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Angry Birds Go! review, or how annoying in-app purchases can actually be

By Nick Todorov

Updated: Dec 23, 2013, 3:38 AM

6comments

Angry Birds Go! review, or how annoying in-app purchases can actually be

Developer: Rovio	Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry 10
Genre: Casual Kart Racing	Price: Free (with in-app purchases)

Last Wednesday, Rovio launched its newest game featuring everyone's favorite wingless avians. It is called Angry Birds Go! and it is unlike anything we've seen from the Finnish developer so far. Like it or not, this time there's no flinging anything at a barricaded mob of grinning piggies. Rovio is presenting us with a cute and colorful kart racing game instead, presumably in effort to spice up its massively popular franchise. Curious to know what Rovio has put together this time, we downloaded the game right after it was made available. Here's what we have to say about it.

The good ol' slingshot is back

This is a game that you get the hang of as soon as you pick it up. Thanks to the convenient and forgiving touch or tilt controls, the karts in Angry Birds Go! are super easy to keep on the road. So where's the challenge then? Well, you do get rivals to race against, and the further you progress, the more aggressive they become. Actually, at first we were underwhelmed by the game's low difficulty, but pretty soon, arriving first at the finish line got much harder. That is why it is important to use your special abilities at the right time and to take advantage of the boosters scattered across the track.

There's plenty of variety in Angry Birds Go!, even though we do have a few remarks. First and foremost, there are different cars and driver birds to pick from. Cars can be upgraded to be faster or more stable on the road and each bird has a unique special skill to unleash upon their opponents. Multiple race modes, various challenges, and most importantly, new driver birds become available as you progress, so the game does not get too monotone too quickly. Tracks, however, are repetitive and much shorter than we wish they were. Seriously, a race lasts for roughly a minute, which isn't what we'd call fun.

Angry Birds Go! generates revenue with in-app purchases and ads

But that's not the only thing we're annoyed by. You see, driver birds get tired as you play. Once their stamina is depleted, you either have to wait for your birds to rest, or use 10 gems to recover their stamina. Sure, gems are collected during races, but they are really, really scarce. Unsurprisingly, the game reminds you every once in a while that you can buy extra gems for a few dollars so that you can keep on racing. By the way, there's an extra powerful kart available as an in-app purchase as well, priced at "only" $61.99.

Angry Birds Go! is a nice and relatively simple racing game that you can easily kill a few minutes with. Its easy-to-learn controls, short tracks, and moderate difficulty make it highly suitable for casual gamers and kids of all ages. However, we think that the guys at Rovio have gone a bit too far with the in-app purchases. We're fine with having the option to buy extra in-game currency, but we don't like having to buy it in order to keep on playing. Still, if you can live with the lengthy waiting times, then Angry Birds Go! is a game you might want to check out.