Angry Birds Evolution in the app test

For a long time I enjoyed playing the games in the Angry Birds series. I liked the concept at the time and the seemingly infinite number of levels available. But at some point I wasn't the only one who found Angry Birds just boring. Angry Birds Evolution changed my mind again. My apptest.

That was what made the old Angry Birds parts stand out

Probably the greatest feature of all Angry Birds games ever was the 2D graphics of the levels. The story was pretty much the same every time, or very similar to another part: you always had to bring back the eggs stolen from the pigs with the birds. You shoot them with a slingshot against the enemy pigs, which can be behind obstacles. You have finished a level as soon as you have shot down all the pigs. I can also remember positively that there were really many levels to complete in each part. So the fun was maintained for a while.

The story in Angry Birds Evolution

In Angry Birds Evolution there is a real change in the story for the first time in my opinion. You start the game in the bird town on the bird island. From there you have to fight your way through the island via a path filled with food and defeat the pigs in it. In addition, you have the task of reuniting the so-called eagle troop.

The starting point of the game: the bird town (screenshot: © TechnikNews, 2018)

If you have brought back one of these eagles, you get a new place for another bird in your own fighting party against the pigs. All in all, the basic concept of Angry Birds Evolution grabs me more than the old parts did. In my opinion, this innovation was urgently needed.

The level selection

What I especially liked about Angry Birds was that there were really many levels that weren't always that easy to complete. As a result, the fun of the game lasted for a long time and didn't stop, as was the case with Monument Valley 2, already open after two hours. There are also quite a few levels in Angry Birds Evolution. I'm currently about halfway across the island and have had the game like this for about two to three weeks. In addition, the levels are not always that easy. There are always additional levels on the island that can be unlocked with the scout team, consisting of three scouts in total. If you have used all three scouts once you have to wait about 40 minutes before you can do it again.

You can find the levels on the bird island map (screenshot: © TechnikNews, 2018)

Graphics and level design

One of the greatest features of the old Angry Birds parts: the 2D graphics. Now Rovio has also parted ways with this one. The whole graphics have been switched to 3D. The whole thing starts at the starting point, the bird town. It then extends over the map of the bird island to the individual levels, about which I will say something in a moment. If you open the Vogelinsel, you will particularly notice that the developers put a lot of effort into the graphics. There are really a lot of small graphic details here.

The levels look different now. The pigs are hidden behind obstacles in the rectangular playing field. The birds wait on the lower side of the field to be used. A lot of graphic details were used around the playing field, but I was less impressed here than when I saw the bird island for the first time. All in all, from my point of view, the switch to 3D has been very successful.

Game mechanics

The developers have also completely revised the game mechanics. As you may all remember, in the old parts of Angry Birds you had to shoot the birds with a slingshot at the pigs and defeat them that way. You couldn't shoot the birds in any order, but had to fire them in the given order.

Because the levels were now kept in a 3D look, the game mechanics were also adapted accordingly. You have to shoot the birds into the field with one finger, which I liked very much. Now it is also possible to cheer on the birds in any order. However, one must note that not all birds are available at all times, because they have to recharge their energy again and again.

I really like the revised game mechanics (screenshot: © TechnikNews, 2018)

The individual birds

Usually it was always the case that you were told which birds you had to fight the hostile pigs with. That has now changed. Now you can put your fight team together yourself and improve the individual birds. The number of birds that can fight for you can be increased by bringing back the eagles of the eagle troop, as mentioned earlier. Each bird also has a certain superpower and a certain number of stars, depending on its color. This indicates how strong the bird in question is.

Now you can decide yourself which birds you want to fight with (screenshot: © TechnikNews, 2018)

Summary and Conclusion

Angry Birds Evolution has finally convinced me again after the years without Angry Birds. The whole thing starts with the new graphic. Rovio has finally moved away from 2D and switched to 3D. From my point of view, that worked out pretty well. From my point of view, all elements were implemented cleanly and with a lot of detail. I was also happy that there are so many levels again. I was also completely convinced by the new game mechanics. The idea with the slingshot in old parts of Angry Birds wasn't bad, but I currently like this a little more.

Unfortunately, the 3D graphics have a major disadvantage. The app is already over 400MB in size when you download it to Android and therefore crashed a few times on me. So I think the game won't really be playable on weaker devices. Appendix: I haven't had any crashes with my Moto G4 Plus since the Christmas update.

All in all, I can recommend Angry Birds Evolution, as it can bring a few hours of fun with the completely redesigned concept. It can also be downloaded for free from the AppStore and PlayStore.

Recommendations for you

• Apptest: what if?
• Monument Valley 2 in the Apptest
• Apptest: Mr Bean - Around the World
• TechnikNews Weekly # 049: New 4K monitor from LG, FaceTime bug, notebooks being tested and more