Angry Birds comes to the PC
which has prompted the company to design versions for other touchscreen-based smartphones, including those using the Android and the Symbian^3 operating systems. Rovio Mobile has supported Angry Birds with numerous free updates that add additional game content, and the company has even released standalone holiday versions of the game.
Angry Birds has been praised for its successful combination of addictive gameplay, comical style, and low price. Its popularity has led to versions of Angry Birds being created for personal computers and gaming consoles, a market for merchandise featuring its characters and even plans for a feature film or television series. With over 50 million downloads across all platforms, the game has been called “one of the most mainstream games out right now” and “one of the great runaway hits of 2010”.
Angry Birds PC can be downloaded from the Intel App Up store (appup.com). It’ll work fine and dandy on PC laptops and netbooks and will set you back only $4.99 to download now. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of the Angry Bird craze.
Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch.
There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.
Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.
In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.
Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen.
If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.
