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.”
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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.
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