Second album syndrome is all about the difficulty of following up on that initial smash hit, but spare a thought for those suffering from 11th album syndrome. This is the plight of Rovio, the Finnish company that's still trying to match the runaway success of 2009's Angry Birds. As struggling bands so often do, Rovio has travelled abroad for creative inspiration, teaming up with Japanese company Kiteretsu Inc. to create Angry Birds Fight. The 11th game in the Angry Birds series, it's a title that mashes together elements of Candy Crush and RPG gaming in an attempt to hook players.
3 million downloads in the Asia Pacific region to date
Angry Birds Fight soft-launched several months ago, with a release in the Asia Pacific region back in May clocking up 3 million downloads to date. Now, it's available worldwide on both Android and iOS, delivering the same colorful graphics and cast of characters as previous titles (if you don't know anything about Angry Birds lore let's just say it runs surprisingly deep).
Two screenshots from Angry Birds Fight shows the main game screen and world navigation screen.
The basic gameplay mechanic of Angry Birds Fight is a match-three puzzler that lets you power up your avatar to defeat either computer or human opponents. There's also an RPG-style leveling system layered over the top, letting players buy gear and weapons to boost their characters' health and attack stats before battles. There's no actual control over the fighting (players are just trying to match tiles on the board to increase their chance of winning) but in essence, Rovio has simply combined some of the most addictive gameplay mechanics available in an attempt to create a new monster hit. The company must be hoping that Angry Birds Fight isn't too much of a Frankenstein creation to scare gamers away.