Angry Birds Star Wars Review (PC)

Angry Birds started out as a small mobile game made by Finnish studio Rovio and quickly took the world by storm, spawning spinoffs and a very lucrative merchandising mechanic for the company.

Now, after releasing games in the series for a variety of platforms and in combination with other properties, Rovio has teamed up with LucasArts to create Angry Birds Star Wars.

The game, which combines two of the most popular franchises on Earth into a single experience, promises to deliver a new type of Angry Birds experience but with a distinct Star Wars theme.

Does it succeed in its Force mastery or is this not the game we’re looking for? Let’s find out.

Join the band of rebel birds ...

... and take on the Empire's pigs

Gameplay

Angry Birds Star Wars is still an Angry Birds game, meaning you’ll spend your time flinging different birds at various pig enemies.

There is, however, a deep Star Wars layer on top of the whole experience. The birds are now modeled after characters from the movies (e.g. the red one is Luke Skywalker, the black one is Obi Wan Kenobi, etc.) while the pigs are now Stormtroopers and the environments use a variety of backgrounds and props modeled after the series.

This integration of the Star Wars franchise doesn’t stop here, as the birds can even use different objects, from Luke’s lightsaber, to Obi Wan’s Force push, to Han Solo’s blaster (apparently, he shoots first in the game).

Throw in the fact that the levels manage to combine not just regular ones seen in the first games in the series, but also the newer space-based ones seen in Angry Birds Space, and the experience is quite varied.

While flinging Luke and Obi Wan against the pigtroopers is rather simple in the first few stages, which are set on Tatooine, things get more complicated in space and aboard the monstrous Pig Star. Those who are really talented can even unlock special bonus levels that feature birds based on R2-D2 and C-3PO, each with unique powers.

While you’ll spend quite a lot of time with the game, especially if you want to obtain three stars on all the stages, you can also opt to purchase a special Dagobah DLC that feature Yoda and a special lightsaber reward.

Besides the Star Wars theme, the game is similar to previous ones, although it really takes advantage of the add-ons that the alliance with the movie series gives it, managing to emphasize the role of lightsabers, the Force, or the blasters.

There are still some traditional annoyances, as the physics system sometimes behaves rather unpredictably or the fact that the blasters might not blow as big of a hole as you hoped through the pigs’ defenses, but they’re quite negligible.

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Visuals and Sound

Angry Birds Star Wars manages to impress both visually and in terms of sound right from the splash screen, as you get to admire the pretty detailed Star Wars makeover of the birds, while hearing a new version of the classic movie theme with a few more outlandish portions.

The soundtrack remains impressive throughout the game and your eyes will once again be treated with the crisp cartoonish visuals seen in previous Angry Birds titles that look good no matter your actual platform, from mobile ones like smartphones or tablets, to the PC.

Complete bonus levels ...

... and earn maximum stars

The Good

The Bad

Conclusion