Rocketbirds 2: The Evolution of a Hardboiled Chicken
Get ready for a cluckin' good time
Written by A.J. Maciejewski for Previews on
After almost five years, Rocketbirds is finally getting a sequel. I recently had the opportunity to play through the first three chapters as well as a cool new mode so let's see what the birdbrains at Ratloop have been up to.
A tale of avian proportions
At the end of Hardboiled Chicken's awesome first adventure, he killed the evil penguin dictator Putzki... or did he? Well, for some reason he's back and more sinister than ever. This time around, he's gone too far by setting up a factory to make meat out of chickens. However, I think I may know a dude who won't stand for this injustice so it's time for Hardboiled Chicken to gather an arsenal of guns and start ruffling some feathers. Thankfully, the gameplay is just as fine-tuned as ever. Running and gunning down enemy birds is a blast, especially with the rocking soundtrack by New World Revolution pumping through the speakers. Anyway, will Hardboiled Chicken finally put an end to Putzki's tyrannical reign once and for all? Only time will tell, so let's talk about some nifty gameplay mechanics in the meantime.
These birds have a few tricks up their wings
After completing the first three chapters, I must say that I'm impressed by the variety of gameplay scenarios. The first chapter allows you to call guards and pretend to be their boss. This lets you control them but if they see you then they won't hesitate to shoot. After using them to push a few buttons and open up the path ahead, you may as well put them out of their misery. At the beginning of the second chapter, you meet a little buddy who you can carry on your shoulders, use as a weight, and place in front of terminals to hack them. What's cool about this is that you eventually find the small fry's shotgun and he becomes a rather handy backpack. Another feature introduced in this chapter is a phone that can place guards under mind control. Now, you can use them to snuff out other guards and explode them once they've done their job. Chapter three begins in an underwater gunfight where you can swim in 360 degrees. This is one wild battle that turned the otherwise side-scrolling action seamlessly into a twin stick shooter. Overall, I can't wait to see what's ahead for good old Hardboiled Chicken but we're not done yet! It's time to discuss the extras.
Invite the whole flock over
Rocketbirds 2: Evolution boasts a feature known as "Rescue Mode" that allows you to fight alongside up to three local or online chums. This mode is surprisingly deep with its own story where Hardboiled Chicken is missing, missions that have you unlocking additional characters, and an expansive selection of shops that can make you a bird to be reckoned with. Although I've only played it a little bit with a friend, I can tell already that it's going to add hours of replay value to the already lengthy campaign.
See your feathered friends in 3D
Unfortunately, not many games take advantage of 3D TVs nowadays so it made me happy that I got to dust off my 3D glasses again. Like the original Rocketbirds, the environments here are multi-layered and quite deep so viewing it in 3D looks fantastic. Will they one day adapt this experience to VR? I don't know, but that's another can of worms altogether.
Rocketbirds 2 is shaping up to be a rather awesome adventure. If you're a fan of the original (like I am) then you'll be blown away by this sequel. Get your talons ready because Rocketbirds 2: Evolution is hitting PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita very soon!
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