Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken Review

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Being a chicken is bad ass. Or at least it is if you’re a hardboiled one. Single handedly jet packing in to Albatropolis to take down the penguin commies is all in a days work for ‘the original cock of war’. Developer Ratloop Asia has cracked Hardboiled Chicken open from his debut flash-player adventure Rocketbirds: Revolution!, with 4 more story chapters, co-op play, 3D support (something I couldn’t test), anime cut-scenes, improved graphics and jetpacks, to the PS3 as an exclusive title for the PlayStation Network.

In single player, you control Hardboiled Chicken on his journey through Albatropolis to take down the whimpering Penguin leader. The gameplay is easy; analogue sticks to move, D-pad to change weapon, X to jump, and R1 or R2 to shoot.  It’s mind-numbingly simple and stays true to the side scroller shoot-em-up genre of old by getting players stuck in with the action from the get go; and the action doesn’t disappoint. Enemies don’t provide too much resistance on their own but the real fun comes from when they spam your screen and you face up against different varieties. You will die and should expect to have to restart a few times from nearby checkpoints over the 6-hour story but it’s usually easy to see what you did wrong and it’s rarely because of cheap enemy tactics. As you progress you pick up new weaponry to spill Penguin blood; submachine guns, shotguns and occasionally taking the jetpack for a flight. Although these new sections are a twist on the usual gameplay, they are a tad disappointing and prove less fun and precise as the rest of the game. There’s also the option to stealthily hide in the shadows where available and use a ‘brain bug’ device to control enemies, adding some very minor tactical thought into proceedings. Mostly though you just blaze your way through, and only stop to think when your path is blocked and requires some backtracking and pushing of a crate to collect a key card.

My favourite part of Rocketbirds: HC though has to be the newly implemented co-op mode. You and a local partner team up as two budgies to save the President’s Daughter (Resi 4 anyone?) and venture to Albatropolis to track her down. The story takes you through an edited version of the single player environments but adds a few twists as you have to work together by jumping on each others backs to reach higher levels and go solo to enable the path ahead to open up for both of you. Unfortunately, online co-op is a missed opportunity but there are so many online games out there that it’s nice to see face-to-face multiplayer being shown some love for once instead. If you’re looking for a game to play with a friend then this is guaranteed to give you an afternoon’s worth of entertainment, or even more if you play as budgies that are a harder difficulty.

The game’s presentation is another highlight. Everything from the anime cut scenes to the subtle camera pans across the environment make the bits in between gunning through penguins a commendable display. The soundtrack also needs to be mentioned. It takes a rock edge with band N.W.R. writing original music for both the cut scenes and in-game music. It is an appropriate backdrop that reinforces the ‘bad ass’ persona of the title character and serves to reinforce the admirable effort that has gone in to making this game a memorable one.

“He’s just one little chicken” claims the Schwarzenegger penguin at the beginning of the game – how wrong he is. With an entertaining single player, a much appreciated co-op mode, and fantastic presentation on offer Rocketbirds: HC is well worth the price tag. The gameplay doesn’t add anything innovative but it’s enjoyable, humorous and a ‘cracking’ downloadable title to have in your library.

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