As promised, Rovio’s RPG-style Angry Birds game, Angry Birds Epic, is soft-launching today in Canada, Australia and New Zealand and its creator Rovio has shared a few screenshots and the official list of features, as well as posted a nice video showing off the actual gameplay.
Set in a fantasy version of Piggy Island, free-to-play Angry Birds Epic is billed as an adventure role-playing game with turn-based combat, set in the Angry Birds universe.
It offers “a gripping campaign with a challenging end game, a rich system of crafting weapons, armor and potions with resources you can collect (or purchase) and much more. The game will release in the United States and other markets later this Spring, Rovio said…
Check out the gameplay video.
And here’s the launch trailer.
They’re calling it “perhaps the most Epic soft launch ever”.
And your screenshots below.
Some of the highlights include:
- Epic battles – Turn-based battles between our heroic flock of warriors and those green snout-nosed scoundrels! It’s easy to play, but difficult to master!
- Epic worlds – Explore a fantasy Piggy Island with everything from tribal villages and frosty mountains to tropical beaches and mysterious caves!
- Epic characters – Join Red, Chuck, Bomb and the other heroes as they face King Pig, Wiz Pig, Prince Porky and many more villains!
- Epic upgrades – Level up your characters, armor, weapons and potions to become a legendary hero ready to take on the mightiest pig warrior!
- Epic weapons – Craft amazing battle-winning weapons like a wooden sword, frying pan or stick thingy with a sponge on top!
- Epic humor – Plenty of offbeat humor and tons of quirky characters dressed in awesomely silly costumes – like a prickly cactus hat and a matching sword.
The game runs natively on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices compatible with iOS 6.0 or later. It doesn’t support the fourth-generation iPod touch and includes paid commercial content from Rovio’s select partners.
It’s interesting that iTunes description includes a notice cautioning parents that Angry Birds Epic may include direct links to promotional web pages, social networking websites and optional in-app purchases.
“The bill payer should always be consulted beforehand,” the company cautions.
So, why do developers soft-launch games in select markets, anyway?
According to Rovio, this is what game developers do when the game development is ready, but they want some critical feedback from players in the real world.
Tons and tons of testing has been done, but we want to get our fans’ feedback and opinions in for those last tweaks before releasing the game to the whole wide world! For now, unless you live in those three countries, you’ll still have to wait a bit more – but not too long.
Again, the full launch across all markets will follow later this Spring.
Lear more at the official game website.
You can download Angry Birds Epic from the New Zealand App Store when it arrives later today. I’ll update this article with iTunes links for the Canadian and Australian stores as well.
Do you think you’ll be giving Angry Birds Epic a chance when it lands in your country?