Angry Birds It is already a classic of smartphones, a game with history and that broke records. Now he has many above him, but he does not stop reinventing himself. And the last thing has been to take the example of Pokémon GO to give us the same birds and pigs as always, but in augmented reality. Another way to play, with interesting news and keeping the essence that always hooked us.
Augmented reality takes advantage of the camera of our mobile device to mix the reality in which we live with virtual elements, created by the device. Thus, wherever we point the device, only through its screen can we see this interesting and attractive mix. It is, in fact, what Pokémon GO is based on and one of the many reasons that have led such a game to its success. But now as we progressed Rovio has taken the idea and taken it to his Angry Birds: Isle of Pigs.
Angry Birds in augmented reality, this is 'Isle of Pigs'
As soon as you start the game, the camera will open. We will be seeing what we have right in front of us, and Angry Birds: Isle of Pigs it will ask us to point to a suitable surface. That is to say, a wide surface, that does not reflect or give glare and that does not have textures. When we are pointing towards a surface of these characteristics, it will begin to be marked in a virtual way so that we know where the game board can be placed. And then it will suggest that we change the tilt for correct viewing and experience.
Once we have defined where we are going to place our game board, it will be enough to make the confirmation and we will see how, automatically, the elements begin to appear. And without any kind of narrative, the game begins by showing us the classic Angry Birds structures with some explosives, the green pigs scattered around them and, of course, the slingshot in which to mount our birds to launch them against these structures.
The same as always, but in augmented reality and without narrative
There is no kind of surprise, in Angry Birds: Isle of Pigs, beyond that the video game changes its style 'flat' always, with a side view in the purest style of platform video games, due to the format of augmented reality. The mechanics remain the same and, in reality, the way to make our slingshot throw the birds against the structures is really similar. And this raises some problems, because the structures are three-dimensional and we cannot easily see them in full. But we have buttons to rotate them to one side or the other.
Where the video game does accept criticism is in the lack of narrative. The introduction to the game is poor, straightforward, and boring from the get-go. The mechanics, as we said, are identical. And the graphic section is careful, yes, but not with the detail and care that would be expected from Rovio. In a way, it seems like a video game made 'in a hurry' or without interest, in which the player does not have a common thread to stay active by destroying structures, and it is not explained from the outset what to do or how to take advantage of each roll.
The augmented reality formula is not for everyone
The enormous success of Pokémon GO is not only due to augmented reality, and video games like Angry Birds: Isle of Pigs they make it obvious. Because from the first moment, the gaming experience is not the same, and of course it does not manage to keep us trapped in the same way. And much less is it a crucial factor when, as has happened with Rovio and this video game, the advantages of this new form of game are not truly squeezed out.
Angry Birds: Isle of Pigs conveys the feeling that the very basics of Angry Birds have been taken into augmented reality, period. But the graphical elements that have made Angry Birds so appealing since its first version are missing. And a narrative that hooks is missing. Because, as it is proposed, the game becomes striking in a first contact, but boring and monotonous when we have only been playing for a few minutes.
On the other hand, the classic Angry Birds titles can be played anywhere and in any way. In this case, we need to be 'established' somewhere and have a fairly large space. Not even augmented reality technology has been used as it should be so that, for example, the elements can be scaled and we can play comfortably on small surfaces such as a table. However, it is worth trying it and giving it the opportunity to evolve in future updates of the video game. Especially since it is free, although with ads.