DLC #116 - Angry Birds Trilogy - Anger Management

Upon full completion of the previously reviewed main Angry Birds list, there weren't many more things beyond that I ever wanted to see less of than more Angry Birds content.

I say that with a bit of tongue in cheek. There is a strangely addictive charm to this game, which I should, in theory, dislike, but can't quite bring myself to.

This first of two DLC packs offers up more of the same. A collection of new episodes containing a series of levels to conquer in the same old Angry Birds style we've come to know and (not always) love.

There are 6 episodes in total, themed across popular calendar events, such as Halloween, Christmas and Chinese New Year, spanning a collective total of 130 new individual levels contained within. There aren't really any additional game features or new birds to unleash into the atmosphere, so this is literally just more of what you already know. The Piglantis episode does add a cool water mechanic, which makes you approach those particular levels slightly differently to the rest, but that's as about as fresh as this package gets in terms of providing any new content.

There are 10 new trophies in total, 6 of which are offered for completing each of the new 6 episodes. This merely requires you to rid the stage of all pigs present, and does not extend to obtaining a 3 star rating, however, that isn't the case for full completion of this package;

Star-Expander - Get 3 stars in every single level of Anger Management.

The "Star Expander" trophy, awarded for getting 3 stars in every single level of Anger Management, will require you to do exactly that. These are the kind of trophies that bore my love/hate relationship with Angry Birds, purely because they have a bad habit of challenging unpredictability, and this is no different here.

Just like the main game, you'll run into a series of levels at varying points that just leave you stuck for hours, resorting to some desperate trial and error in an attempt to create as much destruction as possible and hit that 3 star score requirement. There isn't any logic to why the points don't quite tally up and it's just a matter of retrying the level until something sticks. It will eventually work, but you just have to persist with it, and that's the hardest thing about these trophies, and the fact you never quite know how much longer any given level will take to complete. There is a very minimal influence that skill can have here, so it's purely a waiting game.

If achieving 3 stars for each of the 130 new individual levels wasn't enough, you'll also have to go back through and cleanse them with the Mighty Eagle too, another popular extra-curricular activity introduced into the main games list, so this doubles the original figure to a plump 260 levels to complete in total. The Mighty Eagle will get you through levels much faster than conventional means of achieving 3 stars, but you're still effectively putting into motion a second play-through of the package. No small feat.

It's difficult to nail down a time estimation, purely for the previously aforementioned degree of trial and error present, but covering a broad spectrum and suggesting 20-30 hours would be fair enough. This may seem high for a package which is much shorter on content than the main game, but I think it nicely emphasises the amount of patience you'll need to see it through to the end.

NOTE : At the time of writing, this content pack has been removed seemingly on a permanent basis from the Playstation store. If you had not downloaded the pack prior to purchase, the trophies within this package are rendered unachievable by conventional means.