Angry Birds FTW

Angry Birds is one of those games that you kinda cant put down. Not because the story is incredibly engaging, not because the gameplay is incredibly challenging nor because the art is amazing (even though it is) but rather because its so simple it makes you wonder why we need advancements in technology at all. It also makes you fear the Swedish: first ABBA, then IKEA now THIS?

The gameplay is as follows: a group of green, round pig-like creatures has kidnapped the eggs of a group of birds, this makes the birds angry (hence the name) and they vow to get revenge and their eggs back through the use of a slingshot and complex mathematical equations. There's no actual math, instead you shoot the different birds and try to defeat the pigs by eliminating them through the destruction of their many fortifications.

You start off with just a red cardinal whose sole ability is to shoot throw himself off a slingshot and wreak as much havoc as he possibly can but as the game progresses you unlock other birds including a blue jay who can split himself in three, an angry canary who can shoot himself with an extra boost, a raven whos actually a bomb and a pigeon that can shoot eggs. If there are any more I have yet to unlock them. Also I should point out that the species listed above are merely guesses I made based on the color of the birds.

The character design is fantastic, the colors are brilliant, each bird and pig has a unique shape (like my favourite: angry canary triangle) and a unique sound that it makes when it launches itself. Because each bird has different abilities and they're all different sizes the player has to develop strategies to find the best way to knock out the pigs the fastest. This can be incredibly frustrating but its also very rewarding once a seemingly impossible level is beaten.

Each level is different in both its design and the number and type of birds you get. No, its not up to you to decide which birds you get to use in each stage, its whatever the game picks and this adds significantly to the challenge because you cant ever just throw five bomb birds and hope you can explode away your problems.

All this for only one dollar. I've played Xbox games that are less fun (right Bullet Witch?).