With the arrival of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 with Xbox Live back in October, there was a lot of excitement among mobile gamers and hopes were high from Windows Phone 7 as a regular smartphone operating system as well as a gaming platform. It hasn't quite lived up to the expectations yet, but high quality games have started rolling in. Not in huge numbers, but it's getting there.
Today, we are going to look at a new game, Chicks'n'Vixens which is basically an Angry Birds clone for Windows Phone 7. Back in October, Microsoft mistakenly put Birds in a promotional picture of Windows Phone 7 which got Rovio Mobile - the company behind Angry Birds - a little worked up. That was all sorted out later on and Rovio Mobile confirmed that Windows Phone 7 will eventually see Angry Birds. Well, that's a story for anther day. Let's get to the review.
As we mentioned earlier, Chick'n'Vixens is an Angry Birds clone or as Android and iPhone users put it, "A rip-off". We tried out the trial version of the game which was enough to get a basic idea of what the game is all about.
When you tap the game icon in the Xbox Live application, you are presented with a pretty simple and straightforward main menu with two options i.e. Play and Buy. On tapping the Play button, you get 5 levels to chose from which further include 5 sub-levels. So, you get to play 25 levels in the trial version of game which we believe, is very generous on the developer's part. The 5 available levels include: Uluru, Paris, Polar, Bavaria, and Vesuvius. Not to say that other levels were ugly, but we found the Polar level to be the most visually impressive one with the ice, rainbow and an aeroplane flying in the background. Graphically, this game isn't quite at par with Angry Birds but it still looks good enough to induce one to go through all the 25 levels in the trial. The textures are also decently done but nothing jaw-dropping. The overall performance of the game is pretty good and we faced no slowdowns on our HTC 7 Mozart. Now that we are done with the graphical aspect of the game, let's get to the story and gameplay.
As much as we wanted to, we haven't really been able to figure out why the chickens are after the vixens. There wasn't any cutscene or proper explanation to the story. We are going to assume that the vixens probably slept with their hens. Now that was that.
As for gameplay, it's almost identical to what Angry Birds offers but there are certain nuances that we noticed. Like for an instance, you don't have a pointer or an arrow to help you with aiming in Angry Birds but there is a white arrow that helps you to aim better at the vixens in this game. The other difference, which is not quite as much as gameplay difference as a visual one, is that instead of a catapult, chickens use a cannon to shoot themselves though vixens' defenses. The gameplay is pretty simple. You tap on the cannon, pull it back, aim, and launch it. How you perform depends upon your gaming skills. There are four classes of chickens in the game, as follows:
1. The yellow one which is like the red bird in Angry Birds. No special power, but good enough to knock stuff down.
2 The red raptor hen which speeds through to the vixens with brute force on tapping the screen.
3. The red tied-up chicken which, on tapping, unties itself and explodes towards the vixens.
4. The last one is the white hen which drops an egg and goes up into the air.
Those who have played Angry Birds would be familiar with all those birds and their respective powers/functions.
The physics are decent but not as accurate as Angry Birds. Also, the camera has a mind of its own and camera angles go bananas once you shoot a chicken into the air. That being said, we should not forget that famous phrase, "Beggars can't be choosers". Not at least until Angry Birds comes out.
Chicks'n'Vixens is more of a standby game till Angry Birds comes out than a full-fledged title. Overall, we were averagely impressed with game. The music is catchy but nothing as enjoyable as Angry Birds, visuals are eye-pleasing, and the gameplay is good enough to keep you busy when you're waiting at the bus stop, for a class to start or just lying in the bed with your phone. We would rate Chicks'n'Vixens 3/5. That's because of the awkward camera angles, shabby physics and the fact that it's nothing but a clone of another popular game. It's good for a trial with 25 levels but not worth spending a dollar on. That was our review of the game and the fact that we are huge Angry Birds fans might have affected our overall opinion of the game. You, on the other hand, might like it enough to buy it. You can buy this game from the Marketplace for $0.99.
Zune download link.
Ah, just one more thing. Do let us know if and when you figure out why the chickens are after those poor vixens.
Today, we are going to look at a new game, Chicks'n'Vixens which is basically an Angry Birds clone for Windows Phone 7. Back in October, Microsoft mistakenly put Birds in a promotional picture of Windows Phone 7 which got Rovio Mobile - the company behind Angry Birds - a little worked up. That was all sorted out later on and Rovio Mobile confirmed that Windows Phone 7 will eventually see Angry Birds. Well, that's a story for anther day. Let's get to the review.
As we mentioned earlier, Chick'n'Vixens is an Angry Birds clone or as Android and iPhone users put it, "A rip-off". We tried out the trial version of the game which was enough to get a basic idea of what the game is all about.
When you tap the game icon in the Xbox Live application, you are presented with a pretty simple and straightforward main menu with two options i.e. Play and Buy. On tapping the Play button, you get 5 levels to chose from which further include 5 sub-levels. So, you get to play 25 levels in the trial version of game which we believe, is very generous on the developer's part. The 5 available levels include: Uluru, Paris, Polar, Bavaria, and Vesuvius. Not to say that other levels were ugly, but we found the Polar level to be the most visually impressive one with the ice, rainbow and an aeroplane flying in the background. Graphically, this game isn't quite at par with Angry Birds but it still looks good enough to induce one to go through all the 25 levels in the trial. The textures are also decently done but nothing jaw-dropping. The overall performance of the game is pretty good and we faced no slowdowns on our HTC 7 Mozart. Now that we are done with the graphical aspect of the game, let's get to the story and gameplay.
As much as we wanted to, we haven't really been able to figure out why the chickens are after the vixens. There wasn't any cutscene or proper explanation to the story. We are going to assume that the vixens probably slept with their hens. Now that was that.
As for gameplay, it's almost identical to what Angry Birds offers but there are certain nuances that we noticed. Like for an instance, you don't have a pointer or an arrow to help you with aiming in Angry Birds but there is a white arrow that helps you to aim better at the vixens in this game. The other difference, which is not quite as much as gameplay difference as a visual one, is that instead of a catapult, chickens use a cannon to shoot themselves though vixens' defenses. The gameplay is pretty simple. You tap on the cannon, pull it back, aim, and launch it. How you perform depends upon your gaming skills. There are four classes of chickens in the game, as follows:
1. The yellow one which is like the red bird in Angry Birds. No special power, but good enough to knock stuff down.
2 The red raptor hen which speeds through to the vixens with brute force on tapping the screen.
3. The red tied-up chicken which, on tapping, unties itself and explodes towards the vixens.
4. The last one is the white hen which drops an egg and goes up into the air.
Those who have played Angry Birds would be familiar with all those birds and their respective powers/functions.
The physics are decent but not as accurate as Angry Birds. Also, the camera has a mind of its own and camera angles go bananas once you shoot a chicken into the air. That being said, we should not forget that famous phrase, "Beggars can't be choosers". Not at least until Angry Birds comes out.
Chicks'n'Vixens is more of a standby game till Angry Birds comes out than a full-fledged title. Overall, we were averagely impressed with game. The music is catchy but nothing as enjoyable as Angry Birds, visuals are eye-pleasing, and the gameplay is good enough to keep you busy when you're waiting at the bus stop, for a class to start or just lying in the bed with your phone. We would rate Chicks'n'Vixens 3/5. That's because of the awkward camera angles, shabby physics and the fact that it's nothing but a clone of another popular game. It's good for a trial with 25 levels but not worth spending a dollar on. That was our review of the game and the fact that we are huge Angry Birds fans might have affected our overall opinion of the game. You, on the other hand, might like it enough to buy it. You can buy this game from the Marketplace for $0.99.
Zune download link.
Ah, just one more thing. Do let us know if and when you figure out why the chickens are after those poor vixens.
