Angry Birds Evolution, out today on iOS and Android, is a flick-and-spin style mobile game in which players collect and evolve characters like Dolores, the avian doctor with a penchant for vicious rectal exams.
Something is causing the pigs to flock to Bird Island in droves, and it’s up to the player to form teams of collectible characters and flick the pigs back to whatever bacon-scented hell they hail from.
Like most non-core Angry Birds games, Evolution is a licensed take on a different popular mobile genre. In this case, it’s those games where you launch characters Beyblade-style into an arena, bouncing off enemies to do damage.
Players collect and evolve bird characters as they play. Each falls into a color category—red, yellow, blue, black, white and such—and each category has its own special ability that activates during play. Black birds can become targeted bombs. White birds pass through enemies in a straight line, damaging all.
It’s a solid entry in the mobile sub-genre. The game plays well, and there’s plenty of strategy and angling involved in taking out the various pigs players are pitted against.
The action is fine, but the tone is a bit off. The Angry Birds franchise is popular with kids. Hell, we’re just coming off a major animated motion picture. The humor here is definitely adult-leaning. Look at Wade here.
Maybe it’s just me, and that bird is not talking about his penis. And hey, everybody gets rectal exams, right?
For the most part the new characters created for the game are culled from various pop culture sources, and they’re mostly harmless.
Adult humor aside, Angry Birds Evolution is a nifty little game so far, especially if you’re into slamming things against other things and collecting characters. Just known that you might have to explain some grown-up words to your kids should they get their hands on it.