Angry Birds

If you haven’t heard of Angry Birds at this point in time then chances are you have been in some form of hibernation for the past year or so.  Having been one of the most popular games for the Apple devices and more recently, available for the Android platform, Angry Birds finally makes its long awaited debut on the home consoles.  At first I found it rather strange that the game was put up as a Mini game on the PSN, but then I realised it was probably to enable the game to go up at a reasonable £2.49.  As I played through Angry Birds I came to realise that it was also priced as it was due to there being nothing new at all, and a complete graphical overhaul hadn’t been done.  In fact, some of the visuals are a little disappointing, with them being scaled up to fit, which gives us some jaggy edges especially around the game text.  The main graphics of the game are bright, colourful and cartoon-like, but none of that really matters… Angry Birds is all about the gameplay, and it’s here that it excels.

The story of the game, yes there is a story, concerns evil pigs stealing the birds’ eggs and is played out in static cutscenes after you have finished all the stages in one level.  So, this is why the birds are angry. But how can they get their eggs back?  The game is played out over a single screen for each stage, with backgrounds and objects changing as you play.  On screen the pigs hide behind wood, concrete, bricks, glass or even wear helmets to halt your attack. Luckily you have an arsenal of birds at your disposal.  You always start on your catapult on the left hand side of the play area with whatever birds are chosen for you. Pull back on the left stick and your bird is primed to fire; press “X” and your bird is launched at the pigs.  The basic idea is to break through the pigs’ defences and destroy them. For the first few stages it proves ridiculously easy, and as you progress it gets harder.  The pigs hide under ledges, between layers of defence or up high, seemingly out of reach.  None of the levels are impossible, although you may tear your hair out at the twentieth attempt of a particular level, as some are fiendishly hard.

Luckily you have different birds to penetrate the defences. You have a basic bird that is adequate but underpowered for tough barriers, so you have the use of several others all chosen for you.  There is a yellow bird that you launch from the catapult and then when you press “X” mid-flight it gathers speed and is great for penetrating wooden defences.  There is a tiny blue bird that splits into three smaller birds with a button press after launch, great for targeting multiple objects.  There are two explosive type birds, one is a white bird that drops explosive eggs when you press the button, one is a black bird that explodes a few seconds after touching any object – great for major destruction.

In the later levels you are also given the use of a huge red bird that tears through everything with ease, maybe too easy as some of the latter stages are over in seconds.  Alas there is one bad bird in the game. I really don’t like the green boomerang bird; you fire it across the screen and then press the button and it returns towards you. It is good for destroying objects that may have seemed unreachable but it doesnt control as naturally as the other birds, in fact it’s a bit hit and miss.  One bad bird, though, doesn’t stop Angry Birds from being as addictive or playable as ever. Some levels will drive you to despair but will fill you with elation when you finally crack how to do them.  Some levels have hidden golden eggs that when destroyed, offer fun bonus levels that don’t tax you but further enhance the fun of the game.