Angry Birds Meets Pocket Tanks in Panda vs. Pig
Panda vs. Pig ($0.99) by 3river3 Studios is a new version of the classic game Pocket Tanks. In this game, pandas and pigs take turns shooting arrows at each other to win. Pandas and pigs are not natural enemies; in fact they’d probably never meet in the wild. However in this game evil pigs have kidnapped baby panda, and the panda family is coming to the rescue. If this sounds oddly familiar you’re probably noticing the striking similarity to Angry Birds.
The object of the game is to kill the pigs with your archery skills. To aim your bow, touch the angle you want to shoot at. To adjust the shot’s power, drag your finger back. Aiming and firing is not easy, it takes practice to get the hang of it. Characters can also move, so accuracy is a constant challenge. As an added difficulty players only have ten seconds to shoot their arrow before they lose their turn.
There are several different modes of play. Custom mode allows players to select their own battle. They can choose battles with up to two pandas and four pigs. The second mode is the Challenge mode, similar to a story mode. Here, players complete battles and unlock the next rounds to progress on their way to save baby panda. Hunting is the last mode, here bubbles float around and panda has to shoot them down. The app does not support GameCenter or OpenFeint.
The games graphics are not very advanced. The backgrounds are nicely done but the actual panda and pig graphics are very crude. This takes away from the game’s overall appearance. The lack of polish is especially apparent when the characters move around the screen. The developers must have a sense of humor because they added (text) commentary to the game. When characters miss a shot they taunt each other. I found this quite amusing; my personal favorite response was, “How could you miss?”
Panda vs. Pig is amusing but doesn’t have anything new. The graphics aren’t quite up to par and the story line is unoriginal. The developers could have done much better.
