angry birds space
Rovio Entertainment announced the launch of Angry Birds Space, which is now available for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Android devices, as well as the Mac and PC, with PC retail copies following shortly.
From floating through space in zero gravity, to using the gravity of nearby planets to set up spectacular trick shots, Angry Birds Space takes the gameplay that fans already know and love to a totally new level. With new birds, brand new superpowers, and 60 interstellar levels Angry Birds Space will surely lead to worldwide procrastination in the workplace as fans will likely find reason to delay their duties and explore the galaxy.
Regular free updates for Angry Birds Space are planned and even more content is available through in-app purchase, starting first with the iOS version. Included in the game are "many hidden goodies, secret levels, and cool space content."
And yes, the game has been "thoroughly optimized" for all platforms, including full Retina display support on the new iPad.To celebrate the launch of Angry Birds Space, Rovio and partners hosted a series of launch events for fans of the game in Beijing, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Seattle and Tokyo. Angry Birds Space marks the first integrated entertainment launch for Rovio, with merchandise, animation, and books available in retail at the same time as the game.
"This is Rovio at its finest, and we are more than excited to bring Angry Birds Space to all our fans worldwide,” said Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio. “This launch marks a huge step for us as a company, and our whole team and partners have really pulled together to bring out a fantastic array of exciting products and experiences. We hope that our fans will find all things Angry Birds Space as delightful as the Rovio family does.”
Angry Birds Space is available for $0.99 from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch, and Angry Birds Space HD is available for $2.99 from the App Store on iPad. It is also available for the Mac for $4.99 from the Mac App Store.
Angry Birds Space is available for Android devices for free with advertising. Ad-free versions of the game will also be available on Android for $0.99, and an HD version for Android tablets for $2.99.
So when the developer announced Angry Birds Space last month, I had to wonder: would pigs in space rekindle my love affair with slingshots and ornithology?
Today I found out. Angry Birds Space is now available for Android, iOS, PC, and Mac. Is it any good?
Oh, yes.
Angry Birds Space feels at once familiar and fresh. Unlike the previous sequels, which were pretty much the same game in different settings, ABS puts a new spin on things with gravity-oriented physics.
Thus, a flung bird might curve around a moon in one direction and then curve the other way once it passes into the next moon's orbit. Or it might get caught in a gravity well and whip around the moon several times before hitting anything. Sometimes you'll need to fling a bird below a target instead of above it, or even fling it left instead of right. (Both actions feel really weird at first.) And sometimes the goal is not simply to smash into a pig, but to knock it out of a high orbit so it crashes to the surface.
You learn all this as you play through the game's 60 levels, and it's that discovery that makes ABS such fun. What's more, Rovio throws in a few surprises along the way. [Mild spoiler alert] For example, if you bust a camouflaged "golden eggsteroid" midlevel, you'll be instantly transported (via wormhole, of course) to a separate mini-game. The first of these is an unapologetic and amusing nod to Space Invaders, where instead of shooting at aliens, you're flinging birds at them.
Once that mini-game ends, you're wormholed back to where you left off in the original level.
I don't want to spoil any of the other goodies. Suffice it to say, you'll have a hard time putting ABS down, and I suspect most players will burn through all 60 levels in a day or two. Thankfully, Rovio says it has "more in the pipeline." If history is any indication, we'll see new levels on a regular basis.
By the way, I played the HD version on my new iPad, and it looks spectacular--well worth the $2.99 price of admission. The non-HD version costs 99 cents, also a no-brainer. Same goes for the Android versions (phone or tablet), though you can also get ad-supported editions for free.
Once you've had a chance to try the game yourself, hit the comments and let me know what you think.
By blasting off have the Angry Birds jumped the shark? Or is outer space their best and last hope?If you've played any other game in the series, Angry Birds Space will seem pretty familiar to you. A band of green pigs have stolen the Angry Birds' eggs sending our titular protagonists into a fit of paternal rage. This time out, their quest for revenge takes them to the final frontier, where they gain new powers and new challenges in the form of gravity, atmospheres and all forms of planetary physics. It sounds cool in theory but can Angry Birds Space deliver? Thankfully, Rovio has landed another major home run with their latest Angry Birds title.
The game play is a mixture of the standard ballistic puzzling familiar to fans of the series and the situational physics of Mario Galaxy. Every level finds the Angry Birds confronted by planets, asteroids and all sorts of space junk that prevents them from getting the one thing they desire most: revenge! Each object has its own physics, which players will have to deal with on their march to victory.Maps can be broken down into two parts “outer space” and “planets/asteroids”. Much as you would expect, our Angry Birds are free to zip around in outer space without a care in the world, but as soon as they enter the gravitational field of an asteroid or planet, they will be attracted to the body. This leads to some really crazy maps where players have to bend their birds around multiple planets like a trick pool player or use explosions to knock asteroids into a planet's atmosphere to bombard pigs hiding below. There are even hidden black holes that suck players into an extra-dimensional mini-game. I only managed to score one mini-game, but I soon found myself playing a space invaders themed map. It's only a minor diversion but is a great example of Rovio's attention to detail in Angry Birds Space. Each level features a novel mixture of map design and situational physics making each snap of the slingshot a surprising and genuinely fun experience.Rovio has taken major steps to revamp the style and feel of this game. Instead of simply relying on their tried and true visual style, Rovio slapped a retro-futuristic coat of paint on their child-friendly cartoony style. Imagine putting Flash Gordon, The Jettsons and Angry Birds in a blender and giving it a good mix. That's pretty much the ascetic that Rovio was aiming for and they hit the nail on the head big time.
Even the music features a reinterpretation of Angry Birds iconic theme that would be at home in an old Johnny Quest episode. All in all its a very well done re-imagining of the Angry Birds universe and is a welcome breath of fresh air in a series that was starting to feel a bit stale.
If you've gotten to this point in the review, it's probably pretty obvious that I'd whole-heatedly recommend downloading Angry Birds Space. In every regard, Rovio's latest Angry Birds game was a surprising and enjoyable experience and was far more engrossing then I would have ever expected. If you are looking for a fun and light-hearted distraction today, Angry Birds Space is the way to go.