All iconic characters seem to eventually make their way into some kind of Mario Kart rip-off and that is just what has happened with Angry Birds. Angry Birds Go! is free-to-play or so it says, but players soon find they are asked to dish out real money, in order to unlock anything cool within the game including new carts. Gamers looking for a well-developed kart game that is not only addicting like the other Angry Birds titles will want to entirely skip Angry Birds Go!.
While Angry Birds Go! contains colorful visuals and overall is very aesthetically appealing especially for a free game. However, Angry Birds Go! suffers mostly from short and unchallenging gameplay alongside the continuous push of paid content onto its players. The old saying says that you get what you paid for and that definitely applies to Angry Birds Go!. The game employs some of the same mechanics that are used on the Wii version of Mario Kart where players can tilt their mobile device to steer their cart while destroying as many pieces of fruit in obstacle-style races. However, the race tracks are extremely short with one lap downhill that focuses more on accumulating high amounts of speed one-way than actual cart racing.
Angry Birds Go! is nothing special and is basically just another average iOS title. Angry Birds Go! has some of the right ingredients to make it a fun title which includes simple gameplay mechanics, fun characters and a colorful presentation that has been completely ruined by the annoying adverts and non-stop need to invest your hard earned money to unlock most everything in the game. The overall experience in Angry Birds Go! is more of an annoyance than an enjoyable experience since the structure of the game is centered around earning cash to unlock new carts to enjoy further races. Players will need to play through some of the same races time and time again to earn cash in order to unlock what they need to get access to newer content. On top of this, Angry Birds Go! utilizes an energy system which main purpose is to limit how much you can play in one sit through in order to push you to purchase more energy with real cash. Your characters are given five units of energy which eventually runs out and when it does it will take ten minutes to recharge. The annoyance slacks up some as you unlock more characters, but it is a painstakingly slow process which most people just don't have the time for. Add this to the fact that all cars have to be bought through in-app purchases with some of the best ones going as high as $50! Yeah, it sure isn't cheap to enjoy Angry Birds Go! but the experience is indeed cheapened by every out of place ad in the game offering extra boosts and fixes.
CLOSING COMMENTS
There are plenty of free-to-play games that contain in-app purchases that aren't as annoying as Angry Birds Go!. The main problem with Angry Birds Go! is that it has most of the content for a enjoyable mobile experience but has chosen to go the route of being insanely greedy and sticking its hands in your pocket every chance it gets. Rovio has always been extremely giving in the content department for its games with many still getting free updates to this day which makes the Angry Birds Go! experience even more mind baffling. In the end, Angry Birds Go! is a game that is no fun and will keep you continuously waiting to play while having its hand out for more dough. The game may only be worth trying out if you are just a complete diehard fan of Angry Birds or have a small child that you want to keep entertained for five minutes while you are shopping.
Angry Birds Go! is now available for Android and iOS devices for free with in-app purchases. Angry Birds Go! is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB. For more information on the game, check out the official Angry Birds Go!.
Game Features:
- Single Player
- Unlockable Content
- In-app purchases
Game Information:
Developer & Publisher: Rovio Entertainment
Available for Android & iPhone (reviewed)
Release Date: December 11, 2013
- Beautiful visuals and fun characters
- Simple gameplay mechanics
- Pushy paid content
- Annoying adverts throughout gameplay
- Long wait times to play