Aporkalypse: Pigs of Doom

As any Angry Birds aficionado will tell you, pigs are evil. Plain evil.

One minute they're rolling around in the mud, looking harmless and moderately endearing, and the next they're stealing your eggs, constructing makeshift castles from random blocks of wood, and inciting you and your buddies to sacrifice your lives.

But if dealing with the bad press dealt to them by Rovio's monster hit wasn't enough, those handling pig PR might well be pulling their hair out at the prospect of Aporkalypse: Pigs of Doom.

On the surface, it proposes to cast pigs in much the same light, with a pack of snouty sausages from the inner reaches of hell wreaking havoc and turning the planet into a molten mess.

However, in this particular tale pigs take on the roles of both heroes and villains.

At your disposal are four pigs that can return the world to its former glory, with your job being to guide them through a series of maze-like stages to reach their goals.

The stages in question are essentially mini-grids made up of different levels, and getting your pigs from A to B relies on your ability to utilise the objects around you to build a path to glory.

One four all

This basically means a whole lot of block pushing and switch pulling. Simple puzzles revolve around opening one door or levelling one pathway, and such puzzles form a series of neat stages that, at times, challenge the little grey cells.

The pigs themselves come with different abilities. Because you can only control one at a time - '*' and '#' switching between them – success boils down to knowing just when to employ each character.

The first character to hit the scene – Hungry Pig – can swallow blocks temporarily, for instance, dropping them back down to fill in any gaps in the path.

War Pig comes equipped with a handy cannon he can fire at the enemies that patrol each stage, while Pest Pig's stink gives you control over any foes he comes into contact with.

Finally, Death Pig has the ability to turn into a ghost, letting him walk on clouds or over brittle blocks.

The combination of such farmyard firepower and the various obstacles in your way means Aporkalypse: Pigs of Doom is, in truth, something of a simple puzzler dressed up in the clothes of a platformer.

It's not without its charm or challenge, however. While it's unlikely HandyGames's ode to the oinks will prove as popular as a certain other game packed with pigs, there's meat enough here to warrant a pick up.