"Angry Birds" is getting an "epic" facelift.
The smash-hit smartphone game, hailed for years as the biggest thing to happen to mobile gaming since "Snake," is getting an upgrade that looks nothing like the rest of the "Angry Birds" franchise. Though the new installment features both birds and pigs, players will no longer merely fling unhappy avians at fortified swine.
Gaming news site Kotaku says "Angry Birds Epic" will be a turn-based, role-playing game, which, in layman's terms, means players will assume the character of one of the birds in a game driven by an actual story. Players will also have to create weapons, armor and other tools by gathering resources within the game or purchasing them with real-world money.
"Angry Birds Epic" will launch first in Australia and Canada and will spread to other countries later this year, according to the teaser trailer released by developer Rovio last week.
The game is an exciting shift for Rovio from the simple, physics-based classic format, which has launched several spinoffs ("Angry Birds: Star Wars," "Angry Birds: Rio" and "Angry Birds: Space," to name a few).
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