History:

The history of Angry Birds started with a simple drawing of upset looking birds in a sling shot that did not have any legs. From the characters, the game was developed in 2009. It was originally released to the iPhone and iPod Touch, but has gradually spread to other Smartphone apps since its first release.

Online Game Play:

The online version of Angry Birds and the various special releases of the game are a type of flash game format. Like the mobile version of the game, players pull the slingshot loaded with a bird back and release the bird to attack the pigs hidden in their fortress.

The online game uses the computer mouse to grab the slingshot and release the bird. The mouse drags a hand over to the sling shot and a left click will grab the slingshot. Players then hold the left click and move the mouse to position and aim the shot. Releasing the left click will send the bird flying into the pigs.

Different Versions:

Like the mobile apps, the online flash versions of Angry Birds have numerous play options available. Newer versions of the game, such as Angry Birds Rio or Angry Birds Magic are available online as a flash game.

The different versions of the game follow a similar format as the original game, but have different themes in the background. For example, the season’s version has Halloween themed levels, Christmas themed levels and other holiday themes. The birds, pigs and background follow the spirit of the holiday the levels are designed after.

The Angry Birds Rio game online is similar to the mobile version of the game. The birds interact with the characters from Rio and it takes place in the various locations throughout the movie.

Conclusion:

The online flash version of the Angry Birds games offers hours of entertainment. The puzzle game is simple enough for almost any age while getting increasingly more difficult to solve. The cute characters along with the fun story make this game fun for all ages. The numerous awards and the high public interest in the game proves that the game that came out in 2009 continues to top the charts for the best puzzle game available for apps and online.

——————

The author writes about the Angry birds evolution and timeline and he invites you to come and play free online games available for your entertainment.

Dead Island (PS3, X360, PC): This is a game that I’m really excited about, it’s like Dead Rising and Left 4 Dead came together and had a baby. The player takes on the role of one of four survivors stranded on a resort island that has been overrun with the living dead. It is a first person action game, just like Left 4 Dead and players can pick up weapons and combine them and upgrade their strength. The graphics are beautiful and the Island of Banoi is quite an impressive spectacle. Players can join each other’s games online (4 players max). Comes out on September 6th.

Resistance 3 (PS3 Exclusive): This FPS game picks up four years after the conclusion of Resistance 2 and the player steps into the shoes of Sentinel Joseph Capelli. The game takes place in an alternate version of the 1950’s in which America has been taken and destroyed by the brutal Chimeran alien race. In addition to the single player campaign, there will also be two-player split screen and two-player online co-op through the campaign. It also includes 16 online versus. PS3 owners will want to check this game out. Comes out September 6th.

Gears of War 3 (X360 Exclusive): It has been 18 months since the fall of the last human city and the war between the humans and locusts continues. Sad to say it, but this will be the last Gears game, but it looks like they’re going out with a bang. Includes a single player campaign and online versus modes, I got my hands on the beta and I was impressed to say the least, this is a must buy for fans of the series and newbies alike. Releases on September 20th.

Silent Hill: Downpour (PS3,X360): I’m glad to see that the Silent Hill franchise is going back to its roots. The past few games in the franchise have been mediocre, including onslaughts of grainy meat bags which hurl themselves at you. This game has a boost in graphics and story alike, the horror/thriller genre has had a dry spell for a while now on the consoles, and fans of the original games will want to check this game out. Comes out in October.

Batman: Arkham City (PS3,X360,PC): Sequel to the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum, the Dark Knight is back with a vengeance out to kick some bad guy ass. Cat Woman is also a playable character in the single player story. Rocksteady has said that a lot has changed in this game, Arkham City is a whopping five times the size of Arkham Asylum, there is a wider array of characters in the story, and now there are interrogations (Splinter cell?). Comes out on October 18th.

Battlefield 3 (PS3,X360,PC): If I were ranking the games that I was looking forward to the most, Battlefield 3 would be at the top of the list. Boasting the Frostbite 2 engine, top of the line graphics, and the enjoyment of reducing a building to rubble with your weapons. I can’t really give any reason why you wouldn’t get this game, EA and DICE have really upped the ante this time around with another single player and competitive multiplayer with up to 24 versus online. Comes out October 25th, mark you calendar.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PS3,X360,PC): If this game is comes even close to its predecessor in quality and fun, then this is a must buy. A great RPG franchise already, this new addition to the series will hopefully live up to it’s franchises’ caliber. People who buy this can look forward to great DLC, which Bethesda is excellent with. This game releases on November 11th.

Honorable Mentions:
Uncharted 3 (PS3): November 1st
Forza 4 (X360): Fall
Mass Effect 3 (PS3,X360,PC): Unknown 2011
Star Wars Old Republic (PC): Unknown 2011
The Last Guardian (PS3): Unknown 2011
Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii): Unknown 2011

The change has happened slowly, with consoles gradually gaining shelf space as time goes by. Of course consoles have been around for a long time and there have been some big names in their time too, like Zelda and Grand Theft Auto, but the sheer processing power of the PC always offered so much more in terms of in depth, challenging gameplay and it really set the games apart.

Does your console look this cool?

PC gaming may have been responsible for one or two no win, no fee claims when certain graphic sequences triggered epilepsy attacks in the unlucky few and they have been accused of contributing to the obesity problem but it has definitely contributed positively to society as well. After all, PC games have created a generation of technologically savvy people who have had to learn how to fix install problems, get to the bottom of bugs and understand their hardware and why it might be breaking a game. There are so many reasons why PC games don’t run and whilst it may be annoying at the time, it is an excellent learning experience, making you delve into areas of your PC that you never even knew about.

It is for these reasons that I hope that console games like the Wii and Playstation do not take over altogether (as well as the lack of depth of gameplay and shallow multiplayer experience). The Wii may make you move around a lot more than playing on your PC and it certainly has its place in lounges of those who don’t like to consider themselves gamers but it would be a great shame if it, and consoles like it, were to sound the death knell for any future PC classics.

———-

This guest post was written by Alex, a PC gaming enthusiast (can you tell?) who also writes about sports injury compensation.

One of the most noticeable changes that will come with Cataclysm is the Classic zone changes. For the past 5+ years the original continents of Azeroth (Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor) haven’t seen much in terms of changes. With the new expansion, Blizzard is going to completely redesign Azeroth as we know it. Many areas will change dramatically from desert to lush forests and vice versa. The Barrens will be completely split in two and all the old towns will be destroyed. Players will have to re-familiarize themselves with the new towns and quest zones. In addition Blizzard is going to unlock areas that have been inaccessible to us thus far, such as Mount Hyjal in Kalimdor.

Worgen

Along with the new design will come two new playable races, both of which have been featured in the game many times already. Horde players will be able to play as a Goblin, while Alliance players will be able to play as a Worgen. Both races will have their own starting areas for levels 1-15. Worgens will start in Gilneas located in Silverpine Forest, and Goblins will start in a completely new area, on the Isle of Kezan. Almost all classes are available to both races; however neither can be played as paladins. The only other restrictions to classes are that Goblins will not be able to be druids and Worgens will not be able to be shamans.

Goblin

There are many other features in the Cataclysm expansion that are just as important to us WoW players. For instance Blizzard will be allowing flying mounts in Azeroth, but it is still uncertain as to what restrictions they intend to impose, if any. They are also going to create a leveling system for guilds based on new guild achievements. The new level cap will be 85 instead of the normal 10 additional levels. This is because they wanted to focus more on the end game material in addition to the reworking of the level 1-60 content. This includes new higher-level zones, eight new 5-player dungeons (both normal and heroic) and 4 new 10- and 25-player raids.

One feature I am excited about as are many other players is that Blizzard will also be making more classes available for each race, such as the Dwarf Shaman. To find out more about the class combinations that will be available I have provided a chart below.

Click the chart for a larger view.

In addition to this, there will be some major changes to each class. Blizzard intends to change some classes talent trees dramatically whilst others not so much. If you would like to know more about a particular class or any of these changes click here.

And finally, for those of you who enjoy learning new professions, Blizzard will be creating a new secondary profession, Archeology. Not much is known about the profession other than it will include collecting and using artifacts from ancient races within Azeroth. It will also be important to the new character progression feature called the path system. This system will be a new way to gain talent points through questing, raiding and completing other objectives within the game.

In my experience, most expansion packs are created to add some new content to games without changing the game dramatically. With all these new features calling Cataclysm an expansion pack seems like an under exaggeration. It should really be called WoW II. Although I have not been a WoW player long enough to experience the release of any of their expansion packs, I believe that this one will be Blizzard’s greatest yet. If you would like to know more details about these changes you can find them on WoW’s Cataclysm website.

[originally published on April 22, 2010]

Level Design

Quake

Doom may be the definitive shooter, but when I play Quake I feel like this is the game that perfected the genre. It’s hard, but never frustrating. It’s creative yet never falls flat. It’s fast-paced, while being deliberate. But you can tell this game was one of the original 3D shooters as iD seemed to have fun with this razy third dimension they suddenly could build into – finally, gone the days of 2.5D and its limitations! The level design in this game is fantastic and it actually feels like the developers enjoyed making these levels. I see a key, some armour, and some health in three alcoves ahead of me. All that’s between me and these goodies is a pool of water, so I jump in the water and… fall to another room? I am shocked, I look up, I can see that there’s a pool of water on the ceiling… and then I’m attacked. This level design is messed up, it fits the game perfectly, and almost 15 years after it was released it still seems really inventive. Levels here are not just a series of connected rooms, but mazes to be explored and enjoyed. They are to be enjoyed even when they don’t follow the rules you transpose into this game (ie: water cannot be used as a ceiling!) and even when they disturb you (I cannot shake the disturbed feeling I get in my gut when I see crucified men writhing in pain on walls).

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

The level design of Link to the Past is brilliant. Seriously, play through it and think about how the game eases you into the dungeons. While part of the appeal of the original Zelda game is how it throws you into this chaotic, unfriendly world, the opposite is the case for this LttP. It eases you into everything, but in a way that never feels like you’re being led by the hand. But, what is more impressive, is that the game is, for all intensive purposes, a 3D title on a 2D plane. By the end of the game each room has different levels to it, what you do in one room affects another room, and what happens on one floor affects the other floors. Dungeons are no longer a linear progression through rooms, but have you going up and down stairs and revisiting rooms you’ve seen before – sometimes with the purpose of finishing a puzzle you started in another room. Most people don’t notice this because the game eases you into the thinking required to finish these dungeons so seamlessly. It also makes it hard to put the game down in the later stages because it’s a sort of thinking that isn’t inherently built into our video-game-logic and when games do this it does need to be taught to us anew.

This may not show off level design, but I do love this monster and when I fell from the pond I did have to fight one of these mofos!

Setting

Planescape: Torment

This is what I feel the perfect computer RPG looks like: well-written, the dialogue tree is intriguing, and it’s a really engaging universe. I try explaining the game’s story to people and quickly realize that it’s hard not to get bogged down with the little details, with the quirks of my characters, with the side quests that have added depth to the universe, and all that. Most importantly, I realize that the parts of the game that seem very normal within the game universe actually sound fucking crazy to everyone else. Games can tell a story and games like this prove it. While the technology we possess has caused developers to think the only way to adequately tell a story through games is through a cinematic approach, Planescape proves that you can use a literary approach to create an immersive world.

Earthbound

Earthbound is an odd console RPG in many ways. The setting is suburban America, for the most part, but a twisted vision of it. The protagonists are children armed with baseball bats, yo-yos, ray guns, and teddy bears. The game is filled with pop culture references that never seems out of place. Enemies range from moles to brainwashed businessmen. The combat feels tacked on, as if it merely exists to break up the story. Throughout this all the narrative seems to move seamlessly, despite the fact that when one stops to consider what you’ve done it all seems a bit disjointed. Like Planescape, it create a mood in which the odd can seem normal, but where Planescape uses lots and lots of text, Earthbound uses a lot less text, with a very limited dialogue tree, but very detailed sprites and a setting that most gamers can identify with. It corrupts the familiar to tell its story while Planescape makes the twisted seem normal.

There comes a time in the game when a man falling from the sky to take your pictures doesn't seem so weird until you realize that your entire party is a bit freaked out by it....

[a gussied up repost of a post I wrote recently on my kinda too rarely updated blog, which you people should check!]

Some of you may know that right now, Lego Universe is in its beta phase, and is currently running a closed, invitation only preview of the game. I was fortunate enough to be invited into it. And because I love you guys so much, I’ve decided to give you an insight into Lego Universe. This is my journal of my adventures into a brand new MMO! Let’s just hope my PC doesn’t brick, eh?

The Venture Explorer and Avant Gardens

It wasn’t a smooth start I’m afraid, it booted in the wrong resolution and was quite laggy to start. But after some technical tweaks, it was looking great, despite a wonky frame rate. The character creation is versatile but simplistic, great for a game about a kid’s toy and I’ve heard that it will let you buy and order your own character in real life! Nice! The graphics aren’t that great, sadly. They’re a bit blocky (ho ho ho, ugh…) and screen tear is all too common, but then again this is a beta and also an MMO, it was destined to never look great. Still, what’s here is at least colourful and suitable, it looks like Lego, and I suppose that’s the point.

The opening levels I was given access to include a basic tutorial on a spaceship called “The Venture Explorer.” The only interesting part of which really is the “build” mechanic. Essentially you use “imagination” (read: Magic or Mana from World of Warcraft) to build objects you can interact with (and by build I mean hold shift until the object is finished, not actually build). There was also an interesting area where you could custom build your own rocket. Although this was basically selecting 3 out of the 6 pieces they had given me to assemble a rocket from premade parts, not quite the imagination overload I was expecting. The tutorial area itself was, well, spacey. The inside of a rocket ship with a sort of glass outer shell and some mechanical looking platforms filled out the area. And a view outside of a seemingly endless universe was shown. It looked pretty nice from an artistic standpoint, and is obviously a preview of the space levels that will come later in the game.

After the tutorial I was whisked off to Avant Gardens, a small grassy battlefield that was very enclosed and only really had one path. A set of very basic quests were handed out, things like “Kill 5 Enemies” and “Build a Wall” that lead to some slightly more interesting affairs such as “Race up the Monument” and “Construct Turrets out of your fallen enemies”. The combat has a closer resemblance to your standard action game rather than an RPG, you click, the character hits, the enemy dies; simple. Perhaps a bit too simple really, there’s only one method for killing enemies and despite an option to buy new weapons I couldn’t tell you how they were any different from the standard sword you’re given. There’s a much stronger emphasis on exploration and platforming than battling however. One area of Avant Gardens involves climbing Assembly Monument, a giant statue of a Heroic Lego man brandishing a sword fighting an Evil Lego man brandishing a scepter. There was a considerable amount of platforming involved. Three different branching paths are laid out before you, each one expecting you to use precision and timing to make it up to the top, as well as building a few mechanisms. Strangely, however, there is no leveling system, at least not yet. It looks like there might be a disabled one, but I never received experience or even loot from fallen enemies, instead I was given money and perhaps some health or imagination restores. Completing quests usually awards new clothing or money for your Lego Man, both of which only effect him superficially. There’s no bonus for wearing the armor or buying a new hat. If this is the first MMO without a leveling system, well, that’s kind of impressive, but it may be a bit too limiting to people expecting an addictive race for gear.

Building with Legos has never been so complicated.

I also had a look at making my own models in an area of property I now “own” according to the game. The idea is that you can make your own house and various things to go in and around it. Building stuff with bricks you’ve collected by finishing missions and killing enemies. It’s even been said that you can have your creations sent to you on order, just like your character; so the prospect of building should be great fun! The problem is that the building mode is so frustratingly difficult to operate (at present) that building anything is an exercise in aggravation. Blocks won’t go where you want them to. I can’t figure out how to rotate and buttons don’t do what you tell them; it’s all rather sloppy. Not only that, but the parts I was given were useless at making anything at all. I managed to make a door… thing with a barrier attached to the top. Not really the dream home I was thinking of… Still, I imagine that this will be the alternative to the leveling system. And while I like the idea of battling through to make the ideal place to live, the current building mode is far too difficult to operate, a note out of “Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts” should be taken, and bricks should lock into an invisible grid.

There are of course, a few problems in the beta. But if they make it to the final version I’ll be horrified and amazed. One such problem was that I ended up doing the same quest 6 times in a row. It was only after I received an email from the Lego Universe team did I discover that this was intentional. It seems you can repeat certain quests to get more money. I wish they had told me sooner; I thought that I had to do it several times to progress and as a result wasted plenty of time trying to finish an unfinishable quest. I can only hope in the full game these quests will come with an explanation.

As it stands, I currently can’t leave the first world as the beta has restricted my access. But fingers crossed that in the future I can tell you about the rest of the game, and maybe even a little about the different classes that Avant Garden has hinted at. The game is incredibly simple, but the prospect of the various worlds (Pirate, Ninja, Space Ranger, Knights, Cowboys) all sound great and hopefully the difficulty will ramp up as I get further into the world. As an MMO though, I can’t see how teaming up with anybody could have or indeed would have helped. I beat this portion of the game on my lonesome. Other people proved more of a nuisance than nything; constantly killing things I also was trying to kill and building things I wanted to build. This is probably because the party system isn’t fully working yet, but regardless for an MMO, I felt like I wasting my time with these other players. There’s one section on the Assembly Monument where helping each other out can help a bit, but the goals are still completely doable one your own. I know; I did them that way. To anybody over the age of 12 frothing at the mouth for this game, I say this; lower your expectations. That might sound a little pessimistic but here’s the truth of the matter: this is a game aimed at kids. As a result, it is extremely basic and while it makes it easy to play, it sadly doesn’t make it all that enthralling. You certainly won’t be handing in your Night Elf for a Lego Man just yet. Although, that could all change. What will Nimbus Station hold for me? Will I get a class? Will I get a ranged weapon or even a magic spell? Who knows, stay tuned to Zippy Gamer to find out!

Brink

Bulletstorm

Badass

The Lord of the Rings Online

Rock of Ages

Ship Simulator Extremes

Two Worlds II

Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online

I’m a nerd, albeit a bit of a frugal one. I love the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It’s science-fiction enough for me to love the setting, but has enough fantasy elements to keep the fantasy nerd inside of me happy. However, collecting those little figures to fight other little figures is an expensive endeavour. The Warhammer 40k universe found its greatest video game success with Relic’s strategy games (I consider the original Dawn of War, and its expansions, to be the best RTS games ever, sadly I haven’t tried Dawn of War II yet). The developers of Warhammer 40k: Dark Millennium Online, Vigil Games, are a bit tight-lipped on this game. The trailer is obviously from the perspective of the Imperial forces in the game. Vehicles make an appearance, presumably they will be player controlled. And the scale of the game seems to be quite huge, with walkers towering over ground forces.

Although Tanner has the ability to roam freely around the streets of San Francisco, this latest installment of Driver will focus on the movie style car chases. Reportedly, there will be upwards of 100 vehicles to chose from, and plenty of road to keep the chases flowing. There will also be a large amount of classic vehicles thrown into the action, and this should make for some never before seen chases.

This latest version of Driver will also include the option to play online. This mode will offer fans some pretty exiting chases as well. The screenshots from Driver: San Francisco detail some excellent graphics, and these new added features will offer some unbelievable game play. Driver: San Francisco will be available for Playstation 3, X-box 360, Wii, PC, and Mac.

When I talked of the new Fallout game, I mentioned I was a fan of Diablo II. Truth be told, I like my hack ‘n slash sub-genre. The games may not be smart or well-written, but they are mighty fun. With Obsidian, the people behind the upcoming Fallout: New Vegas, behind the helm, you can expect that there will be some well-written dialogue – this is still an action RPG, though. There is a thrill to being one guy versus the forces of evil, armed only with wits, some stats to determine dice rolls, and an arsenal of magical weapons. Obsidian Entertainment are pretty busy as they develop the third entry into the Dungeon Siege series.

Obsidian promises that each individual class will be truly unique – items, skills, and even animations will be exclusive. However, Obsidian has only shown off two classes and failed to mention how many more the final copy will have. Given the multiplayer co-op focus of the game, it seems like an advisable choice. As a Diablo II fan, this is what made the multiplayer so fun in that title – each class filled a niche and it felt wrong to try to make a paladin fit the niche of an amazon.
Dungeon Siege III does not have an announced release date as of yet.

Fallout Online

Not much to say about this game at this stage in the game – it’s the Interplay addition to the Fallout franchise, it’s an MMO, and beta sign-ups are up.
Don’t expect to see Fallout Online until 2012.

Monkey Island 2: Special Edition

Apparently Monkey Island: Special Edition managed to sell enough to get an enhanced remake. If you know of  Monkey Island, there’s not too much to say about this. It’s LeChuck’s Revenge, you can play either with the old-fashioned graphics or with updated graphics, and now there’s a commentary mode that Valve popularized with their Half-Life games.
The expected release is July of this year.

John Carpenter

Not really PC news, but I am a bit of fan of the horror genre and I think John Carpenter is damn fine at what he does. As I wrote this update, I was watching his contribution to Masters of Horror, Cigarette Burns. However, Carpenter has been involved with the development of F.E.A.R 3. I was a fan of F.E.A.R, but never enough of a fan to get the expansions or the sequels. I’m rather uninterested in it, in fact. But nevertheless, I feel that getting a chance to hear Carpenter discuss F.E.A.R 3 and horror in general is not something to pass up, so here’s a link to the IGN article.
It’s also interesting to see that the horror director likes his fast-paced action games. I wonder how he feels about the survival horror genre.

Jumpgate Evolution

Jumpgate Evolution is an MMO that hopes to dethrone EVE Online from its niche. Jumpgate is a space-based MMO. And it’s a bit more of a traditional online game than EVE is, which makes it more appealing than to me. Like EVE, the in-game market seems to play a big role – with good missiles costing money. If the EVE experience is too much like a simulation for you, you may want to lookout for Jumpgate which is sounding a bit more arcadey.
Jumpgate Evolution does not have an expected release at this point.

Red Faction: Armageddon

The successor to Red Faction: Guerrilla is returning to the roots of the series with some more caves. The destruction that has been a gimmick at the core of the series since the start is still important. However, what Volition seems to be most happy about the their magnet gun – you shoot object (or person) A and object (or person) B to make one fly towards the other. It’s another way to destroy the environment and to use the destroyed environment as a weapon. Additionally, the nano-forge rifle is used to repair broken objects in the environment to use them as cover.
Rejoin the Mars rebellion next March.

The Witcher II

I enjoy The Witcher, I’ve read some of the books, played a bit of the game, and like the setting. The Witcher II is seeing some simplification with how the game handles – the E3 demo was done on the PC with a 360 controller. The game is, naturally, seeing some added features to the basics behind the game: dialogue options are now timed and have lasting effects on the story, the combat system is more fluid looking, and the gameplay still has a lot of focus on timing. Geralt’s skills in sword play, magic, and alchemy can be improved as you level. Alchemy, for those unfamiliar with the universe, is essential for any witcher. Witchers, who specialize in hunting really big and scary monsters always keep potions that they’ve brewed themselves to enhance their abilities.
Geralt’s return to the gaming world is not yet dated.

Civilization is getting another sequel. A few years ago we saw a pretty big leap from Civ III to Civ IV, and now I believe we’re seeing another huge leap in the series.
Civilization V now uses hexagon tiles instead of the classic square tiles – this isn’t the biggest change but it does change how movement is handled. The game is prettier, as expected. It’s not just the graphics engine that makes it look nice, but the interface. The game features an in-game hub for accessing mods, talking with the community, and even visiting fan sites. The combat system has been revamped. Ranged units will now fire from multiple hexes away – it’s a bit of a wonder that it took almost two decades for this to happen. The diplomatic system is also seeing some new additions and now we have both city-state and nation-state powers in the series.

A big addition to the series is the new culture system, in which you add-on to social policies you made in the past instead of choosing one as you go through the tech tree. The idea is that the player can craft their own society by building on top of the foundations of their previous decisions. It adds life to a section of the tech tree that’s usually a bit of a joke with players.
Civilization V is set to hit shelves September 21 of this year.

Medal of Honor

Portal 2

Rage

Shogun 2: Total War

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier