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Rovio has been an interesting company to watch. In the space of a few years it has gone from
being an unassuming Finnish studio on the edge of bankruptcy to the custodians of one
of gaming's most famous franchises.
Now the world is watching with bated breath to see exactly how Rovio plans to follow up
its billion-download hit.
Bad Piggies is the latest, tentative, rather reserved step towards a true follow-up. It's
yet another physics-puzzler, still set in the world of Angry Birds, but with the pigs
as heroes rather than villains.
It's certainly something new. In each level you're given a toolbox of building blocks
- like crates, wheels, desk fans, helium-filled balloons, and motors - and you've got to assemble
a vehicle that will ferry your pig to the finish line.
You hit 'play' and gravity takes over. Wheels roll, balloons lift off the ground, and unbalanced
vehicular monstrosities fall flat on their faces. Depending on the tools available, you'll
also be given any number of buttons so you can turn on fans or detonate boxes of TNT
at will.
It doesn't quite have the simple, kinetic thrill of Angry Birds, but there's something
quite attractive about seeing your home-made creation trundle down a hill - especially
when it's some wobbling great jalopy with a wheel on its roof and a spring on its bumper.
And especially when it cartwheels into a spectacular crash and ejects your pig passenger through
the windscreen.
It's playful and creative, even inside the quite restrictive boundaries of each level.
You get to try out ridiculous ideas, and flash an ear-to-ear grin when your madcap plans
actually work. Bad Piggies is a bit like the best physics lesson you had school, but on
every day of the year and with no theory in between.
It's also more predictable, and far less finicky, than Rovio's previous puzzlers. In Bad Piggies
you have to place your tools within a strict grid - which is in stark contrast to Amazing
Alex, where you could shift toys by tiny amounts, for dramatically different results.
There's a lot of content on offer, with about 100 levels available from launch. But that's
not the end of it. Each stage has three goals which all require very different vehicles
and strategies. You might want to build a land speeder that's tuned for the timed goal,
or a dependable buggy to get over the line without breaking into bits.
There are goals for collecting crates, and ones for making a vehicle that doesn't use
the most obvious tool in your collection. This system gives you good reason to replay
certain stages, and forces you to try new tactics.
It's just a shame there are no real social features, aside from Game Center achievements.
It would be brilliant to show off a particularly insane contraption to a friend, but short
of physically lugging your iPad to his house it's not possible.
Now, Bad Piggies is certainly good fun. It's better than Angry Birds, far better than Amazing
Alex, and of the same quality - in imagination, personality, and smarts - as the wonderful
Angry Birds Space. It's possibly the best game that Rovio's done yet - but the formula
is starting to feel a tad stale.
With so many physics-puzzlers on the App Store, with quirky cartoon graphics and three-star
scoring systems, maybe it's time for Rovio to try something new.