Angry Birds Space- Zero Gravity Changes Everything

Since the launch of Apple’s iOS App Store in 2008, many small companies have created extremely successful services and games.  Perhaps the biggest success came from a once small company named Rovio who brought us Angry Birds.  Due to its addictive gameplay and memorable characters, Angry Birds has become one of the most popular games of the last three years.  Angry Birds is the Pac-Man of this generation.  Everything from toys to t-shirts have been made from the wacky birds and pigs.

While there have been many Angry Birds spinoffs, Angry Birds Space is Rovio’s first real attempt to take Angry Birds to the next level.  The Angry Birds take to the skies as you now slingshot them in zero gravity.  Rovio even partnered up with NASA to ensure the game’s physics were as accurate as real life.  Is Angry Birds Space enough to keep people interested in flinging poultry or is it just more of the same?

Gameplay:

One look at a level from Angry Birds Space and you will know that things have changed.  It’s not what you do that has changed, but how you do it.  The goal is still to fling the birds at the evil green pigs.  All of your favorite birds from the original game are back along with a couple of new ones you’ll discover as you play.  What has changed this time around is the environment.  You are now playing in space, a weightless environment with planets having their own fields of gravity.  This huge change in physics makes the game feel more different than ever before.  Not only that, but the levels are larger than ever.  Space is much more wide and open than any environment on Earth could be.  The levels are on a much larger scale.  Learning how to work with zero gravity makes Angry Birds feel new again.

Additionally, Angry Birds Space takes advantage of items in the environment better than any previous game in the franchise.  I’ve found that many levels rely on crashing into asteroids and space debris to kill the pigs.  Learning how to push these objects floating in space to where you want on a planet with gravity is a great challenge.

Replayability:

Angry Birds Space offers 60 levels that could take a while to finish depending on how easily you can figure out the way to beat each level.  If that’s not enough, you can buy 30 more levels for the same price you paid for the first 60, one dollar.  Not only that, but Rovio will be updating the game in the near future to give players brand new levels free of charge.  Game Center offers leaderboards so going back and beating your high scores can be a good challenge.  Just like other Angry Birds games, there are also golden eggs to collect.  These as you probably know unlock hidden levels, including one that’s a really nice homage to Space Invaders.

Graphics and Presentation:

Angry Birds already looked quite nice on the iPhone’s retina display.  Angry Birds Space looks slightly nicer due to the new environments.  Characters and items in the environment also look slightly brighter.  As I had previously said, this game is on a much larger scale than any Angry Birds game before it.  Because of this, zooming into each level is slightly harder to do.  Very rarely will you be able to work with fitting the entire level on screen.  Not only that, but you cannot zoom in as far as you could in previous games.  Those with poor eyesight might have a little more difficulty with this one.

As far as presentation goes, the level selection menu will look familiar to any Angry Birds fan.  You can even interact with pigs floating in space in the menus.  The only complaint I have about the presentation is the pause menu.  The game as a whole looks nice until you get there.  On the right side of the pause menu are ugly ads for other Angry Birds games.  The ads are extremely low resolution and don’t fit well with the menus.  Other than that, it looks really great.

Conclusion:

Many Angry Birds fans have been waiting for the game’s next big step.  I am happy to say that Angry Birds Space evolves the series and takes it to places it has never gone before.  Using actual NASA physics to bring the Angry Birds into space was an extremely smart move on Rovio’s part.  Zero gravity changes the game to the point where it feels completely new again.  Not only that, but sixty levels for a dollar is an incredible deal that should not be passed up.  Whether you are a huge Angry Birds fan or have never flung a bird in the air, Angry Birds Space should be a game on everyone’s iOS or Android device.  Same goes for the PC and Mac.