Chicken blasting time
No prizes for guessing what game this little shooter rips off wholesale. It's actually the first in a surprisingly popular series of titles which takes its inspiration from Space Invaders and which was followed by The Next Wave and Revenge of The Yolk amongst others. The game itself is a pretty standard shooter but instead of aliens you get to blast the living daylights out of chickens. The levels start out pretty simple but soon get quite challenging, with new chickens that have cunning attack patterns to test your reflexes but fortunately you have access to the usual array of powerups and enhanced weapons just to even things out a bit. There's also a few boss chickens to liven things up as well as a few clever little digs at science fiction movies and suchlike but that's pretty much it to be honest. In almost every way this is the very definition of a novelty shooter, with the sole point of interest being the addition of chickens and the humour which arises from shooting them until their feathers fall off. In this respect, Chicken Invaders is quite amusing for a short while but the appeal soon wanes somewhat and you realise you are left with little more than an unoriginal rip-off. In its favour, the game does sport some attractively colourful visuals, with the chickens rendered in personality-filled fashion while the sound is equally amusing, with plenty of squawks and similar effects to enjoy. However, when you get down to it, Chicken Invaders is pretty shallow stuff so if you're looking for a real shooter then head for Tyrian or The Reap.
