Update, 1/2 @ 8:04pm — Forgot to mention, you also get a push notification when your Mighty Eagle is ready again.
With the latest Angry Birds update comes an optional in-game purchase called the Mighty Eagle. There is a cinematic video that hints at what it will do, but nothing was very specific.
Good news, loyal readers: I took the risk for you.
What Is It?
The Mighty Eagle is a new bird to use in your original Angry Birds game. At the beginning of any level, you can opt to use the Mighty Eagle. Your birds will be replaced with a sardine can that you lob at those dastardly pigs.
After the can does a little bit of damage, a black behemoth swoops in and bring devastation and ruin to blocks and pigs alike.
How Much Is It?
The in-game purchase makes it seem like a one-time-use thing, but it’s a one-time purchase for $0.99 and you can use it forever.
What Purpose Does It Serve?
A couple, actually.
First, if you’re stuck on a level, you can choose the Mighty Eagle to swoop in and save the day. This is a free pass through the level. You can only use the Mighty Eagle on levels you haven’t already beat once per hour — so, it’s skipping a level, but you can’t skip through to the end right away.
It’s worth noting that you don’t earn any stars or points towards your overall total with the Eagle. Instead, you earn an Eagle Score. This is a percentage of destruction caused. This leads to the second purpose: it’s a whole new mini-game within the game.
You can use the Mighty Eagle as many times as you’d like on levels you’ve already conquered. Your highest Eagle Score is saved for each level (just as normal score and stars) and when you fully destroy a level with your Eagle, you’ll earn the “total destruction” feather which shows up in your level selector view. This brings a new way to play back to all levels already out there. It’s a little bit easier than doing it with the birds, but not as easy as it sounds.
Other Thoughts
It’s fun. I’m more interested in going back and destroying all levels with the Eagle than I am with the new levels they recently released. If you think about it, $1.98 for the original Angry Birds and the Mighty Eagle upgrade are a virtual steal for the amount of play time most get out of the game.
While there’s a bunch of hinting as to what the Eagle is, it would be great if they were a little more upfront about it. Sure, this mysteriousness may make people so curious that they want to buy it, but the video teasing it has it looking like a level-skipping mechanism when it’s much more than that.
If you love Angry Birds, this add-on is well worth your dollar. It brings a whole new way to play the 210 levels already available in game (with more promised soon).
