Earlier today I took Rovio and Barnes & Noble up on their offer to play Angry Birds Stella a wee-bit early (see our mention of this from yesterday). Anyhow, above is raw footage of me actually playing Stella for the first time. I’m sorry for the shaky camera footage, but it’s tough playing a new game while also recording from you phone — all while standing. Remember, this is raw footage, so bear with me as I learn how to navigate the game.
I have to say playing Stella was quite intimidating at first, and I still don’t get it all, but that’s not to say it wasn’t fun. Quite the opposite actually. It IS really fun, well executed, and best of all the gameplay is familiar (but different enough that it doesn’t feel like a copy).
Below are some of my initial observations in list form (feel free to leave a comment with things I may have missed):
There don’t seem to be any episodes per se, though it’s hard to say for sure. After you pass level 11 there is a final “Wall of Pigs” level, which is sort of like a boss fight / golden egg level. Once you beat the Wall of Pigs I the next block of levels is revealed, which in this case unlocks Poppy (the yellow bird).
The one, two, and three star thresholds are not secret and as you earn points it shows you how much you have left to hit them.
At first I thought you get as many birds as you like (about 00:04:30 om the video I am just flinging away), but once you pass level four the line up is set and all birds remaining after you pass the level earn you the customary 10,000 points. With that said, you can swap birds using coins and Telepods, ala Angry Birds Star Wars 2.
Free coins float up in bubbles that you can pop with your finger (nice touch — zing!).
Some (all?) of the birds’ abilities allow you to tap and hold, which allows for more precise aiming. For example, for Poppy’s tornado of destruction you can tap and hold to slow her down and aim, then after a few seconds things start to speed up again. Pretty nifty and helpful.
The Credits menu has a fun “Keep the Pigs up in the Air” mini-game (video of this coming soon). I am a real sucker for little things like this.
The menus are very well animated and tie in nicely to the Angry Birds Universe, much like Epic.
Much like Angry Birds Friends and Epic you’ll be able to compete against your Facebook friends, as well as see their scores. As usual, the real battles will happen here on the Nest though. :)
After you complete a level the total number of stars you’ve earned appears at the top. Earning a certain number of stars unlocks rewards.
At 00:06:41 in the video notice the brown block in the top right has a camera on it. Smashing this blocks unlocks takes a snapshot that appears in your photo album. This photo album allows you to change the version of the character. It’s not shown in this video but later on I unlocked a version of Stella that is wearing a black wig.
In closing, more than ever I am looking forward to Stella’s release on September 4th! Please watch the video and let us know what you think of the gameplay (don’t insult my wobbly hands though).
Stella Hidden Mini-Game | Keep the Pigs in the Air
This is awesome! Hidden in the credits of Angry Birds Stella you will find a fun mini-game where the objective is to keep the pigs up in the air. Now, one thing is missing, a score. I say we petition Rovio to add a score counter to this so we can all compete.Who’s with me?
