Angry Birds 2 is a pointless follow-up to an irrelevant game

Releasing Angry Birds 2 is like trying to milk a cow that has gone dry.

by Stan Rezaee

Five years ago, Rovio Entertainment established mobile phones as a gaming platform with Angry Birds and, after having milked their cash cow dry, here is the long awaited sequel.

Angry Birds 2 presents itself as the first real sequel to the 2009 hit game by redesigning its visual appearance while attempting to preserve its foundation.

A familiar game with new paint

As with its predecessor and every spin-off that has followed, Angry Birds 2 focuses on the birds trying to rescue their eggs from the pigs and seek revenge. Players slingshot a verity of birds at the pigs fortification and then progress to the next level.

The most obvious change made to the game is incorporating a 3D visual environment that offers some unique in-game moments. Another improvement is that going up against the Pig Bosses will actually feel like a real boss battle. Still unchanged is the singular catchy tune that gives it an upbeat feeling while helping you forget that your tossing birds to their death.

Ok, look, it's hard to be nice and try to find positives here. Overall, this is one of those titles makes a gamer ask, "why bother?"

Seriously, why bother?

Despite the minor changes, it's still the same game everyone played back in 2009 that has been milked and saturated by so many spin-offs. Basically, it's still just all about tossing birds at pigs and watching them go "pop" like a balloon. If a gamer has played any Angry Birds game, then they have played them all and Angry Birds 2 is no exception.

To be fair, criticizing a game because it's no different from its predecessor may feel like a redundant when games like Call of Duty bring in over $1 billion without any significant changes.

However, the difference here is that AAA titles also have a real story and character development... Angry Birds 2 does not; it doesn't get that free pass.

Once upon a time, Angry Birds was the most iconic and revolutionary game for any mobile device, but times have changed. Casual gamers are now playing freemium titles like Candy Crush Saga or Clash of Clans while other gamers rather pay $5 - $10 for an indie game that actually has quality gameplay. With real game developers like Nintendo and Konami also exploring the mobile market, there isn't any room for a one game studio that has milked their cash cow dry.

It appears that Rovio Entertainment is trying to reignite the success of the first game in the hopes that people are dumb enough to think the freemium is the future while not realizing how much gaming has changed.

Angry Birds is now a has-been

Angry Birds 2 is less of a sequel and more of another one of the countless spin-offs with a new coat of paint along with a few trinkets. Overall, it will only appeal to the most hardcore casual game fans (if any actually do exists) while the rest of the causal hoard is playing some other freemium title as they are reminded of their lower status in the gaming world by the "Nobel Console Gamers" and the "Glorious PC Master Race."

Our Rating

Releasing Angry Birds 2 is like trying to milk a cow that has gone dry.

Stan Rezaee

Featured Contributor

Stan Rezaee is a gamer from the Bay Area who has been writing about the medium for over five years. He is an old school gamer who still plays with his N64, PlayStation 2 and GameCube. When on his PC, he could still be found playing classic Counter-Strike with friends.

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Games Angry Birds 2 Genres Casual Free to Play Platforms iOS Android Tags freemium

Published Aug. 3rd 2015

1

David123_6640
August 4, 2015, 11:28 am

My son like this it. Thank you.
52

Elijah Beahm
August 3, 2015, 8:14 pm

Featured Columnist

I hate to be that guy but... the difference between Call of Duty's sequels and Angry Birds is not off-set by story content, necessarily. In recent years, after a few stagnant sequels, COD's genuinely made a significant effort to shake up the formula. By comparison, Angry Birds just produced a ton of spin-offs that went nowhere. It's like if we'd gotten Modern Warfare, then six different varieties of Ghosts. Which would effectively make this game Modern Warfare 2-3's worst elements combined combined, if we're going to really run with this parallel.
29

Stan Rezaee
August 3, 2015, 10:03 pm

Featured Contributor

Actually you make a very good point and now feel a little stupid for not including that that little comment. After all Advanced Warfare had mechs and exo-suits. But I do appreciate the feedback should better look out for such comparisons in future reviews.
60

Rothalack
August 3, 2015, 11:41 am

Master O' Bugs

I am thoroughly impressed by the graphics in Angry Birds 2. I didn't know a mobile game could be so beautiful. It is partly a result of my new phone, which is crazy fast and 1440p. Other than that, yea, gameplay is the same old thing with little tweaks and a candy crush attempt at money sucking, which pretty much ruined it for me.