Chicken Invaders: Revenge of the Yolk is the third episode in the Chicken Invaders franchise, released on November 11th, 2006.
This game was again a huge improvement from the previous one. The plot and the cutscenes are now much more complex, waves and enemies are more diverse, and a lot of new game mechanics were added, including Unlockables, Safe zones, Danger zones and Overheat.
The predecessor of Revenge of the Yolk is The Next Wave, and the sequel is Ultimate Omelette.
Summary
Chickens. For centuries we have oppressed them, grilling, roasting, stewing, and stuffing them in buns. We should have known the time would come for us to pay. And it did.
Intergalactic chickens invaded Earth, seeking revenge for the oppression of their earthly brethren. They came out of nowhere, and everywhere. It was only you who managed to repel the invasion, and saved humanity from an eternity of servitude.
Then, things got serious. The intergalactic chickens assaulted the solar system and tried make sure that every planet was inhabited exclusively by chickens. Yet again, it was you who took the world's fate in your ketchup-stained hands and saved the day.
But it isn't over yet. Once more, it's time to don your non-stick egg-repulsing helmet and fight for our ancestral right to omelettes. Only you can make a difference. Will you succeed? Will the future of chicken burgers be secure? Or will you end up as part of the menu in a galactic chicken restaurant?
Plot
Note: Spoilers ahead!
The game starts with our Hero heading to the local Space Burger store, famished as usual. As he's about to finish his order, he notices something twinkling behind the sun. When he arrives there, he finds a giant egg currently under construction.
This egg, known as the The Yolk-Star™, sends out a simple Big Chicken. The Hero easily destroys it, and then taunts the Yolk-Star™. This makes it angry. In retaliation, it attempts to fry the Hero to a crisp with its lasers. Luckily, he managed to defend himself, but he also got accidentally pushed into a Black Hole, which sucked him in. The Hero then arrives at the other end of the Milky Way (100,000 light years from the Solar System, to be exact) and battles his way back home. On his journey, he has to fight through hordes of different enemies and bosses, including Chickens, their machines, Asteroid storms and ultra-celeritas comets.
By the time he gets home, the Yolk-Star™ is finished and ready to begin its assault on Earth. Our hero barely makes it in time and begins attacking the Yolk-Star. He destroys the yolk's shell, and the Yolk attempts to retreat, but the hero is in hot pursuit, and annihilates the Yolk. He is then congratulated by the narrator, and goes back to the Space Burger to order his meal. Our hero is then left to rest in his laurels, until his Earth-saving abilities are needed again... But that's another story.
Features
- Up to 4-player cooperative play!
- Journey to 12 star systems — it's a regular trek across the galaxy (...a star trek?)
- Fight through 120 waves of invading chickens.
- Discover 6 awesome weapons — plus a secret one!
- Upgrade weapons through 11 power levels — and a supercharged 12th!
- Collect 30 unique bonuses.
- Acquire 13 medals — advance your chicken-hunting career.
- Unlock 7 secret features.
- Internet high score tables — compare yourself with people from all over the world!
- Multiplayer — play on the same computer, over your LAN, or on the internet.
- Over 15 minutes of original orchestral soundtrack.
Buy
You can buy the game through the InterAction studios website here, for €11.25.
You can also get it on Steam here, for $5.
Online
There are two known online versions.
Yahoo Version - resembles the mobile versions (+Windows 8)
Gamehouse Version - resembles the original Chicken Invaders.
Java
This episode also has a rather awful port for J2ME/Symbian/Bada, which was made in 2010. You can read more about it here.
Trivia
- The original plot of the game was way different from that of the final one. In it, the Hero would go on a journey across the Milky Way to the Chickens' home planet. This game would have been the final one in the series. It was also set to release in November 2004 (not long after the release of Island Wars 2). This plot was conceived almost three years before the game got released. For unknown reasons, the game didn't get released until over two years later from when it was originally set to release. During that time, InterAction studios released Loco and Smileyville. Revenge of the Yolk would have still used UveDX8 if it were to release on the day it was originally set to release and it would be likely much more similar to The Next Wave than the final version, and as such, the game would have been released without the smoother framerate that the final version and the sequels have. The Hero eventually does visit their home galaxy in the next game.
- This was the first game in the series to have a closed Beta.
- This game was the first in the Chicken Invaders franchise to use the 3D version of the Ultra VGA Engine.
- This is the only game in the series where the standard edition wasn't the first one to be released. The Christmas edition came out first.
- The first Beta version of Revenge of the Yolk did not include a power level indicator. Two (or even three) of the screenshots of the game on the InterAction studios website are from this version.
- This game had one cut boss, the Robotic Chicken, but it had to be unfortunately cut, because it exceeded InterAction Studios' 3D modelling skills. It might come back in Universe or in a future episode.
- The title is a reference to Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.