Flying Hatred

Angry Birds, quite possibly the most profitable and popular game on any smartphone app store ever (and spawned two spinoffs), recently got a sequel that sent our mad feathered friends into space.

Love it or hate it, Angry Birds has become a household name in the world of gaming. More often than not the average person you walk up to on the street has a smart phone, and you could probably put money on them having some kind of Angry Birds game downloaded. The cartoony style, the simple gameplay, and the level design are all fun to experience, yet it receives so much hatred for what it is. Personally, I don't think it deserves it.

Many people hate on this game for several reasons: It's "too easy", it "copied off of many other games" (the most commonly cited game is 'Crush the Castle'), and it's only for "casual gamers". Again, I disagree, and I think all of those points are as wrong as the green pigs are for stealing eggs.

First of all, yes, some of the levels are easier than others, but the game is meant to be accessible to a wide audience while being challenging for those who wish to master the game. The 3-star rating you get after completing a level is determined by the amount of points you have, so theoretically you could kill all the pigs with one bird and get only one star, requiring you to rethink your strategy and destroy some debris for extra points. Aside from that, later levels sometimes require pinpoint precision on your bird flinging in order to pick up the one single pig that eludes you every attempt, and don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about, because you've totally been there before as we all have. This also explains that it isn't only for "casual gamers", but for all gamers. You play it however you want, whether it be a little at a time or staying up all night and 100%-ing the game in one night.

Secondly, while it is true that the concept of "fling object at physics-based structure" isn't exactly a new video game, the context and style of the game is what determines how fun a game is. Angry Birds might be the same kind of game as Crush the Castle, but they are completely different when it comes to the actual content of the game. For example, Castle allows you to switch between what projectile you fire at will, while Birds gives you a set amount and types of ammo to work with and you just have to work with what you have or fail trying. Saying that Birds copied Castle is like saying James Cameron's Avatar copied off of Ferngully or Pocahontas where the settings, characters, context, and dialogue are completely different. If you want a more relevant comparison, it's like saying the entire Call of Duty franchise copied off of the Doom franchise from the 90's.

There's nothing wrong with reinventing the wheel or going with what works well. Obviously there are certain barriers and measures put in place like copyright laws and whatnot to stop blatant infringement, but that's not the point. Many forms of media have inspirational points or concepts that are the same or similar to others, and not only should that make the new work that much better, it should make those older points and concepts shine even more, because they are the backbone of what makes the new work amazing.

Any haters can take it up with the red bird pictured above. He'll happily fling himself at your house and crash it into bits.