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So you’ve heard people talk about this “Angry Birds” thing, but haven’t the faintest idea what they’re on about? Either you’ve been living under a rock for the last couple of years, or you simply don’t own a touch screen device. Never fear, Angry Birds is available on PC as a standalone, not browser-bound title, making it more accessible to the masses than ever before.

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The story goes that some nasty green piggies have stolen some bird eggs. Little did they know just how ANGRY those birds would be! The game revolves around slingshotting various birds at said pigs. These pigs are of course protected by their environment, made up of blocks of wood, stone, glass and more. Your job is to aim the birds so that they do the maximum amount of damage to the pigs’ “house” and destroy all the pigs on the level.

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Seasons is a variation of Angry Birds where the theme of the levels revolves around seasonal events like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, St Patrick’s Day, Halloween and so on. This makes for some nice variety. Expect pumpkins in the gloomy Halloween levels, and presents in the snowy Christmas levels. Angry Birds also comes in ‘normal’ and Rio flavours, though I expect to see others in the future.

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It’s a bit hard to understand just how addictive slinging birds at pigs can be until you’ve tried it. Those smug green pigs are just asking to be blown up. You’re given the tools to do this in the form of a number of different birds, from the classic red Angry Bird with no special abilities, to the tiny blue bird that splits into three, to the yellow kamikaze bird and many, many more. Each time a new bird type appears, you’ll get a picture showing you how to use the bird’s abilities.

The level design is really ingenious, meaning you really have to think hard (or just try over and over again) just to destroy all the piggies, let alone getting a top score! I think the levels in Seasons are quite a bit harder than classic Angry Birds, but that may be because I’m just not very good at the game. Still, this makes every victory that much sweeter.

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Having tried this on both an iPhone and an Android phone, I found the transition from touch screen to mouse a bit tricky, but that feeling was short-lived. In fact, the larger screen area and the control afforded by the mouse works rather well. It only took a few levels before I was sold on the PC version.

Scoring:

Gameplay: 9/10

Using the mouse may take a bit of getting used to, but it’s great for first-time users. Shooting birds at pigs is still a winning formula.

Design and Presentation: 8/10

The cute cartoony graphics are as adorable as ever, and the catchy music and angry sounds of the birds (plus the chortling of the pigs) will be familiar if you’ve played the game before. I do recommend turning off the music if you’re, er, “testing” this game at work. The visuals also scale well to bigger screens, though windowed mode seems to want to cut off a bit of the interface.

Value: 9/10

The box of this game boasts over 200 levels, and it’s not an exaggeration. Each ‘season’ literally has dozens of levels just waiting to be unlocked. As an added bonus, some of the Christmas levels can be accessed without beating the previous level, perfect if you’ve been struggling with a particular puzzle.

Overall: 8.5/10

Whether you’re new to Angry Birds or you’ve enjoyed the game on other platforms, Angry Birds Seasons for PC is worth a look.

Last Updated: March 9, 2012

Angry Birds Seasons (PC)
8.5

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