Star Wars meets Angry birds. In case you want an instant verdict -- yes, this is epic!
Ok. Let's dive into the details now.
Star Wars and Angry birds, while generations apart, rule the pop culture. After spending countless hours playing through levels in Angry Birds Star Wars, the latest game from app developer Rovio, we can say that we are glad somebody brought Jedis, Birds, Pigs and Darth Vader together. Just like other games in the Angry Birds series, the premise is simple. It's the fight between the 'angry' birds and the wily pigs. But in the world (or rather worlds) set in the Star War universe.
The gameplay remains same. You have to throw the birds from a sling and kill pigs. Nice and easy. But there are subtle changes in the way the environment as well as the way the birds feel.
For now, you have access to two chapters. First chapter is set on Tatooine, the arid planet with which the Star Wars story kicks off in A New Hope. Yes, you remember it right. It's the same planet where Luke lived with his uncle. The second chapter sees the pigs and the birds moving near to the Deathstar, and ultimately inside it, to slug it out. By paying around Rs 110, you also get access to the chapter set on Dagobah. Another chapter is set on the icy planet Hoth. But this chapter will be unlocked with an update later.
In terms of environment, Rovio has simply decided to recreate the Star Wars world. This means, Tatooine has two suns, there are laser-firing guns in Deathstar levels and there is R2-D2. But the real reason why you are likely to refresh your Star Wars memories while playing this game is the sound. The game starts with the main Stars wars theme song. There is lots of pew pew of lasers guns and Vader's maniac laugh. Even Chewbacca's hearty grunt is part of the game.
Talking of Chewbacca, the birds and pigs have gone through a transformation in the game. The Red Bird can now can use a lightsaber. Black Bird is clocked in an attire similar to the one donned by Obi Wan Kenobi and has ability to use Force. The big Red Bird has been transformed into the hairy monster we lovingly called Chewbacca and the yellow bird is modelled after Han Solo. Yes, the yellow bird can take out a pistol and shoot laser bolts. The pigs, meanwhile, are all dressed as Storm Troopers.
The core gameplay, as we noted earlier, is same. However, the new environment and the new abilities of the birds mean that players have to improvise. Also, Angry Birds Star Wars has lots of levels where the gameplay is similar to that of Angry Birds Space. This means the fighting tales place in outer space and players will have to figure the right trajectory of the birds on the basis of gravitational pull of the planets that dot the scene.
Despite new settings and tweaked gameplay, we found Angry Birds space to be an easy game, unless we were not shooting for all three stars. This should help the casual gamers relish the game. If you are stuck somewhere, you can call upon Millennium Falcon that can carpet bomb the whole level to get rid of pigs. It is similar to using Mighty Eagle in earlier versions of Angry Birds. As users progress and collect more stars, they get more access to Millennium Falcon. Players can also buy a pack that gives them access to Millennium Falcon.
To sum it, we can say that Angry birds Star Wars is one of the best Angry Birds games so far. The music is familiar and nice and so is the environment. Rovio has used the Star Wars elements judiciously. Gameplay, though pretty old now, is so good that it never feels boring. It's the classic fling-birds-kill-pigs. But with an added dash of Star wars it's more fun than ever.
Review notes: We tested the game on a mid-range Android phone powered by Adreno 203 graphics chip and a single-core processor. The performance was mostly smooth and the experience was enjoyable.
Available on:
iPhone and iPod Touch at a price of Rs 55,
iPad at a price of Rs 170,
Android devices for free (supported by ads),
Android devices for Rs 163 (no ads), and
Windows Phone 8 for Rs 55
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