If someone asked you if you were afraid of chickens, more than likely you’d say no. That would also mean you’ve never played the Legend of Zelda series, but don’t worry about that. Now, if you were a penguin, you’d probably be afraid of a certain chicken, because that chicken is out to get you. Welcome to Rocketbirds 2: Evolution, penguin friends.

Rocketbirds 2: Evolution looks pretty nice on the PlayStation 4, to be honest. Don’t go in thinking it’s the movie hit wonder in terms of graphics, but the imagery looks sharp and clear. This makes it really easy to keep up with everything going on since you’ll be viewing the game from a zoomed out perspective. You’ll even be able to see all the blood of your slain enemies splattered across the wall as you rack up the kills. While many objects are 3D, you’ll be navigating the game in a 2D format. Some objects can be interacted with, like the buttons to operate doors and elevators, and there’s a few backdrops that players can look at, but they don’t do much besides add decoration. Of course, you’ll be splattering blood over the walls pretty quickly, so that’s a good source of decoration too, I’d say.

The music in Rocketbirds 2 is right up my alley. Often times, you’ll be treated to rock and alternative rock tracks, but our Hardboiled Chicken deserves nothing less than some big tunes whenever he’s mowing through bad guys. Several of the tracks are also very silly sounding, like something you’d hear from a cartoon. It’s pretty funny having cartoonish tracks going whenever you’re running through and kicking your enemies. Each of the characters are also voice acted for Story Mode and overall, I found it pretty funny. The voice acting was done well and gave each character their own personality. Some players may prefer to interject their own personality to a character, but I thought it was fine this way. You can turn it down if you don’t enjoy it by going to the settings.

Rocketbirds 2: Evolution is pretty easy to understand. You’re put in control of Hardboiled Chicken, a nonsense kind of chicken out to stop the plans of a mysterious Penguin and uncover a nefarious plot to turn chickens into baked chickens. Can you stop his plans or will you succumb to the horrors of the evil dork army?

Rocketbirds 2 is a very simple game. When you start up the game, you’ll be treated to a nice opening track as you navigate the different modes. There isn’t much to choose from, so it shouldn’t take too long. The modes you can choose from are the Story Mode, the Rescue Mode, the Options, and the Extras. The Story Mode allows players to experience the story of Hardboiled Chicken in his quest to stop the evil penguins. Checkpoints save your progress and you’ll see them as a giant green check in the bottom right. Unfortunately, you can’t manually save, but there’s plenty of checkpoints so you’ll be fine. The Rescue Mode allows players to party up with their friends, offline and online, and go on a rescue mission to save your chicken friends. The Options allows players to change various game settings and the Extras allows players to view cool game bonuses. Take your pick, then dive in!

Hardboiled Chicken may be big, but he certainly is no slouch in combat. Players move him around the screen using the Left Control Stick and can also interact with ladders or switches by pressing up or down when near them. Some doors can be passed through and this is done with the Left Control Stick as well. Hardboiled Chicken wouldn’t get very far if he couldn’t jump by pressing the (X) button, but you can also use (L1) and (L2) to jump if you prefer that. He can even double jump by pressing any of those buttons again while already in the air. Movement is good, but our favorite chicken wouldn’t get far without being able to defend himself. Hardboiled Chicken comes packing some serious firepower, like assault rifles and shotguns to begin with, but he’ll collect new weapons and gadgets over the course of the game. You can shoot your weapons with either (R1) or (R2) and aim with the Right Control Stick. To switch between weapons, simply press the (Triangle) button. You can only have two weapons set, so if you want to switch around you’ll have to go into the inventory by pressing up on the D-pad and setting what you want. Your map can be viewed by pressing down on the D-pad. Your health and ammo are set in the top left, so you’ll need to keep an eye on that. You wouldn’t want our favorite Hardboiled Chicken to end up Baked Chicken, would you?

So let’s delve more into that Rescue Mode, shall we? As I said, you can party up with your friends whether they’re local offline or around the world online. You can play either by yourself or with four other players and once you set up your party, you can then select a character. Several are available at the start, but you can unlock other characters by playing the game. From here, you can customize your character’s weapons and outfit to suit your tastes. Again, there are some default things available for the weapons and outfits, but you’ll have to unlock more if you want your own arsenal. Once you’re ready, you will be able to explore the central hub where you can buy weapons, ammo, and other things. To actually get started, you’ll have to navigate to the mission room and begin a mission. Each mission consists of rescuing a hostage and you’ll have to complete the objective to move on. It’s a pretty fun mode to mess around with your friends, and it’s even pretty cool for the solo player, too. I recommend giving it a shot once you’re finished with the story.

Like many games, difficulty isn’t the easiest thing to pinpoint in Rocketbirds 2: Evolution. There isn’t a difficulty setting that players can adjust and see a visible change in the overall difficulty of the game. The difficulty seems to increase as players move through the game to higher levels. It’s mostly just little things, like more enemies spawning and the like, but whenever you’re rushed by a large number of enemies, the situation does get pretty hairy. In addition to that, you’ll also start seeing more complex and effective enemy spawn waves. I mean things like an enemy that can stun you repeatedly along with two high damage range opponents, and if your aim is terrible like mine, you may have to try a few times to get through that area. Overall, I’d say the difficulty is fair as long as you’re using the abilities at your disposal to survive. It’s not too hard, really.

Given its simplicity, Rocketbirds 2: Evolution doesn't have a bunch of complex mechanics that the player has to learn or memorize in order to be successful with the game, but there are a few aspects of the game that players should be aware of and keep in mind to advance in a timely fashion. They’re nothing too major, so wipe that sweat off your brow and let’s take a look, shall we?

Everyone loves a good explosion and what better way to cause them than some super huge bombs, am I right? Our friend Hardboiled Chicken will occasionally come across bombs that he can pick up and lug around, but don’t go feeling all detonation happy. You can’t just blow a building down and call it mission accomplished, unfortunately. Only specially marked walls can be blown up and you’ll usually only see those when you’re about to come across a bomb spawn. Of course, you can use bombs to dispatch enemies as well, but your firearms pack more than enough punch to put down any troops in your way. Bombs are harmless on their own though, so you’ll have to get the fuse ticking with a few shots or swipes. Happy exploding, friends.

Well, let’s sum it up. Rocketbirds 2 is a simple, fun little game for those looking for some entertainment. The crossplay capability makes it a great game to take from your PS4 to your Vita for those long road trips and being away from the house in general. I find it a very good way to kill time since I haven’t seen a charming 2D shooter like this in quite some time. If you’re looking for quick fun, definitely give Rocketbirds 2: Evolution a try.