Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken is a platform adventure game created and developed by Ratloop for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita. OS X and Linux ports were later released in September 2013 as part of Humble Bundle, followed by the PlayStation 4 version in November 2020. A remake of the 2009 Flash game Rocketbirds: Revolution!, Hardboiled Chicken is a cinematic adventure game with full single and co-op campaigns and stereoscopic 3D support.
Gameplay
Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken is a platforming game in which the player controls Hardboiled Chicken, an anthropomorphic rooster equipped with a jetpack and various weapons. The game is divided into 12 chapters across multiple stages, with most taking place in non-scrolling platform stages with multiple screens, and others taking place in aerial gunfights against flying enemies.
In regular stages, players can run, jump, grab ledges and shoot with gameplay similar to the likes of Oddworld and Rolling Thunder. The player unlocks many different weapons throughout the campaign, with which they have to dispatch enemies of different ranks. These consist of gun-wielding penguin soldiers, riot shield soldiers that use either clubs or swords, clones of Hardboiled Chicken that only wield standard pistols, penguins that use bazookas with homing missiles, and larger boss-type enemies with holographic shield barriers in front of them. Turrets and laser barriers can also be found during gameplay and deal the most damage against the player. Neither players, friendly characters nor enemies can fire anywhere other than straight in whichever direction they're facing, but are able to be juggled in-air with opposing fire, or punched away in a close enough range, though the latter doesn't seem to deal damage unless also followed with fire. Characters can also crouch, roll and hide in the background for cover and dodging attacks. In addition to using guns and grenades, Hardboiled can be equipped with Brain Bugs, which are small spider-like grenades that possess the minds of enemies upon detonation. Possessed enemy penguin soldiers can be manipulated into attacking their own, bypassing guards when not being hostile, and activating switches for objects like elevators.
The game balances brutal shootouts and puzzling elements, keeping the player alert. On occasion, the player will engage in 'Jetpaction' stages where Hardboiled must infiltrate and destroy zeppelins with large projector screens on the side of them, first by taking down oncoming waves of flying soldiers in midair combat and later the soldiers inside the interior, taking out the elite captain for a key and self-destructing the aircraft with it. In some stages, Hardboiled can encounter other bird allies involved in the resistance throughout the game. Cardinals assist Hardboiled through using either melee combat or shotguns, and protesting budgie civilians must be escorted to safety to activate switches or open doors. These budgies carry signs that can also be found in certain parts of the map through juggling enemies into specific spots or searching through hidden or dark areas.
In the co-op campaign, two players can complete the missions together as Budgie Commandos. Each of the six playable budgies (eight counting the DLC characters) all use only one weapon of a different type. The maps and controls are almost the same as in the regular campaign, except the puzzles have to be solved in different ways as the characters are smaller and both players have to help each other to be able to progress. In this mode, players can stack on-top of each other, both being able to fire left and right simultaneously when stacked. The goal of this mode is to find a hostage that needs to be taken back to the general's base. Players are dropped off in the same forest as in the single player mode and go through most of the stages, though they are both unable to enter jetpack stages, and the game ends at the launching base for the rocket instead of inside the rocket.