When I first heard that Angry Birds Star Wars was on its way, all I could think was: I have a bad feeling about this.
The cynic in me felt disgruntled about the repetitive nature of the Angry Birds brand, but the realist in me told the cynic to shut up, chill out, and enjoy the game.
Despite it being much the same game that you’ve already played a thousand times before, either in the original version or one of the many spin-offs, Angry Birds Star Wars is fun because it’s funny. The combo of Star Wars and Angry Birds imagery works well, and Rovio have packed in all sorts of visual gags. The Death Star is, of course, a giant space-going pig. The Stormtroopers – sorry, Pigtroopers – are pigs in Stormtrooper helmets, who still have that goading piggy smirk on their face every time you fail a level.
It’s the same, but it’s different. And that’s why it works.
Like previous releases, your initial one dollar investment might not be all you spend on Angry Birds Star Wars. Just as in any seedy bar in Mos Eisley, the shopping opportunities are plentiful. You might like to cheat improve the odds, by buying Millennium Falcon-shaped power-ups. Or pay two bucks for the “Path of the Jedi” upgrade, which gives you 40 new levels and an improved light sabre when you complete them all. Of course, Rovio hopes you will do exactly that. The Force is strong with this one.
The rebels birds now have light sabres for slashing through piggy defences or deflecting piggy laser blasts. Birdy Jedi can use the Force to boost their destructive power. And there are elements of Angry Birds Space, too: gravity wells to navigate while you fly.
But you’re still launching birds from a slingshot. There’s still that familiar “creeeaaak” sound when you stretch the slingshot back before firing. The same, but different.
So the question you have to ask yourself is: do lots of Star Wars gags make me want to play this game all over again? If you got utterly engrossed by Angry Birds the first, second and umpteenth times round before, then of course you want to play it again. The gags are worth your dollar. No matter what your opinion of the prequels, Star Wars is so deeply embedded in our culture now that the gags and gameplay tweaks will appeal to a broad range of people, and help sell the game.
On the other wing, if you never completed all those earlier feathered adventures, maybe hold fire on this one for a while. No-one will find your lack of faith even the slightest bit disturbing.
Source: App Store
