Review : Angry Birds Space

The angry birds have reached the final frontier.

Angry Birds Space is the newest addition to the popular physics game that involves flinging little birdies at some bad green pigs. After their success with several seasons and with the movie tie-in game, ‘Rio’, Angry Birds has capitalized on its success by going into apparel, film shorts and the like. Angry Birds Space had their game marketed by NASA and Samsung Galaxy Note. Just goes to show that there’s nothing more pleasurable than destroying pigs placed in structures that look complex but are simple enough to break apart.

Gameplay

Gameplay this time round has a twist. Literally. As the title suggests, the new plot tells us that the birds are now taking on the pigs in space as these oinks have “abducted” their eggs. The game, having been developed in collaboration with  NASA physicists, brings the concept of gravitational fields. Level design has had a huge boost and it’s no longer about slinging your bird at a particular point. There’s finally a targeting system which show’s the birds direction before you sling it. Levels aren’t too monotonous like before as there are different approaches to get the maximum number of points. With the use of the gravity fields, you will find your bird spinning around the vortex till it hits the target. However, these throws aren’t as accurate as in the previous games since there’s also a chance factor involved.  This factor can get pretty annoying when you miss your target and don’t get all three stars for the level. A third world called danger zone can be purchased to play extra tough levels. Golden Egg levels are now call Eggsteroids and you start playing them the moment you unlock them eliminating the need for the player to open them separately.

In space, no one can hear the pigs scream...

Visuals

As the levels have been redesigned to fit the space theme, so have been the birds. The basic red bird now has goggles and the big motherload of a bird has become Hulk–all green and sounds just like him when flung. The yellow one which was the speedy gonzales of the lot is now a snazzy purple. Unlike the former, the purple bird’s high speed dives are target based. When launched, you can tap the target indicated with the cross-hair and it speeds that way with an increased force . A new bird has been introduced which can freeze pigs or surrounding objects upon contact. Pigs die as usual on impact, but there’s also the more funny way of sending them out in the vacuum of space and watching them freeze and eventually shatter to pieces.  Audio has been jazzed up to fit the theme–which reminded me of the ambiance from Star Trek–yet keeping the old Angry Bird theme music.

Pop goes the pig

Overall

Angry Birds Space has delivered something new and fresh in the franchise. It’s been doing well in the market, racking up to 10 million downloads in just 3 days after launch. It’s available for most mainstream platforms, and it’s free for android as an ad-supported version. The game isn’t complete yet and more levels are in the pipeline. Rest assured you will be spending a lot of time with the flockers in space.

Space Invaders!