In conjunction with the release of the upcoming first film of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Google launched a new interactive web game – Lightsaber Escape.
The “Lightsaber Escape” is just one of the many so-called Chrome experiments that Google has been releasing to show off the possibilities of the Internet with modern-day web technologies. The whole gaming experience is a collaborative project between Google, Lucasfilm, Disney, and Industrial Light & Magic.
The rich 3D graphics and animations were built with WebGL, allowing beautiful, high-quality 3D renders to display perfectly on the browser. WebRTC and WebSockets are also used to enable high accuracy, real-time communication between the mobile and desktop. As usual, Google also took into consideration of a good user experience by building with web standards, enabling the experience to work across browsers, and without the need of plug-ins.
The innovative thing about Lightsaber Escape is that it brings players into the galaxy far, far away and that the lightsaber is not controlled by the mouse or trackpad; but by the mobile phone! The logic of the game is pretty straightforward; players start off in a Star Destroyer, where they need to escape the First Order, by fending off troopers using their lightsaber.
To play the game, you can simply go to lightsaber.withgoogle.com on your desktop. After which, launch your phone's web browser and type in the URL provided on the screen. The web interface will then automatically detect and connect to your phone. From there, you will be able to calibrate your weapon and start your great escape.
May the Force be with you!
