Chicken Riot (Wii) Review

Chicken Riot starts off with a picture of the farmer (you) going about your everyday business, blissfully unaware of an oncoming chicken strike from behind. Quite why they’ve started this rebellion against you is never explained, but do you need any other excuse to go chicken shooting? I didn’t think so.

The game has two difficulty settings - Easy and Normal - and eight levels, plus five mini-games to get through, which are unlocked based on the amount of stars out of five you earn on previous levels. Each level has number of chicken enemies you have to defeat, as well as items, such as golden eggs, to collect and shoot at to gain the points you need for stars. The game also has its own in-game achievement system. Though there are only eight achievements, they’re not as easy to get as you might think. There are ten golden eggs hidden throughout each level, which are essential to gain stars and unlock achievements, and some are really tricky to get to.

Like Duck Hunt, the score accumulates if you don’t miss a shot or fire randomly into the air. Environments are partially destructible and add points when victimised by your bullets, though they are not as varied as they could be: there are some repeated levels using different routes. Power-ups upgrade your gun to a shotgun or a machine gun, and if you really want to cook some chickens you can let off an area-clearing nuke, accompanied by a cry of “chickenmageddon!”.

Each stage introduces a new type of chicken. Whether it’s The Matrix-inspired agent hens - introducing themselves by saying “good evening, Mr. Henderson” - or the Terminator chicken that gets up almost every time it is shot down, there are a nice variety of enemies to deal with, each of which takes a different amount of damage before they’re cooked. Of course, also be warned that every chicken can fly; equally, remember that head shots kill faster than body shots. Unnecessary difficulty and minor annoyances come through timing errors, however. Sometimes when the camera turns around, an enemy hits you before you can even see it. Other times, the camera remains static, even though you’ve killed all the chickens in the area, but it doesn’t hang around for too long.

As well as the standard single player mode, you also have the mini games. Not so surprisingly, all the challenges involve shooting chickens, one such game testing your ability to shoot 100 chickens before ten manage to escape the farm. These mini games will occupy some of your time but are not hugely challenging, and like the main game’s levels you unlock them by getting enough stars from the previous levels. On top of that there’s a two player mode, but this isn’t much different from the single player. If you fancy having a go with a mate, or just being a total badass with two guns, then at least the option is there.