Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken
Reviewed on: PS3

 

Developer:
Ratloop Asia

 

Publisher:
Ratloop Asia

 

Release Date:
Available Now

 

Genre:
Platformer

 

Available On:
PS3

 

Official Website

 

 

Score: 4 / 5

Have you got a man-sized Rambo chicken inside you just waiting to bust out? Well now is your chance! Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken puts you in the shoes of a chicken of just that description named Hardboiled Chicken of course, and you must bring down the evil penguin overlord Putzki and free Albatropolis. You know what they say: keep your friends close, and penguins closer.

Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken is a 2D side-scrolling platformer made by Ratloop Asia, which is based on their award-winning flash game Rocketbirds: Revolution. The art style of the entire game is great to look at, and the small cutscenes strewn throughout the game do a great job of telling the story of how Hardboiled Chicken turns a new leaf after years of being a super soldier for Putzki’s regime. The most impressive element in my mind is the soundtrack which is skilfully used through the game to really draw you in. All the music is by the band New World Revolution and it fits perfectly with the art style of the game to make a great package.

The controls are very basic, so they are pretty easy to pick up although they can be a little bit fiddly when you need to do precise movements and there are one or two annoying things such as the fact that you can’t shoot and jump at the same time. The puzzles can seem tedious at times and slow down the overall pace of the game, and they aren’t particularly challenging. These few issues don’t take away too much from the game though, because it’s still a lot of fun.

There are 15 single player missions and 10 co-op missions, and in some sections of the game you use a jetpack which changes up the gameplay completely to keep it from getting repetitive. The multitude of weapons and abilities (including mind controlling ‘brain bugs’) as well as the number of different enemies you run into also help to keep things interesting.

The number of levels and co-op capabilities mean that this game will easily give you enough value to make it worth the price tag, and I would recommend it simply because of the cut scenes and soundtrack. They really drew me into the game and made it stand out from other platformers in my mind.