Picnic Wars HD sees the player take the side of either the fruits or vegetables in this part resource management, part Angry Birds mash-up. Despite the occasional line of sight problem caused by the isometric viewpoint, the game is an enjoyable experience and will last a good while.
I’ve always wondered what fruits and vegetables get up to when I leave the kitchen, and now I know: they go to war! When loading up Picnic Wars HD for the first time the player can only control the vegetables, which represent the easy levels. The harder, fruit based levels unlock later. When a level starts the player will be greeted by an isometric view of a structure full of the enemy on the right of the screen, and a grid on the left.
The grid is the player’s domain, with the idea being they fabricate catapults which will then hurl vegetables/fruit at the structure on the right, hopefully collapsing it and crushing all enemies. When the enemies are gone the level is complete, and it’s on to the next one.
However, it’s not as simple as that. Ammunition isn’t finite, and must be grown. This requires using seeds, which can be collected by hitting the various seed bags dotted about every structure. The weaker ammunition, such as the mushroom, only requires one seed to grow. An eggplant, however, will require three seeds to grow one unit, but it’s much more powerful.
The player’s catapult can also be upgraded throughout the game, with new ones having different stats. Some ammunition types work better with certain catapults, too.
The enemy will frequently retaliate and launch their own projectiles at the player’s catapults, causing them to break. The player has to manage this by making sure resources are plentiful so new ones can be built.
It’s a lot of fun, and smart players will try and aim at structure weak points, or explosives to try and destroy everything in one go. These are normally harder shots, but worth it. The only issue I have is that sometimes it’s hard to line up a shot due to the isometric viewpoint.
That aside, Picnic Wars HD is still an extremely playable game that looks and sound great, and with 64 levels on offer it won’t be conquered too quickly either.