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Angry Birds is something of a gaming institution on mobile devices today, having essentially been the standard-bearer for casual gaming in the age of the smartphone.
This week, Angry Birds 2 launched on the App Store, and this is a big deal because despite the fact there’s been 12 Angry Birds games since, this is the first full sequel.
The others: Seasons, Rio, Friends, Space, Star Wars, Star Wars II, Go!, Epic, Transformers, Fight, Stella and POP! have all been spin-offs of one form or another. This is straight up Angry Birds, and an update of the puzzle platform that thousands of other games have been inspired by since.
So, the big question is that after so much time on spin-offs, can the Rovio development team still conjure up casual gaming magic? We dived in to find out.
Upon downloading, there’s immediately a problem; the initial game data download that Angry Birds 2 says it’s doing takes far too long to complete. This is a mobile game, not a new-gen open world game on a games console.
Nonetheless, soldier on and you will get to the game, and thankfully once in to the game the first time, the problem disappears.
You can then appreciate how polished the game looks – it’s a sign of how much more powerful smartphones are today that Rovio are able to decorate the levels with much more detailed backgrounds, and up the amount of animation on-screen without any lag. Which is handy because there are a lot more explosions this time around.
This is traditional Angry Birds carnage. The aim is to fling your array of birds at the pig fortresses, destroying it and them in the process. You know the drill.
There are new birds and special spells that can be unleashed upon the pigs too, and these vary and reveal themselves at a good pace. One that keeps the game interesting and refreshing as you move through the levels.
However, there is an underlying issue again. This Angry Birds has gone freemium – meaning that it can be downloaded for free, and then in-app purchases can be made in order to speed up certain upgrades. But in this instance it is a real hindrance – given the nature of Angry Birds as a puzzle game, once the level numbers get into the 20s you find yourself needing more than one go at a level, and after a few retries you will find yourself out of lives.
This means waiting for the timer to countdown, giving you a new one. The same is true of the jewels handed out in the game, if you run low on these and can’t cash them in for new lives or birds, you have to pay to get more. You are also given the option of sitting through a video ad in exchange for a new life.
These feel like unnecessary, annoying and cynical roadblocks in a game that has been paid for in the past, and done just fine.
This might be the modern model for mobile games, and one that we’re all used to now, but it’s still hugely frustrating to encounter.
When you’re not being weighed down by the pressure to watch a video in order to get another life, Angry Birds 2 does have some real bright spots. The new multi-stage levels add some new dimension to proceedings, with players having to think more carefully about which birds they use and when, as timing is everything with several layers of pigs to get through. It gets you thinking about how to take out the fortresses a little more, and as a result makes the whole game that little bit more engrossing.
There are boss battles now too – with bigger pigs showing up in the middle and end of level chapters, looking to take you on. This again makes for a nice touch of variety to gameplay.
And a great little touch is the new close-up facial camera that appears in the top left of the screen before you release a bird – showing the fear on the pigs’ faces, and the anger of the birds. It’s only a small thing, but it’s fun nonetheless.
There’s no doubt that Angry Birds as a franchise has still got it – the fun, enjoyment and casual engagement that made this series the first major player of the mobile era are all still there. But there are issues due to the freemium format the game takes, and the ways in which this forces you to pay. The natural pick-up-and-play rhythm has been disrupted slightly, and that’s a problem because it’s what made Angry Birds great in the first place.
