The Good
This is a completely different Angry Birds without physics-based puzzles and awesome designs for the birds themselves. No longer do you have to aim for pigs and hope that you can get them out of the way. Now you get to shoot at them with your trusty weapons as the Autobirds and Deceptipigs. Each one has a different weapon, and you'll have to put the separate weapons into use with each new level. And when you're not shooting at things, your characters can actually transform into vehicles.
If you get into a sticky situation, you can even call to another transforming bird for assistance, and the transformations themselves as well as their weaponry and attacks are cute and bring back powerful memories of the classic Transformers toys of old.
The Bad
Unfortunately, you spend a ton of time waiting on things to happen in the game, and you're at the mercy of the many timers that count down painfully slowly. You have to wait for new levels to be discovered. You've got to wait for upgrades to go on your characters, and failing all that, the missions themselves do tend to be on the repetitive side. While the run and gun levels are intriguing at first, they very quickly fizzle out if you play for a long stretch of time.
The Verdict
This is an interesting twist on the old Angry Birds formula with plenty to love about its new level design and idealistic new mechanics, but it does fall victim to some frustrating free-to-play trappings. Still, it's an exciting departure for the series and these familiar characters. It's absolutely worth your time, even under the frustrating veneer of free-to-play madness.
3.5
