The entire Angry Birds franchise is one of the largest of our generation. According to Apple, who by the way are poised to take over Android’s market share this year, people have collectively spent over one million years playing the entire series and this is poised to rise even further with the advent of Angry Birds 2.
The graphics have come a long way and this iteration of the Angry Birds franchise have adopted a more comic book-inspired styling than before. But it’s the landscapes that have seen major changes. There are now weather effects with thrashing rain and rainbows making appearances at times, while the backgrounds themselves have far more depth. Flowers spit out debris from your assault, potentially knocking over other structures; rockets burst into the sky; little green pigs come flying at the screen. Playing on an iPhone 6+, you can really see the enhancements that have been made. And the music is very chirpy and atmospheric too.
One of the most exciting elements about Angry Birds 2 is that it features multi-screen stages. At the beginning of each stage you’re given a set stack of birds. Since it does not refill between stage screens, you’re required to use strategy when picking the bird you want to fire at the pigs next. Yes, you’re allowed to do that now. Many stage screens can be passed using just one, carefully selected bird, but if you carelessly spend all your birds on a single stage screen, you’ll have nothing to clear the rest of the stage with. Unless you manage to win a bird card during the stage. This is done by filling up the so-called destructometer – the more objects you destroy, the higher the meter goes.
If you find yourself unable to beat a certain level or have spent many of your birds you might want to utilize another of Angry Birds 2’s new features – Spells. There are five spells so far you can pick in the game, the first lets you unleash an air drop of explosive rubber ducks that can pretty much destroy everything in a given area, but later on you’ll pick up a chilli spell that explodes a piggy and his surrounding area or an ice spell that freezes all the constructions in the chapter.
You get a selection of these spells for free, but you can purchase them with in-game crystals and real-world money if you really need to. You can also pick them up as one of your “extra card” perks when you fill the destruction meter.
Angry Birds 2 has also introduced the Arena. This is a very different experience, as it features different leagues, endless levels and special feather rewards separate from the main game. There’s a daily tournament for you to take part in, with some costing crystals or real money to enter. They’re entirely optional, though, so don’t be conned into spending anything to get into a tournament. Just wait until the next day and there might be a free one you can enter. Or you can just carry on with the main game, as there’s plenty to do there.
In the end, this game is amazing and Angry Birds 2 must be played to see how far the series has evolved in the last 13 generations of the series.
The vast majority of users will likely be playing the Android version, which you can download from the Good e-Reader App Store for free.
If your to lazy to grab your mobile and download Angry birds from your preferred app store, here is a free version from the guys from Poki. They developed a free to play version of the app so you can get a sense of the new game directly from you browser.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.