Angry Birds Star Wars Hoth update finally arrives on Windows Phone 8
After an excruciatingly long wait, Windows Phone 8 users can now download the Angry Birds Star Wars Hoth update.
When Rovio and Lucasfilm released Angry Birds Star Wars on November 8, 2012 – perfectly blending the classic Angry Birds gameplay with the iconic Star Wars lore – I praised them for being the first to launch a game on all major platforms (with the notable exception of dedicated game consoles and handhelds). It was a great achievement, and although there was a one-month delay for the Windows Phone 7.x version, Windows Phone 8 owners were able to get in on the action right away.
The initial release only included Tatooine, the Death Star, and the Jedi Trials on Dagobah (on most platforms), but Rovio teased fans with the promise of Hoth in the near future. Three weeks later, on November 29, Hoth arrived – but Windows Phone and Windows 8 users were left waiting. And when a second set of Hoth levels arrived on January 31, the first update was still nowhere to be found. Now, nearly two-and-a-half months after Hoth first arrived on Android and iOS, the update – version 1.1.2.0 – is finally available on Windows Phone 8. The Windows 8 update isn’t quite ready yet, but an imminent release wouldn’t be at all surprising.
Thankfully, there is a bright side. The Windows Phone 8 update combines the two previous Hoth releases, adding a total of 40 new levels (plus some bonus ones) to the overall game. This includes the fantastic Mynock pigs, which excited the Star Wars community a few weeks ago. At this point, my biggest complaint is that the Hoth levels come locked by default. If you had to delete the game for any reason, you’ll need to replay the Tatooine and Death Star worlds before Hoth will become accessible. Hopefully Rovio will fix this issue as well as provide a simultaneous release for the next planet, which the company has already started teasing.
I’ve been planning to review Angry Birds Star Wars for some time, but I was waiting to do so until the first update with Hoth was released. Now that it’s available, look for our review of the game in the near future. I just need to replay the first two-thirds of the game first…
Download: Windows Phone Store
