Just as you thought you could regain some lost productivity by resisting Candy Crush Saga and Plants vs. Zombies 2, Rovio has gone ahead and launched another Angry Birds game.
Available for Apple iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8 devices, Angry Birds Star Wars II is Rovio Entertainment's seventh Angry Birds game, and the first to ship with more than 30 playable characters – from both the Jedi and Sith sides.
That's
right, along with flinging good guys like Yoda, Anakin, Jango Fett, Jar
Jar and Mace Windu, you can also control the evil pigs for the first
time in an Angry Birds game (not including Rovio's spinoff Bad Piggies).
This includes villains Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Emperor Palpatine,
General Grievous and many others – hence the game's tagline "Join the
Pork Side." You can also swap characters out in the middle of the level;
simply tap the face of the available fighters at the top of the screen
and they'll hop into the slingshot, adding an additional layer of
strategy.
Speaking of new characters, the game also supports physical Angry Birds Star Wars characters called Telepods,
a series of optional Hasbro toys that work with the iOS and Android
versions of the game. Placing these small figures onto the camera of the
phone or tablet scans a QR code and then teleports them into the
digital world; an upcoming Telepods feature will allow kids to import
their own face onto an Angry Birds character.
As with its
best-selling predecessors, Angry Birds Star Wars II is a physics-based
2D puzzle game that has you flinging fowl out of a giant slingshot from
the left side of the screen to the right, and you must aim just so, with
the ideal amount of force, to destroy the all pigs within the allotted
number of turns per level. Each of the Star Wars-ified bird types have
their own unique skills that can also be used to topple the pigs'
elaborate houses, leaving the swine exposed for a final blow. This
includes tapping the screen while the characters are in the air to
unleash a well-timed Force push (knocking down objects without touching
them), alien tongue-lashing or light saber slash for extra damage.
Star
Wars fans will appreciate these sci-fi attacks, along with the
great-looking backdrops tied to Star Wars locations, related mini-movies
and comics (between many of the levels), and familiar sound effects and
music. Off the main menu is a tappable section called ToonsTV, allowing
you to watch the popular Angry Birds Toons animated series, along with
other videos.
The gameplay is as addictive as ever. While the core
mechanics remain the same since 2009, it's easy to succumb to its
charm, intuitive user-interface and slick production values. Before you
know it, you'll fall into the 'ol "just one more level" phase (and look
at the clock 90 minutes later).
Even if you finish the game, you
will likely go back to complete levels you've already finished in order
to rack up all three stars – not to mention there are all the Pork Side
levels to master, a special reward chapter, dozens of achievements to
unlock and downloadable bonus levels in future updates (if previous Angry Birds titles are any indication).
A
quick note to parents: the game costs $0.99 cents to download, but
there are optional in-app purchases that cost real money, too, in the
form of Credit Stacks ranging from $1.99 to $99.99. Also, be aware there
are direct links to social networking websites (intended for an
audience over the age of 13) and direct links to the web with the
potential to browse any web page).
While not too different than its predecessors, Angry Birds Star Wars II is an out-of-this-world pick for gamers on the go.
Published on: USAtoday
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