Game Reviews

Angry Birds (PlayBook)

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Angry Birds (PlayBook)

It's taken a while, but the arrival of Angry Birds on RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook gives the tablet - once billed as an iPad-killer - the game all mobile devices require in order to be taken even half seriously.

But how has Rovio's global megahit fared in its transition to this latest in a long line of platforms?

Thankfully, rather well, which is to say it's largely identical to the iPhone original, taking no risks with the tried-and-tested formula.

Flying lessons

Just in case you've been frozen in carbonite for the past two years, here's a quick Angry Birds crash course.

This physics-based casual game tasks you with raining vengeance upon a clan of cheeky green pigs who, having stolen a few eggs from the aerially-challenged bird heroes of the game, have proceeded to build for themselves makeshift shelters out of bits of wood, stone, and glass.

By utilising a handy catapult in each level, you'll have to fling various bird types at the pigs' dens in order to smash them into puffs of green dust, with points awarded for damage done, as well as for causing as much destruction with as few birds as possible.

The challenge of the game comes from the careful lining up of shots, which is made easier by the tail smoke lines left behind by previous birds. The variety of birds you chuck also adds some flavour to proceedings.

For example there's the standard Red bird, the missile-like Yellow, the mid-air egg-laying White, and - everyone's favourite - the bomber Black.

PlayDead

Those who have previously played the game will want to know more about the PlayBook transition. But there's very little to tell - it's just Angry Birds.

A bonus for the PlayBook is that all level packs are here - 280 levels - waiting for you to unlock. From the western-themed Ham 'em-High, to the deeper underground variation Mine and Dine.

Minor niggles include the absence of the Mighty Eagle in-app purchase for clearing a level if you get really stuck.

Also, because of the tablet's unique UI, there were occasions when this cack-handed reviewer accidentally swiped across the screen from beyond the PlayBook's bevel, or frame, meaning that the game would occasionally minimise mid-flow.

In general, though, the game we know is intact and smoothly playable in its new home.

The elation when watching the final stubborn pig slowly roll over and off the edge of a platform is still there, as is the frustration at having your final bird thud ineffectively against a fiendishly placed stone block.

Of course, whether it will be enough to improve PlayBook's long-term chances of success remains to be seen.

Angry Birds (PlayBook)

The lack of new features in this version of Angry Birds is unsurprising if disappointing, but fans will delight in the arrival of the PlayBook edition of the world's favourite smartphone game
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Matt Sakuraoka-Gilman
Matt Sakuraoka-Gilman
When Matt was 7 years old he didn't write to Santa like the other little boys and girls. He wrote to Mario. When the rotund plumber replied, Matt's dedication to a life of gaming was established. Like an otaku David Carradine, he wandered the planet until becoming a writer at Pocket Gamer.