Angry Birds' "Mighty Eagle" Character Now Available in iPad App

The forthcoming release of the long anticipated Angry Birds update will contain a mysterious addition — the Mighty Eagle.

Angry Birds Mighty Eagle Explained

 

But what exactly is the Mighty Eagle? Put simply, the Mighty Eagle will be a special bird you can purchase in the event you can’t pass a level or if you are trying to “maximize your Eagle score”. After purchasing the Mighty Eagle from within the game you are free to use it to solve the level.  Using it will not yield any stars or points (read on to see how the Eagle score works) and contains two features: level skip and a “mini-game”.

Okay, how does that work? From what I can deduce (answers from Rovio below), after you purchase the Mighty Eagle you have to activate it from within a particular level (). You can then use it in conjunction with your other birds to help solve the level or maximize your Eagle score.  Mighty Eagle scores are kept separate and are calculated as a percentage of destruction — 100% being the perfect.

After you activate it your slingshot is loaded with a can of sardines (that’s a nice touch IMO). You then hurl the can towards the piggies mocking you on the other side. After which, you wait a couple seconds…then…BLAMOH! The Mighty Eagle drops out of the sky and smashes everything.  However, it’s not guaranteed that you’ll receive a 100% eagle score.  That depends on how strategically you place you can of sardines.  Lastly, after you’ve used the Mighty Eagle the level selection icons display an eagle graphic to signify he’s been used.

Once you’re used the Mighty Eagle there is a “recharge” period before you can use it again. It remains to be seen how long that is.

I have to say, it’s an interesting concept and will be cool to see. On the flip side, I can hear the hardcore Angry Birds fans screaming that this is cheating (IMO, based on what Rovio said I don’t feel as if this is a cheat, especially since it doesn’t produce any stars and the score is tabulated under “Eagle mode”).

Anyhow, here are the questions I have:

• Q. Will this yield 3 stars every time?
• A. Per Rovio, “Using the Eagle doesn’t give you any stars, but the scoring goes into the Eagle mode. The destruction is calculated in percentages, and getting a 100% Total Destruction awards you with an eagle feather for that level. This gives you a reason to revisit all the old levels again, even if you’ve got three stars on all of them. So, when skipping a level with the Eagle, you still have to come back and earn the three stars in the regular fashion.”
• Q. How will affect leaderboards? It seems kind of unfair to rank these people higher than those who passed the level without the Mighty Eagle.
• A. Per Rovio via Tweet, “No effect on leaderboards”. Per Rovio, via comments below, “The Mighty Eagle can be used with the regular set of birds, and this might be required to maximize your Eagle score in some levels (or, first destroy some difficult-to-reach blocks with the regular birds before launching the final blast with the Eagle.”
• Q. Does this incentive Rovio to make the upcoming levels harder, if not almost impossible? I hope not.
• A. No answer, but my guess is we’ll see some challenging levels ahead, which isn’t a bad thing.
• Q. What do you get when you purchase the Mighty Eagle?
• A. The Mighty Eagle comes with two features:
• Level skip
• New “mini-game”.  I’m not sure exactly what the “mini-game” is.
• Q. Is it a single use item or do you only have to purchase it once?
• A. Once.  Per Rovio, “The Eagle is NOT one use only, but it ‘recharges’ for a time before it can be used to skip a level again. However, the Eagle can be used repeatedly in any level you’ve already managed to unlock.”
• Q. How will this impact walkthroughs on AngryBirdsNest.com?
• A. That’s a good question!  We may end up having two versions of each.  We’ll see.  It’s going to be fun.

 

Angry Birds - how to activate the Mighty Eagle

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