Angry Birds Space HD has all the innovation you'd want in improved game play, but lacks the depth of previous entries.
The new gameplay feature in a nutshell is velocity and trajectory and you usual battle with gravity itself except that in many cases, the latter doesn't exist. YOu must align your slingshot-happy bird friends on paths that account for their trajectory, velocity, and interaction with orbital, gravitational pulls. Big concept right? Well, not really. You don't encounter many situations where gravity still doesn't reign supreme or chain reactions count for nothing. As a matter of fact, regular Angry Birds rule are still in full in effect and because of that, the added gameplay mechanics aren't that hard to get used to. You become familiar right away with which direction things flows, what pulls certain orbits have, and what effects background object can have on their surroundings (which is a welcomed inclusion in this entry).
The levels are quite simply in layout, however, the challenge, as Angry Birds is known for, is earning 3 stars in every planet. Roxio doesn't attempt to up the challenge meter given the new mechanics, but they do a great job at utilizing the weapons the birds offer to their best advantage. I will say, the bird's abilities are on showcase this time around. No longer can you accomplish the levels goal with an "off-bird" that wasn't intended for the situation. There is a better job, also, of putting the birds in the proper order lining up at the slingshot. I can't remember how many times I had to "waste" a bird in Rio to get to the one that performed the job best.
On to the disappointment. The HD version of Space is a smooth $3 and this would seem to be a fair price. However, after about 3 hours in, I reach the Danger Zone. I nice single frame, comic style animation introduced me to the zone, and I played the 1st planet.
I'll say it again, because I actually did it again...I played the 1st planet.
And that was it, I backed up to the level menu to figure out why I was in some odd repeat mode of this level, and learned that I'd finished the 2 planets of the core of Angry Birds Space HD and that Danger Zone was for all intents and purposes, DLC for $0.99. This was very unfortunate. Here was a game that looked gorgeous, played amazingly, offered replay value (to an extent), and I felt they just pulled the rug from under me.
So, I've gone back and 3 starred every level (co-host Spanish did it in 2 days), but now I must shelve Angry Birds Space as for now, I'm not ready to shell out another dollar for one world because I've done the math. If that's Roxio's pricing structure, then why didn't I have 3 planets to begin with for my initial $3!? Not saying that 3 would be enough either, but hey it's better than 2 for what appears to be half a game when it comes to the purpose of games and that's to PLAY THEM, not pay them.