rampage: AR Unleashed – App Review (iOS)

A few days ago I went to the cinema in Seoul. I was looking at the available movies when I saw a large panoramic poster of a movie called Rampage which comes to screens on April 13, 2018, in the US.

Overview

I Google the name of the movie and I read that it’s based on the video game series Rampage by Midway Games. The thing is that I remember playing the game as a little boy on my Commodore 64 gaming console (you can check a gameplay video on YouTube here). This was such a nostalgic moment. I can still remember this game many years after. I remember really enjoying playing this game.

I’ve also read that there is an augmented reality (AR) app associated with the movie called: “Rampage: AR Unleashed”.  I’ve downloaded the app yesterday and installed it on my iPad. I tried it in my room, and I really liked it, so I knew that the next day I had to take it outdoors to get the best experience.

In the original game, you play as enormous monsters, climbing on buildings, smashing buildings and helicopters. The movie itself follows a primatologist who must team-up with George, an albino gorilla who turns into a furious creature of immense size following a rogue experiment in order to stop an invasion of monsters.

If you have little time, I recommend watching this video that I made today. I can assure you it’s worth watching! (Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more amazing AR content).

Taking Rampage to the streets of Seoul

When I’ve read about this app on the App Store, I knew it’s going to be amazing to take it out to the streets of Seoul, especially in an area where there are many skyscrapers.

I took the bus to a place where I’ve been before and liked the tall buildings there. It was a perfect place to release George the gorilla, Ralph the wolf, and Lizzie the alligator.

So why skyscrapers you ask?

Well, first of all, the original game is based on that, same as the movie. However, it wouldn’t be a good choice if the app wasn’t supported an option to place the creature on buildings.

Each creature has two posture modes. The first one is a regular standing mode, and a second one is a building climbing posture mode. The user can rotate, scale and move the character after an initial surface scan. The rotation was a bit awkward because you need to slide over a horizontal arrow to make it work, rather than a two-finger rotation gesture, which I personally prefer, but it not well used.

App Features

Rampage: AR Unleashed app has quite a lot of features, I mean as a movie promotional app.

• Choose between three creatures (rotate, scale and move)
• Choose between two posture (building climbing and standing postures)
• “Attack” to activate rampage
• Pause and replay a creature animation to get exactly the right pose for a snapshot
• Snap a picture or video of the scene and save it to the device or share it with others
• User the scanner on Rampage movie posters and Rampage-branded products for a special unlock

I’ve tried all features, except the scanner one. Don’t get me wrong, I tried really hard to unlock it. I went to two different cinemas searching for those posters as seen in the app, but couldn’t find one.

I actually remembered being in one movie theater and seeing that poster that I’ve mentioned. I went into Google photos, searched for an image that I’ve taken there a few days ago, checked the geolocation data and went to the same place with a hope that this poster will work, but it didn’t. I’ve spent an hour hunting for a Rampage poster but with no luck, so sorry for that.

Update: I went to the easy way. I’ve searched the poster on the Internet and found it on Google images, so I just tested it there. When you scan the poster, George the gorilla will come out of it, roaring. It was a fun experience. I still plan to find that poster on the street and test it out 🙂

Placing the Creatures on Buildings

What I really liked about Rampage: AR Unleashed is that unlike some many other AR movie maker apps like Vixeo or Holo App, here I got an option to use the characters in a different scenario, placing them on buildings. This felt different than just placing 3D characters on a surface

Placing those large creatures (you can also make them small of course) on buildings make the pictures and videos look and feel more dramatic. The animation was done superbly well. When I came home and watched the videos again (it’s hard to see it on the iPad’s screen outdoors), I was really excited about the results.

Placing the creature on buildings is easy as tapping a button and dragging the creature to where you want it to be placed. When you click the “2” button, the creature will turn to a climbing pose, with the shadow adjusted accordingly. Sometimes you need to rotate it so it faces the building correctly.

Once you are set, you can click the red “Attack” button to initiate the rage animation, where the creature starts to roar and smash the building.

Taking Pictures using the Built-in Camera App

I really enjoyed taking pictures of Rampage’s creatures in the streets. I think it was actually one of my best experience.

One of the main reasons for is due to an emotional nostalgic bond to the original title that I’ve played on the Commodore 64 when I was a child.

The second, remembering how the game looked back then (I refreshed my memory after watching a C64 gameplay video of Rampage game on YouTube) and how technology is improved since then.

Third, the 3D model quality, postures, shadows, and animation were done really well, which helped the digital blend very well into the real-world environment. The four reason is seeing the awe-inspiring scale of those creatures in a very unusual scene in front of me. Just watching those skyscrapers along was a magnificent experience, and it was just enhanced times fold when I’ve added those creatures to the scene.

Here are a few sample pictures that I took using the built-in camera app.

As you can see, the logo of the Rampage movie and its official release date (April 13th) is added to the bottom of each image. The app also adds a grungy vignette frame, which adds a nice muddy look to the scene and fit the theme of the app nicely.

Conclusion

I had so much fun today playing with the official augmented reality app of the upcoming movie Rampage (it might already be out by the time you read this).

It’s one of the best promotional movie apps that I’ve tried to date.  As a fan of the original game, I definitely go to see the movie once its release here in Seoul, South Korea.

I was emotional while reviewing this app, as it brought up some really pleasant childhood memories. Because of that, I enjoyed using this app more than I enjoyed the other AR scene creator apps that I’ve previously used.

Of course, it would be even more amazing if the app had a larger variety of animations to choose from, being able to move the creatures so I can animate them climbing up the building as well or walking in the street. That being said, this app definitely got me hyped for the movie even more.

The worked really well, and I was able to easily position the creatures even in faraway buildings with little or no jittering at all. This allows for making really unique scenes (as you can see in my video at 5: 30-minute mark, my favorite is at 8:10 mark).

For me, this app was so very entertaining and I really enjoy being creative with it. As you can see from the videos, this app enables users to capture some really compelling and entertaining AR scenes.

I highly recommend downloading it, and it’s also free on the App Store, so get it now and have fun! (if you do use it, please share your videos with me, Thanks!)

Download Rampage: AR Unleashed app from the App Store here. More information about the movie can be found on imdb.com.

P.S. I’m seriously considering getting The C64 mini. I’m very nostalgic when it comes to gaming.