You’re more likely to play Angry Birds than any other game we’ve ever reviewed at SciFiNow.
Let’s face it, LucasArts were banking on that kind of probable statistic when the deal was signed to combine the biggest entertainment franchise of all time with the most commercially successful property of the moment. Grim Fandango this ain’t.
The name pretty much sums up what you get for an inoffensive 69p: the classic Angry Birds mechanic of catapulting birds at environments in a bid to take out enemy pigs, only with an elaborate Star Wars theme. This means you get birds shaped like Luke, Han, R2-D2 and many more, who each have different powers, like swinging a lightsaber in a circle radius or firing a stream of laser fire. It’s a variation on Angry Birds that just about serves Star Wars well, with levels based on Tatooine, the Death Star and Dagobah, with more free ones coming soon, as well as sweet touches deployed through certain details, such as the classic Star Wars cross-wipe between levels.
The character designs are where we must put our Simon Pegg hats on, however, as visually, Angry Birds proves to be a poor match for Star Wars. Just because the character designers popped Han Solo’s jacket and a Harrison Ford wig on a bird or shaped the Death Star like a pig’s head, it doesn’t mean we’re going to seal-clap at the results. It’s not the ideal match for the Lucas saga that Lego was, for example, and on principle this falls firmly in the Yoda/Vodafone camp of our post-prequel fan depression at Star Wars‘ relentless whoring.
Still, Angry Birds Star Wars is brilliant value and a model time-waster, but it nonetheless deserves a contentious reception.
