Following the success of the popular game Angry Birds where you have a slingshot to fire ‘angry’ red birds to try and knock buildings or objects down, Angry Birds Go is a racing game which features those ‘angry’ birds. It is similar to the branching out of Mario to Mario kart. The game was launched only a few weeks ago on December 11th.
Admittedly, the game is very enjoyable and addictive, just like the original Angry Birds games. The game’s location is the hilariously titled ‘Piggy Island’ where all the races take place. Interestingly, the island is 3-D which does the game no harm at all, and makes it emensly more playable.
It is free to play and can easily be downloaded onto your smartphone, enhancing its appeal. In a similar vein to mario kart, each character has their own special carts, which can be upgraded through practice and experience. This is a good feature of the game, as it does allow you to really connect with the characters and get really into it. It also adds to the addictive nature of it as well.
When I first started playing it, I thought it was quite a basic game until I carried on with further exploration to discover it is actually quite a complex game, in terms of leveling up and progressing through it. However, it is very easy to play on the smartphone and really adapts well to your fingers or stylus control. It is like playing on a wii, but just using your smartphone as a wheel instead.
There are 5 different types of races: race (conventional), fruit splat (a wierd version where you race against a set amount of fruits), time boom (where you race against the clock), versus (a one-on-one race to get a set incentive) and finally champion chase (where you have a race against a new racer and 3 successful wins opens up another character). I found all of these modalities of gameplay to be good, although the fruit splat was quite strange but engaging at the same time. Certain characters are better than others in the game but there is definitely a character for everyone in this game.
There are different levels within the game too, which vary the format up a bit although no matter what the course, it can become slightly repetitive playing on your own. This is why it is great that the designers of the game have decided to incorporate a multiplayer element into the game in spring next year, which will definitely improve the overall experience of playing it.
Overall, I really enjoyed playing Angry Birds Go. There is not really a lot wrong with it to be honest, and it is certainly one of the stronger racing games in the market. Its novelty means it should appeal to everyone of any age or gender, and it is certainly very addictive. A good all round game with scope for improvement, part of which will be achieved by the new multiplayer element coming into play in Spring 2014.
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