An online game which revealed Google Street View locations through a sniper’s target has been blocked by the search engine giant.
The game allowed players to patrol well-known locations with an M4A1 assault rifle - and fire at whoever happened to have been caught in the frame.
Dutch advertising agency Pool Worldwide promoted the game on Twitter as “Google Shoot View. Explore the world at street-level… and fire a M4A1 assault rifle.”
Although the images were not altered to show any blood or injuries, the game was promptly pulled by Google.
Reaction to the game was mixed, with some claiming it to be “harmless” and others calling it the “creepiest use of Google Maps ever.”
Sean Ludwig said: “The game lets you go around killing pedestrians and police officers, who are real people unwittingly captured by Google’s cameras.”
Dave Parrack at Tech.Blorge said: “This is a questionable idea for a fun game, it has to be said. If there is even a slight risk of someone getting ideas from Google Shoot View then it needs to be stamped on.
“However, it should be noted that the game doesn’t show people bleeding or dying, as happens in video games such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 or Battlefield 3. And people derive pleasure from those titles.”
Some players expressed dismay when the game was pulled, calling it “a little harmless piece of fun” and another terming it “kind of cool”.
Another viewer, XioXaio12, wrote: "Uh Google, this was amazing, why did you take it down?"
Pool Worldwide’s access to the Application Programming Interface (API) has since been revoked as the game violated Google’s terms of service, which state no element of the API may be used for “physical harm or injury against any group or individual”.
Was Google right to pull the game? Let us know what you think in our comments section.