App Review: Angry Birds Epic (iOS, Android, WP): Thrown into RPG Land!

“Sometimes you just have to let go of what has worked well for you so far. And try something altogether new.” No, we are not giving some self-improvement sermon here. We are just talking of the latest Angry Birds game in tech town, Angry Birds Epic. Almost six years ago, the game became a rage all over the world because of its physics based gameplay which involved hurling furious birds through slingshots at adversarial swine hiding behind fortifications. The locales changed – we went to Rio, to outer space and even got some Star Wars into the act – but the gameplay remained fundamentally the same: you put a bird into a slingshot, worked out the angle and force of your attack at the pigs. And let rip.

The past year, however, has seen Rovio trying to shake off the catapult physics game heritage of the Angry Birds brand. First there was the Bad Piggies game which was more about building things than destroying them and then there was the unabashed go karter, Angry Birds Go. And now comes Angry Birds Epic, which sees Rovio yank the birds into combat and RPG territory. Yes, you heard that right, and if you happen to be a fan of the turn-based combat system of the early versions of Final Fantasy and games like Septerra Core, say ‘hooray’ because now your favourite feathered heroes are in similar mode.One thing that has now changed, however, is the storyline. It still is about pigs stealing the birds’ eggs and the birds then going on a pig battering spree on the path to claim back what is rightfully theirs. Only this time there is no flinging or throwing birds at fortifications. What actually happens is that your bird – you start out with one, but pick up followers along the way – faces a page. It strikes a blow at the pig, then the pig strikes a blow, then the bird strikes a blow…and so on until one of the aforementioned warring parties kicks the gaming bucket. Cue celebrations by the winner and if it is the bird, some loot and extra points. Classic turn-based combat if you will. As you go along, you get new weapons, new kinds of birds (which blow up multiple pigs with a single attack), and of course, more adversaries. It soon comes to the stage when there are a group of pigs facing a group of birds and you have to pick and choose how to make your next attack and at whom – some pigs are more powerful than the others – do you leave them for the end or take them out right away? Decisions, decisions…

 Read more: http://techpp.com/2014/06/25/angry-birds-epic-app-review/