Rocketbirds 2: Evolution
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Rocketbirds 2: Evolution Media
Critic Reviews for Rocketbirds 2: Evolution
All told, there's a decent game in here somewhere, but it's bogged down by annoying difficulty spikes and movement and aiming controls that never feel quite right. Even without those issues, Rocketbirds 2 does little if anything we haven't seen before. Its premise and world can only take it so far.
While Evolution is largely based on the original, can be a bit repetitive with puzzles that aren’t all that compelling, and has run-and-gun gameplay that might be a bit too basic, it is still highly entertaining. I recommend this to gamers who enjoy a tongue-in-cheek, cinematic platformer that oozes bloody cartoon carnage by the bucket load.
Rocketbirds 2 is a game strictly for fans of the series. With imprecise controls yet precise aiming requirements, you can expect to curse your way through most of the game’s boss fights (especially those that take place in the air, or under the water, or in space, or, well, anywhere the camera changes perspective). The main campaign is also perhaps less than half the length of the original game, but this time around the co-op fun to be had in the new Rescue mode almost completely makes up for this shortcoming. An excellently fitting soundtrack by New World Revolutions rounds out the package. Some weapon balancing issues mean that you’ll wind up using a small portion of the available arsenal, and the story is all over the place. However, for those looking for a cheap co-op action platformer, this is one to check out.
Rocketbirds 2: Evolution was a fantastic surprise for me. Having never touched the first game (even though I owned it through PS+), I had no idea what to expect. In the end what I got was a mostly solid single player campaign, with a co-op mode that could have me coming back for ages.
In the end, Rocketbirds 2: Evolution is just not much fun. It's a relatively lengthy but disappointing experience with little replay value. The controls are blunt and clumsy, the humour is often witless, and the puzzles are at times so basic that there's not a lot of satisfaction in solving them. While there is a lot of potential on the surface, Ratloop may have wanted to sit on this egg a bit longer before it hatched.
Those who had fun with Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken will find everything that featured that joyful experience, with its quite rough irony that was yet able to bring a smile. The others might have to take Rocketbirds 2: Evolution in a more cautious way, because of its weak control system and lack of content.
Review in Italian | Read full review
While it stumbles in a few areas, Rocketbirds 2: Evolution is still a mostly enjoyable shooter. The levels are large and filled with discoveries, but since there are only 6 of them, it's a pretty short experience. The co-op multiplayer also falls flat, so there's little in terms of replay value here.
Although Rocketbirds 2: Evolution feels different than the previous game, I enjoyed the majority of the changes to the game. With Hardboiled Chicken being a throwback to classic platforming adventure games, Evolution feels like a modern take on the series. While I thought the cel shading in the previous games was visually better, Rocketbirds 2 still has a very clean visual aesthetic. The puzzles can feel repetitive at times, but I thought the run-and-gun style of gameplay works for this room based still of platforming.
