Review: Angry Birds

Angry Birds
iPhone
$0.99


Angry Birds is a physics destruction game that had you launching objects at various buildings, with the attempt to knock them over.  Similar games including Armor Games' Crush the Castle and Donut Games' Castle Smasher.  I'm not sure which came first, but Angry Birds, from Rovio Mobile, is clearly the best.  At $0.99, this game is a must buy for anyone with a supported device.

In the game, you launch birds from a slingshot into buildings constructed of wood, glass, stone, and various other sundry materials.  You attempt to not only destroy the buildings, but more importantly, kill all the pigs in the level.  The fun comes from the awesome physics model, which has players watching with glee as parts of the building lean, then tumble, and then crumble as they fall and are destroyed.

These types of games live and die on small factors.  For example, the graphics in Angry Birds are bright and cartoony, which is fun, but the also convey plenty of detail about the types of materials and the needed level objectives.  Mechanically, the game auto-zooms for detail, but can be easily zoomed out for taking in the big picture.  Each level is also well balanced.  They are appropriately difficult to complete, which for the most part, can be done in 3 or so tries.  Your performance is scored and given a rating of 1, 2, or 3 stars.  Going back for 3 stars is incredibly challenging, but also very rewarding.  While simply firing off all the birds will almost always allow you to complete the level, getting 3 stars requires planning and expert use of the birds various abilities.

Another problem these games can run into is by requiring incredibly difficult aiming.  Shots in Angry Birds often need to be arced over obstacles, but there were very few times when I felt a level required three perfectly placed shots to clear.  For the most part, once you have a moderate familiarity with the game, you can predict where shots will land well enough to clear the levels.  The challenge is just right in this area.  Also, it should be noted that you can easily restart levels quickly anytime you mess up on the first or second shot.

Angry Birds also has an awesome physics engine.  The birds crash satisfyingly into the buildings, and everything breaks and falls with an enjoyable chaos.  There are also some examples of teetering blocks that are nerve racking.  In addition, the engine is predictable enough to be workable, but also random enough to be fun.  Sometimes I won levels with shots that completely failed the previous go-round, but for the most part, I felt well in control, but also on the edge of my seat with each attempt.  The game also is generally good at settling wobbly pieces in a short time, although a few times I have watched the building continue to fall after the game gave me a final score.

People tend to make a lot of noise about the types of materials the buildings are built of, as well as the abilities of the different birds.  I find that all of these physics based castle destruction games have similar features, so I am more concerned about how they work.  And in Angry Birds, I find them to be well done.  They are for the most part balanced, and each works in a unique, but interesting, way.  What I find most interesting is the secondary uses of each bird.  For example, the white bird drops an explosive bomb on a second click.  This is standard in all of these type of games.  But what is interesting is that the bird then flies up and to the right very fast.  Sometimes, it is most effective to use this after bomb boost to do damage instead of the bomb itself.

Finally, on the technical side, the sounds is nice, with menu music and fun sound effects, although I almost always play on silent.  The graphics work, and drain the battery at a normal "game" rate.  Fast, but not debilitatingly so.  The controls are simple, which is always nice for a touch screen game.  Game Center support has been patched in.  The achievements are fairly broken at this point.  For example, upon patching they added ones for playing 5, 10, and 15 hours.  Although I had already put in well over 15 hours, I had none.  I have since got the play 10 hours one, but have yet to get the 5 hours...  The high score tables are amazing, however, easily comparing you to overall leaders as well as friends.  So far, very little hacking seems to be going on.

Angry Birds is far and away an amazing iPhone game.  Honestly, this is the only game that I would say is "Must Buy" since I generally leave paid apps up to each user.  Anyone who likes any sort of game will enjoy this.  At $0.99, its also a steal, and adds new levels once every few months.  This game gets my highest recommendation.