Rovio, the developer who brought us Angry Birds and all its sequels, appears to be working on a brand new Angry Birds game called Angry Birds Action. The game was today soft launched in the New Zealand App Store in order to gauge the public opinion in one of the App Stores smaller markets.

Unlike previous Angry Birds games, Angry Birds Action‘s characters resemble those that will be in the upcoming Angry Birds-themed movie. You play as Red who has awoken from a busy night to discover that his village has been destroyed. Everyone is pointing their finger at Red, blaming his anger on the destruction. To prove Red’s innocence you and the other birds must go through the island and find pieces of evidence.

The game works on the same slingshot physics of previous Angry Birds games, except this time you are playing top down, not left to right. There are 90 levels to play, and the added ability to complete special challenges with friends. As previously mentioned the game is only in the New Zealand App Store and as such things could change between now and the international release. Expect the game to release sometime in the lead up to the movie.