DoctorFinger
10-28-2011, 01:37 PM
Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken Review
Title - Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken
Platform - Playstation Network
Developer - Ratloop Asia (http://www.ratloop.com/)
Publisher - SCEA (http://blog.us.playstation.com/)
ESRB Rating - M (Mature)
MSRP - $14.99 ($12.99 for PSN+ members)
Editor - Michael "DoctorFinger" Chauvet
What's Hot: Wonderful sense of humor and design. Great shooting and puzzle-platforming. Good variety of play for a side-scroller. Great soundtrack.
What's Not: Occasionally stiff controls. Little replayability. Gets a little repetitive.If you’re old enough to remember New Kids on the Block, the high top fade and Diffrent’ Strokes, then Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken will seem a bit familiar. It’s inspired by the sort of 2D side-scrolling shooters so common back then but more or less dead since. It also incorporates the Cold War themes and iconography that younger gamers won’t be too familiar with. It also features chickens and other fowl in the lead roles. And it’s awfully gory. But is it a good game?
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6103/6289758132_ba0bb0571f_z.jpg
The face of the dread Penguin Empire
In a word: yes. But please read the rest of the review to find out why. First and foremost, Rocketbirds is a lot of fun to play. Most stages see you moving around a series of mostly linear hallways dispatching enemies with extreme prejudice. You have to occasionally find colored keys to open doors, but most of the gameplay centers around shooting. And it’s fun; the weapons all seem fairly distinct but all pack some punch. After a while you also gain access to gadgets, like grenades or ‘Mindbugs’, which let you take control of enemies. These tend to be used in pretty specific circumstances, but they’re a nice change of pace.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6100/6289758218_c637ecefee_z.jpg
Apparently chickens gush blood like a freaking fire hose when killed.
Some stages change it up, with Hardboiled strapped into a rocket and battling other Rocketbirds in the skies around a zeppelin. The rocket stages aren’t quite as polished as the normal ones, but they’re still entertaining. There are a few sections where the controls seemed a little stiff, but these were few and far between. Oh, and there's co-op play, but only local co-op. So I was only able to play it for a short while because my real life friends don't like these sort of games. But the co-op experience is really little different than the solo game. If you could play online this could be a selling point, but limiting it to couch co-op means few gamers will ever take advantage of it.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6237/6289758280_dbb6929212_z.jpg
They're not just Penguins, they're clone Penguins
Visually, Rocketbirds has a style reminiscent of it’s Flash game beginnings. The characters move fluidly and are well defined against the backgrounds, but the field of view is kept small and you never have too many enemies on screen at once. There’s a nice soundtrack from the band New World Revolution which adds quite a lot to the otherwise silent interstitial cutscenes. These short cut scenes flesh out the story, which isn’t terribly unique, but it’s well told and sets the stage. If you're at all familiar with 80s action movies - particularly the works of Schwarzenegger and Stallone - you should get a kick out of the setting.
Score: (3.5 out of 5 Cogs)
http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/CoG3_5.png
Michael says, "Rocketbirds is a throwback to the side-scrolling shooters of the 80s and 90s, complete with a Cold War-esque conflict, albeit between factions of birds. The mix of gory violence and cartoony design give it a great look, and the gameplay it pretty good too. The name may make people think it’s an Angry Birds ripoff, but the two games really have nothing in common besides the titular poultry. It does get a bit repetitive, but once you've hit that point you're at the end of the game anyway."
Title - Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken
Platform - Playstation Network
Developer - Ratloop Asia (http://www.ratloop.com/)
Publisher - SCEA (http://blog.us.playstation.com/)
ESRB Rating - M (Mature)
MSRP - $14.99 ($12.99 for PSN+ members)
Editor - Michael "DoctorFinger" Chauvet
What's Hot: Wonderful sense of humor and design. Great shooting and puzzle-platforming. Good variety of play for a side-scroller. Great soundtrack.
What's Not: Occasionally stiff controls. Little replayability. Gets a little repetitive.If you’re old enough to remember New Kids on the Block, the high top fade and Diffrent’ Strokes, then Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken will seem a bit familiar. It’s inspired by the sort of 2D side-scrolling shooters so common back then but more or less dead since. It also incorporates the Cold War themes and iconography that younger gamers won’t be too familiar with. It also features chickens and other fowl in the lead roles. And it’s awfully gory. But is it a good game?
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6103/6289758132_ba0bb0571f_z.jpg
The face of the dread Penguin Empire
In a word: yes. But please read the rest of the review to find out why. First and foremost, Rocketbirds is a lot of fun to play. Most stages see you moving around a series of mostly linear hallways dispatching enemies with extreme prejudice. You have to occasionally find colored keys to open doors, but most of the gameplay centers around shooting. And it’s fun; the weapons all seem fairly distinct but all pack some punch. After a while you also gain access to gadgets, like grenades or ‘Mindbugs’, which let you take control of enemies. These tend to be used in pretty specific circumstances, but they’re a nice change of pace.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6100/6289758218_c637ecefee_z.jpg
Apparently chickens gush blood like a freaking fire hose when killed.
Some stages change it up, with Hardboiled strapped into a rocket and battling other Rocketbirds in the skies around a zeppelin. The rocket stages aren’t quite as polished as the normal ones, but they’re still entertaining. There are a few sections where the controls seemed a little stiff, but these were few and far between. Oh, and there's co-op play, but only local co-op. So I was only able to play it for a short while because my real life friends don't like these sort of games. But the co-op experience is really little different than the solo game. If you could play online this could be a selling point, but limiting it to couch co-op means few gamers will ever take advantage of it.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6237/6289758280_dbb6929212_z.jpg
They're not just Penguins, they're clone Penguins
Visually, Rocketbirds has a style reminiscent of it’s Flash game beginnings. The characters move fluidly and are well defined against the backgrounds, but the field of view is kept small and you never have too many enemies on screen at once. There’s a nice soundtrack from the band New World Revolution which adds quite a lot to the otherwise silent interstitial cutscenes. These short cut scenes flesh out the story, which isn’t terribly unique, but it’s well told and sets the stage. If you're at all familiar with 80s action movies - particularly the works of Schwarzenegger and Stallone - you should get a kick out of the setting.
Score: (3.5 out of 5 Cogs)
http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/CoG3_5.png
Michael says, "Rocketbirds is a throwback to the side-scrolling shooters of the 80s and 90s, complete with a Cold War-esque conflict, albeit between factions of birds. The mix of gory violence and cartoony design give it a great look, and the gameplay it pretty good too. The name may make people think it’s an Angry Birds ripoff, but the two games really have nothing in common besides the titular poultry. It does get a bit repetitive, but once you've hit that point you're at the end of the game anyway."