Review: Angry Birds Transformers - Fun, but Expensive

Angry Birds Transformers  [Android, iOS] Freemium

This year, we have seen some pretty good Angry Birds deviations like Angry Birds GO, Angry Birds Epic, Angry Birds Stella and now Angry Birds Transformers. Let me make my point right from the start - Transformers is a great, fun game you will be enjoying while it lets you. At some point, you will face the paywall, and either agree to wait for things to happen, or pay. That said, the freemium model obviously brings a lot more profit than premium, and we can't blame it on Rovio for wanting to monetize its games. However, we also need to understand that the major audience of these games consists of children and kids, and here I see the game abusing the youngest and the most prone to addiction of its audience.

This Chuck Bumblebee here takes 1 hr 45 mins to upgrade

Story 

As many of you, I was a fan of the original Transformers animated series, and everything Michael Bay did to it left deep scars in my bleeding heart. I hope Bay gets locked in a vault with his versions of Transformers playing on huge wall monitors all over him for the rest of his life. 

When I heard Rovio was making its version of Transformers based on the Angry Birds franchise, my heart skipped a beat. I was sure I'd hate it. However, three weeks into its Android release, I am playing it with my four nephews nearly every day, and it is surprisingly fun. Though, the time we play gets shorter every day as the fun wears off and IAPs get in the way. 

The game attempts to take after the original Transformers rather than Bay's aliens, and limbless poultry look surprisingly well in the Autobot outfits. It's Autobirds versus Deceptihogs, actually, but for some reason there are pigs fighting on your side. 

Gameplay 

One by one, you will be unlocking, or unfreezing the Autobirds. Each costs 500 Pigs, and you earn a little bit of Pigs each time you complete a mission. After a while, the cost increases to 600. Notably, you get 30-60 pigs beating a level. 

Each unlocked bird, or pig, has several difficulty stages for each level. The gameplay goes like this - you fly a fancy rocket and land on a beach. Your main character, the one you chose for the level, runs automatically along the beach shooting down the pigs, which come in a great variety - on wooden and ice blocks, in choppers and fortresses, as well as swimming in baby floaters. 

Aiming is not my favorite part here. It is surprisingly easy to miss, and the time needed for a recharge is sometimes ridiculous. At some point, you can transform into a vehicle and rush past the falling totem statues.

Upgrades

You can upgrade only one bird at a time and it is plain aggravating, especially since in no time, upgrading a single character starts taking 40+ minutes, and the further you advance, the lengthier it takes. You can not have several characters upgraded simultaneously. The birds get more power, and faster recharge times, but at some point, the waiting kills the fun. 

Power-ups 

You can switch characters if you wish, but that will cost you 100 coins. You can watch a video ad and get a boost for the particular level. You can also watch an ad after you have dealt with the mission to double your reward - coins and pigs. 

At some point, you will be able to invite a buddy bird, or pig, to help you out when things get hot. Each character has special abilities, which also take time to recharge after they've been deployed. 

IAPs 

You can play for free until a certain point when upgrades become ridiculously lengthy. This is where you decide to come back later, or pay with real money. The game, as in any other freemium model, has several currencies to confuse the naïve - pigs, coins and diamonds. The latter are the most difficult to come by, and if you can grind for pigs and coins, you are unlikely to loot much diamonds, which are of course necessary for some crucial moments of your progress. 

Diamonds start at $4.99, and they come handy to speed up the upgrades. 

Parents, a note for you - AB Transformers aggressively pushes TelePods - the physical plastic toys you buy in toy stores, and they  come at around $30 a set (there are many sets, mind you). Depending on how hysterical your kids get about those, you might be looking at either a massive psy-detox with a few days clear of all mobile games, or yet another purchase of tiny specs of colorful plastic that will end up with empty eye sockets in an hour, or so. 

TelePods unlock new characters and some other nifty goodies in the game, like exclusive levels, but after the addiction cloud dissolves, all there is left is a rhetoric question 'Why on Earth did I buy that?' 

Pros 

• Fun gameplay running, rolling and transforming, blasting piggies and flying that purple rocket 
• Upgrades have fun effects, animations and sounds 
• Neat soundtrack 
• Colorful design that follows the original Transformers animated series 
• I appreciate the sense of humor in many scenes and details 

Cons 

• Upgrade times get ridiculously lengthy. In other words, pay, will you? Or, go chill some place else, and come back in like.. 8 hours. 
• The beach levels seem to go on forever, and that is boring 
• Not only upgrades are lengthy, but playing the same levels to grind can't be done several times in a row, either 
• New characters cost a lot, but rewards you get in their levels are so laughable you are basically stuck on the beach for ages 
• Of course, Internet connection is a must 
• Younger players get easily bored by the waiting times, and forget about the game altogether, even when the coins are plenty 

Conclusion 

Angry Birds Transformers is a very cool game for kids by age and at heart - cute, fast-paced, with plenty of awesome animations, sounds and effects. Without a doubt, you will have your share of fun with it until you face a pay/ or waiting wall. The worst part is you can't just pay once and play all you want - nope, Rovio wants you to ride a bike instead of driving a car just so you could play their games. Considering how kids who don't read tap on every bright button, your gems and pigs and coins end pretty fast, and you are left with IAPs face to face. Or, come back later. On this gruesome background, Rovio's 'generosity' in giving you some ephemeral boosts for watching video ads (that play way too often even without boosts) look meek. 

As usual, Rovio makes an addicting game, but only teases you with a sneak peek at it - money first, fun last.