Wildlings Review

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Wildlings Review

By Chris Nitz on September 15th, 2011
Our Rating:

:: FURIOUS TAPPING FUN
iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Wildlings places players in a frantic battle to protect baby birds from becoming dinner at the hands of evil enemies. A lot of tapping and strategy will be required to master this game.

Developer: Metamoki
Price: $0.99 
Version: 1.0.5
App Reviewed on: iPhone

Graphics / Sound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
 User Interface Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
 Gameplay Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
 Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Castle defense style games usually involve some castle, a bunch of knights, and a few cannons for defense. This is all about to change in the wacky world of Wildlings. The game takes a mixture of birds, spices it up with some fun creatures on the hunt, and blends it all together in a Shepard’s Pie of tapping goodness. Is this the next great addictive game?

Wildlings, at its heart, is a simple castle defense style game, in that the player must protect a nest with baby birds from waves of creatures looking to turn said chicks into dinner. It is a good thing the adult birds have a different idea and are there to fight off the baby robbers. The idea is simple, entertaining, and fairly comical.

Gameplay is straightforward. A nest full of baby birds sits on the screen and some adult birds stand guard. The player will tap somewhere on the screen to send the adult to that direction to protect it. When the baddies arrive, it becomes an exercise in quickly tapping to destroy the monsters, all while controlling traffic. If a monster makes it to the nest, it will snag a baby bird, but that baby may be recovered by simply kicking the snot out of the kidnapper before it exits the screen. This setup becomes ever more complicated with monsters that can take a beating before being felled or with smaller monsters that can blaze across the screen. Those that love tapping the screen with fury will get a good amount of enjoyment here.

Of course the adult birds are not without their aids. Birds become stronger and faster as the game moves on. There are also powers to use that will help with crowd control, such as freezing enemies in place for a few seconds or raining cherry bombs from the sky. All of these powers are fueled by suns that appear after enemies are destroyed, and over time from the baby birds, thus adding into the tapping frenzy. Getting three stars on every stage becomes an exercise in resource management, lane control, and masterful bird controlling skills.

Wildlings keeps the madness lighthearted when it comes to the presentation front. Visuals are full of bright vibrant colors, with birds and enemies displaying a wide range of looks and characteristics. Strong birds are big and bulky while speedy birds are lean. The stages look like they were painted with a rich palette of oil colors. Rounding this all off is a whimsical musical score that is not too harsh on the ears. The audio provides a sense of urgency in the task at hand, but never gets overbearing. The birds will caw and screech as they do their job. This is a game that does a great job of proving a welcoming atmosphere, even if some of the stages are not as inviting due to their difficulty.

If there is anything to complain about, it is just the mass amount of chaos that happens during big waves of enemies. Tapping can sometimes lead to incorrect placing of the defender birds, and when tight groups of enemies are the case, it can make or break a perfect score. It is a minor gripe that players will easily learn how to deal with, but it can be extremely infuriating.

Wildlings is a nice change of pace. The game can easily suck up copious amounts time, and it becomes addictive to get three stars on every stage. Those that are looking for something a bit whimsical, challenging and pleasing on the eyes and to the ears should definitely give this game a look.