When it was announced that the next Angry Birds game would be Star Wars inspired I remember thinking, ‘That’s a great idea but there’s no way I’m playing that.’ I had played every entry in the Angry Birds franchise and believed I was totally done with angry bird flinging and evil pig killing in my spare time.
But even then, I suspect part of me knew that I would indeed be giving Angry Birds Star Wars a download when it was released. I’m very glad I did. Not only is Angry Birds Star Wars the best entry in the Angry Birds franchise, it’s also right up there with the Lego Star Wars franchise as the most charming inclusion of Star Wars in any videogame.
Angry Birds Star Wars repackages the basic formula of Angry Birds and dresses it up like it’s from a galaxy far, far away. The evil pigs now resemble tie-fighters, storm troopers and even Darth Vader himself while the birds get a Rebel Alliance makeover.
The basic Red Bird now resembles Luke and starts off with no special abilities. But with a little training, he learns to use his light saber to cut down structures and strike down evil pigs. The Black Bird now is the Obi-wan Bird and uses force push to throw projectiles or knock enemies off their structure. Yellow Bird is now Han Solo and uses his blaster mid-flight. Big Bird is now Chewbacca Bird and barrels through anything in his way while giving a wookie yell. The surprising part is that Rovio could have just given a Star Wars makeover to its characters and called it a day. But they didn’t.
The character specific abilities are part of a diverse, interesting arsenal and the levels are created with these in mind. It’s quite satisfying to see a pile of debris just begging to be force pushed all over the place. You even earn Millennium Falcon runs and can use them to call in a strike that can wipe out all the pigs on screen if positioned correctly.
The eighty levels released so far are Episode IV inspired but there is a free Hoth Update on the way and a Dagobah Add-on pack already available for $1.99. There are also secret levels starring an R2D2 Bird and C-3PO Bird with special abilities of their own.
With level backgrounds showing the iconic twin suns of Tattoine, a Deathstar trench run level and Darth Vader Pig using the force to keep Empire Pigs afloat, Angry Birds Star Wars is chock full of references. There are even mid-game cut scenes that reenact memorable parts of the movie, such as trash compacters making a surprise appearance.
If you’re a casual fan of both Angry Birds and Star Wars, then you should definitely add this to your mobile collection. Angry Birds Star Wars will take up hours of your time and not put a hurt on your wallet. The physics feel the tightest they have ever been and the Star Wars makeovers make the characters feel fresh with all the sounds and music you’d expect.
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