Portabliss: Pigs in Trees (iOS)
Did you know that you can download handheld games now? That's amazingly convenient! The only inconvenient part of it is finding the right games to buy -- and that's where we come in, with our Portabliss column. In each installment, we'll tell you about a downloadable game on the iPhone, iPad, Android device, DSi, 3DS, PSP, etc. Today: Pigs in Trees.
If I were to tell you that the game I was playing involved birds, and also pigs, and also the birds and pigs were embroiled in some kind of ceaseless melee, but that the game I was playing was not that one super-popular game, you'd probably assume I was playing some clone of that super-popular game that had been placed on the App Store as a trap for dumb people. I know this, because I am telling you that, and you are totally assuming that.
Pan Vision and Tactile Entertainment's Pigs in Trees is anything but dumb, however -- though it is something of a trap. The first few, brief and uninspiring levels left me believing that I'd be able to put the game down after just a few minutes with it. After a few hours of blasting birds out of the sky with my biplane-piloting swine, I realized that I was just about as wrong as I've ever been.
To fly said aircraft, players have to draw a flightpath for the pig to follow, typically terminating upon an approaching bird. Targeting a bird in this manner sets the plane's guns a-blazing, catching any other birds which happen to get in the way of said path in a hail of gunfire. Knocking out multiple birds in one path is the key to getting combos and, naturally, the maximum number of medals on each level.
Complicating this formula is a cornucopia of different types of winged aggressors, from the simple one-shot variety, to bombers who leave deadly presents all across the playing field, to blimps that leave trails of toxic smog in their wake. Larger (and more hazardous enemies) usually net you more points, making the best (and, more often than not, most risky) strategy to rack up as many underlings as you can before ending a combo on a big baddie.
This tricky maneuvering is made easier by the power-ups which are frequently tossed onto the field by the pig-filled treehouse you're attempting to defend. There's spread-shot upgrades, speed boosts, health refills and mines -- all of which can either be used to take down your opponents, or exchanged for points at the end of each round.
It takes some time for these constituent elements to kick in, but once they do, they just don't stop kicking. It's the best kind of blend of dexterity, strategy and speed -- a satisfying blend that left me retrying levels ad infinitum, searching for the best bird-obliterating flightpaths possible.
And, admittedly, after months and months of botched Tiny Wings jumps and unsuccessful Angry Birds salvos, it was refreshing to take out some of my avian aggression.
Pigs in Trees is available from the iOS App Store for $0.99. We're always looking for new distractions. Want to submit your game for Portabliss consideration? You can reach us at portabliss aat joystiq dawt com.
