Review: Angry Birds (PC)

Use your wits to tackle on green nasty pigs in this mind bogglingly but extremely fun puzzle game - Angry Birds. And yes, they are very angry indeed. 

It was just a few weeks ago when I first encountered Angry Birds. One of my office mates downloaded it on his Android phone, then another one downloaded it on his iPod touch, and soon the craze caught on like wildfire! Now with a version available for the PC, almost all of us have experienced this simple but very addictive game.

Basically, the green pigs have stolen the angry birds' eggs. As an act of retaliation, the birds equipped themselves with a giant slingshot. And using themselves as the projectile, you must help them by propelling them across the screen by dragging the slingshot with the mouse, and adjusting the angle and the power of the shot. Once you've set your trajectory, let go of the slingshot, and you will launch the birds towards the green pigs, then you must kill "pop"  as many green pigs as possible with a limited number of birds. Here's the catch though, the pigs are often surrounded with wooden, glass or stone structures that would block the pigs from the angry birds' onslaught. Thus, you must use the structures, obstacles and other objects in the level to "pop" all the pigs. A level will only be completed once all pigs in the level are "popped".  All structures and pigs that you destroy and pop will net you points, and upon completion of the level, you'll be awarded a corresponding number of stars (1 - 3 stars) depending on how well you've scored.

Each level is a puzzle in itself and levels are really varied. As you progress further, the puzzles become more and more difficult through the introduction of new game elements such as sturdier walls and structures, bombs, balloons, etc. Don't worry though, as you'll be provided with an appropriate set of birds to tackle the puzzle such as the yellow bird that can break wood with a sudden burst of speed, or the tiny blue bird which can split into three birds increasing the amount of damage you can do to structures. 

When we were kids, we used slingshots to shoot birds. Now we use birds to shoot pigs. Awesome!

With 195 very well designed levels (PC version), prepare to invest quite some time if you intend to finish this game. Not only that, you might also want to challenge yourself further by getting 3 stars on all the levels. Doing so may also net you golden eggs. Golden eggs will give you access to even crazier puzzles that would not only test your puzzle solving skills, but your patience as well. However, some golden eggs are very very elusive.

Much like its gameplay, graphics and presentation is colorful and adorable. It also works well on a full HD monitor without any distortion! And the sound of flying birds, popping pigs, shattering of glass, breaking wood, and its really catchy tune will keep you hooked in this game.

With this, I would definitely recommend Angry Birds to anyone. In whatever platform it may be, these Angry, but adorable, Birds are sure to take you on a mind bending, but super fun trip for hours. 

Score: 4.5 / 5.0

Oh, by the way, here's the link to the video of Neil Patrick Harris when he tried playing with a real chicken, and real pigs at the 2010 Video Game Awards  with Angry Birds Live. Credits to Joshi for reminding me of this :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8UWgufUIv0