What's the biggest game out this week? The obvious answer is Grand Theft Auto V, which analysts have been suggesting may hit $1bn in sales in its first month.  That's around 16.7m copies, which would be hugely impressive, and certainly makes GTA V the most lucrative game out this week. But it may well be beaten for reach by a mobile game based on two equally-familiar global entertainment brands.  Angry Birds Star Wars II is the sequel to a game downloaded more than 100m times since its release in November 2012, although more than half of those were the free Android version. The sequel is launching simultaneously on iOS, Android and Windows Phone as a paid game, with an additional free version for Android.  It's also developer Rovio's most ambitious title yet, taking inspiration from Activision's Skylanders with a range of physical toys – Telepods – designed to work with the game. There will also be the now-customary merchandise, and an official book from National Geographic.  As before, the game takes the familiar bird-slinging action of Angry Birds into the Star Wars universe, with the birds and enemy pig characters based on characters from the latter.  The likes of Chewbacca, R2-D2 and several versions of Luke Skywalker (Pilot Luke, Endor Luke and Jedi Luke) rub shoulders with Darth Vader, Storm Troopers and Boba Fett from the original Star Wars trilogy.  But newer characters also feature: Anakin, Mace Windu, Darth Maul and yes, Jar Jar Binks. Each character has their own attack move, from light sabres, lasers and The Force through to Yoda's ability to ricochet around scenery or Jar Jar's swinging rope tricks.  Wait: the bad characters (portrayed as pigs) have attack moves? That's one of the new features in Angry Birds Star Wars II: you can play as the pigs and splat birds, rather than just the other way around.  At launch, there are three sections: Naboo Invasion, Escape to Tatooine and Reward Chapter. The first two are split between Bird Side and Pork Side levels – 22 for each side, so 88 levels in total across the two chapters.  If you hit certain points targets with each character, you unlock their own level in the Reward Chapter: 18 for the birds and 14 for the pigs. So that's 120 levels at launch, with more chapters to be added in the future.  You earn points in each level, and are graded with one, two or three stars for completing it – a familiar mechanic to Angry Birds fans. You'll need 20 stars on each Bird Side chapter to unlock its Pork Side version, but thereafter, their main role is for completion addicts.  The gameplay isn't hugely different from previous versions in its broad strokes: catapult the birds/pigs with a gesture, and repeat until you've destroyed all the enemies on a level.  The characters provide variety though: with more to use, there are more attacks to master, and it's clear that each level has been designed around the specific characters you're provided with to beat it.  You don't, however, have to use those characters, which is where in-app purchases and the Telepods toys come in. We'll take them separately, starting with the game's in-app character store and its system of virtual coins comes in.  You earn coins for hitting different achievements in Angry Birds Star Wars II, which can then be spent on buying different birds and pigs ready to be swapped in to levels whenever you like – although you can only use pigs on Pork Side levels and birds on Bird Side levels.  The characters are sold in finite quantities depending on their abilities. 10, 30 or 100 Jar Jar Binks will cost you 70, 130 or 250 coins respectively, but Darth Vader will cost you 800, 1,500 or 2,000 coins for the same quantities. "Bundles" are available of three characters at a time too.  Each character can also be bought as a "permanent" upgrade, enabling you to use them once on every level. Poor old Jar Jar costs just 1,000 coins for this, rising to 3,350 coins for Anakin Episode III and 3,500 coins for Darth Vader.  As a guide, I unlocked all the chapters while playing for this review, gaining 224 stars out of a possible 264 on the two main chapters, and that earned me 1,650 coins through achievements.  Two conclusions: first, you can play through Angry Birds Star Wars II without having to spend more money. Second, though, if you want to play with the full spread of characters, you probably will have to pay.  Rovio is selling coins in various quantities: £1.49 for 150 through to £69.99 for 15,000. So the monetary value of 10 flings of Darth Vader is between £3.76 and £7.92 depending on how many coins you buy at once, but getting him permanently costs between £16.45 and £34.65.  Got all that? This web of virtual and real currency may be par for the course in free-to-play mobile games, but it does make it hard to pin down the value of a particular feature or power-up.  Needless to say, parents of children playing Angry Birds Star Wars II – and kids are a big part of the first game's fanbase – should have their passwords secure and their in-app purchase settings locked down before handing their device over.  Which brings us on to the Telepods. Made and sold by Hasbro, there are more than 30 being sold in packs starting at £5.99 for two characters and a stand.  More expensive packs include more characters and other items to sling them at with physical catapults: the Death Star or a Star Destroyer for example. The latter is the most expensive pack at £39.99, for which you get 10 figures plus the 20-piece ship to set up and destroy.  Just like Skylanders, you can teleport the Telepods characters into the game itself. Once per level for each, you can tap the on-screen Telepods button, attach the toy to its transparent stand, and place it on top of your device's camera.  A QR code on the character's bottom is scanned, and there's the digital version ready to be flung. They're physical toys, digital power-ups and collectible objects all in one.  More maths: the Jedi vs Sith Telepods multi-pack costs £9.99 and includes six characters: Yoda, Anakin Episode II, Qui-Gon Jinn, Emperor Palpatine, General Grievous and Darth Maul.  Buying all six as purely in-app permanent power-ups would cost 15,000 coins, so at least £69.99. By that reckoning, £9.99 is pretty good value (and perhaps the best way for parents to point children towards saving up pocket money and/or birthday and Christmas lists as the route to new characters).  Enough business model talk. Is Angry Birds Star Wars II a great game? Yes, it is. Like its predecessor, it does an excellent job of staying faithful to the Star Wars universe, right down to the sound effects. Even the way the much-maligned Jar Jar Binks feels like a wry nod to fellow fans.  In-app purchases are more of a factor than in previous games, but Rovio has walked the line well between art and commerce, in terms of not aggressively pushing people towards the latter. You can complete the game without paying more, and it doesn't feel like a grind.  One criticism: the lack of cloud saves for your progress. Players with an iPhone and iPad, for example, can play Angry Birds Star Wars II on both devices, but they won't synchronise the data. It's a frustrating omission, given Rovio's announcement earlier in the year of something called Rovio Account designed to do exactly this, including across iOS and Android.  That aside, this is excellent. Angry Birds Star Wars II won't make more money than GTA V, and it will be played by more people. But it's not really a battle between these two very different games. What they share are fervent fanbases whose anticipation has been rewarded this week by the craft of their respective developers.  Browse our gallery of Angry Birds Star Wars II screenshots.
Rovio returns with its second Star Wars-themed version of Angry Birds. And this time, it comes with its own physical toys. By Stuart Dredge