Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs is Angry Birds in VR and not much else Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs is Angry Birds in VR and not much else VR of the pig. Video by Ian Higton Video Producer Updated on 8 Aug 2019 13 comments Crikey, the Angry Birds franchise is going to be 10 years old this year! How time flies and other assorted bird puns... In the past, the Angry Birds have spread their wings and hung out in the Star Wars Universe, they've starred in their very own Hollywood movie and they've even opened a theme park or two. That's why it's rather surprising that, aside from some fan made mods and prototypes, Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs is the first time the burbs have officially made the jump to VR. So far the game is only available on Vive and Oculus and you can watch me play through a selection of levels from the first two worlds in this week's Ian's VR Corner. Apologies in advance for the singing at the start. Just like the many games that came before it, Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs sees you slingshotting a trio of birds at progressively more complex and wobbly structures. Hit a sweet spot and the building will come tumbling down in one go, hopefully crushing any porky inhabitants to death in the process. The control method in Angry Birds VR is incredibly simple. Using two hand-held motion controllers from your PC platform of choice you wield a catapult in one hand and draw back the avian ammo with the other. A handy dotted line shows you the flight path of the bird so when you release it, more often than not it will strike its intended target. Whether or not that target is a weak point that'll propel you to a three star victory is up to you to work out. Angry Birds VR is a stationary experience that's best played seated, making it an ideal starter game for VR newcomers. For anyone with a bit of VR experience however, the gameplay gets old, fast. There's a certain satisfaction that comes from watching some of the more complex structures tumble down to the ground but after that there's not much to crow about. Considering all of the incredible things I've experienced in other VR titles, sitting stock-still and pinging birds at lumps of wood over and over again quickly becomes tedious. The cartoonish graphics are nice and sharp and they fit in well with the established art style of the movie, however little effort has been put into the making the world an interesting 3D space to inhabit. There are four different locations which change once every 13 levels but beyond that the staging ground stays the exactly the same every time. There's no hidden collectibles to find, no fun little background animations to watch and aside from firing the birds from the catapult there's no interactivity with the environments whatsoever. Bland is a good word to use to sum up the level design. It's fun to watch the buildings fall, but just look how empty the surroundings are. VR should transport you to new, exciting worlds but the Isle of Pigs is lifeless. One of the wonderful things about VR is that it has enabled developers to innovate and experiment with established genres. Sadly, when given the gift of an extra dimension, Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs barely bothers to change the traditional formula of the mobile games. You do at least have the ability to teleport to one of three set positions around each level so you can fire your birds from different angles, but other than that almost nothing has been done to enrich and evolve the Angry Birds experience. The whole concept VR is so basic it makes it difficult to understand why Rovio didn't decide to launch Isle of Pigs on mobile VR platforms like Gear and Daydream first. Surely something so simple would easily work just as well on these cheeper platforms whilst also reaching a much larger audience? Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs is Angry Birds in VR and not much else. If you really, really love Angry Birds then you may get a kick out of this but everyone else, especially those who've played a lot of VR in the past, are going to be pretty underwhelmed. If you enjoyed this episode of Ian's VR Corner, you can catch up with my previous adventures over on YouTube in our VR playlist, where I've covered Valheim VR's motion controls mod, Doom 3 VR Edition and everything we know about PSVR 2 so far. You can also read our list of the best VR games. Watch on YouTube Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Videos VR Corner This new flatscreen to VR mod turns Neon White into the perfect 'just one more go' VR game Heavenly. 9 VR Corner Ghostwire: Tokyo's upcoming R.E.A.L. VR mod is the best way to experience the game by far Most Haunted. 10 VR Corner Oceanic survival game Raft now has an epic VR mod that will certainly float your boat That's a paddlin'. VR Corner Midgar feels R.E.A.L. thanks to this new VR mod for Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade Sink your Tifa into over 30 minutes of gameplay footage. 2 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Sennheiser's legendary HD 599 open-back headphones are just £70 at Amazon in the Prime Early Access Sale Comfortable with neutral sound and a wide sound stage. Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. 1 Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 61 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store