Why is the Population Addicted to Angry Birds?
If you have a hot temper, Angry Birds should not be played near any windows that may tempt you to throw your phone out of. This puzzle-type of video game, developed by Rovio Mobile seems to be the hottest application for iPhone, iPad and Android. In fact, since its launch in December of 2009, there have been more than 50 million downloads of Angry Birds across all platforms. That’s a whole lot of people using slingshots to launch birds at pigs!
Why pigs you ask? Well, at the time that the game was being developed back in 2009, the swine flu epidemic was blasted all over the news so naturally, the staff working on the game’s creation felt it was only appropriate that pigs be the enemy.
Storyline
There is not much of a storyline to Angry Birds aside from the fact that the birds are angry and want revenge on the pigs so they set out to destroy every last one of them by using themselves as weapons with a slingshot. While the storyline is lacking, Rovio Mobile has done a superb job by constantly adding new additions including holiday downloads. In October of 2010, a Halloween edition was added with scary graphics and music, followed by a 25 day Christmas download for one level to be played each day leading up to Christmas. Talking of Christmas why not get some photo christmas cards they always go down well at Christmas.
The most recent addition to the story was a Valentine’s Day download in February 2011 that allowed you to send Angry Bird Valentine’s Day messages to your Facebook account. Soon, in March of 2011, Angry Birds Rio will be released to tie into the animated film RIO by 20th Century Fox.
Gameplay
You essentially take control of birds who want to get their stolen eggs back from the so-called evil green pigs that really look nothing short of adorable. Every level comes with its own obstacles, sheltering the pigs and it is your job to kill them to continue on to the next level. You’ll stumble across various materials like wood, stone and ice that require their own technique to destroy them.
Using a slingshot that is set at a predetermined location, you essentially use the birds like weapons to take down the shelters as well as the pigs. Sounds easy right? Unfortunately, you’ll find in many levels you could certainly use a few extra birds and it could take you a dozen times to discover the exact strategy that you need to use. Some of the pigs seem virtually impossible to get to but if you damage structures in the right order, you will get to them eventually. Words of advice are don’t have tunnel vision! If something doesn’t work a few times, try a different way, this is how phones get broke!
As you advance through Angry Birds, you’ll find that new birds become available to you and specific species are better at destroying certain things. You will also discover through trial and error that some birds will drop things, speed up or even explode if you touch the screen while they are in flight. If you think these battle tactics make it easier, you should know some of the smart pigs wear helmets so they are more resistant to your techniques.
Graphics
There is not a lot to say about the graphics, they are simple and could have been drawn by a five year old but no one cares. It doesn’t matter that there is no detail, as long as you can tell the difference between what bird you’re using and the material of the structure, that’s all you need to know. Of course, it is appreciated that there is a trail left on the screen of the previous bird you released from the slingshot to use as a guide for your next firing strategy.
Conclusion
It’s hard to understand or explain how a basic, storyline-free game can be so addicting but it is! Many people are losing a lot of sleep playing Angry Birds on their iPhone, iPad or Android and the game sure does make waiting in line or sitting in class a whole lot more enjoyable! Bottom line, if you’re not playing Angry Birds, you need to download it, by the time you manage to get through the many levels, a seasonal or holiday one will be ready to take its place.
