Angry Birds Star Wars II Out Now!

SURPRISE!!! Rovio has released Angry Birds Star Wars II a day early! Speculation suggests that it is related to the release of iOS 7, but who knows for sure — and frankly, who cares?! We’ll talk more about system requirements further below, but for now, Angry Birds Star Wars II is available for iOS, Android via Google Play and the Amazon Appstore, and Windows 8 Phone.

Update 24 October: ABSW2 released for PC.

Let’s jump straight into the details. We’ll have a “first look” video soon, but we were caught off guard by the early release.

Check the Cargo Hold! (What’s Included)

Gotta start with the best stuff. There’s an insane amount of content.

• Two episodes = 80 normal levels are available at launch. We begin at the beginning: Naboo Invasion and Escape to Tatooine. Each episode has two sides: Bird (light) and Pork/Pig (dark). Each side has 20 normal levels! Quick math: 20 × 2 × 2 = 80! Walkthroughs for all levels.
  • You must start your journey on the Bird side of Naboo Invasion. (Levels numbered B1-# for “Bird, Episode 1”)
  • The Pork side of Naboo Invasion unlocks after accumulating 20 stars. (Levels numbered P1-# for “Pork, Episode 1”)
  • When you complete Naboo Invasion, you can pick which side of Escape to Tatooine to join. The other side unlocks after accumulating 20 stars there. (Levels numbered B2-# and P2-#)
• 8 “Side” levels! Hidden in each side of each episode is a treasure map. Obtaining this map opens a 2-level side quest, which is some cases is a shortcut! The levels are not required to earn “Complete an Episode” achievements, but 3-starring IS required to earn “3-star an Episode” achievements. (Levels numbered B1-S#, P1-S#, …)
• Reward Chapter! This is pretty interesting. Each character has a points-accumulated achievement associate with it. When you reach that threshold, that character’s level is unlocked in the Reward Chapter.
  Important Note: Bird Bonus Points are not credited to this counter. It must be in-game points done by that character’s fling, and points do not accrue unless you complete the level.
  Secondary Note: Not all levels of the Reward Chapter can be unlocked by normal gameplay at time-of-launch. In fact, not all levels will be unlockable via normal gameplay ever (Luke Skywalker, for example) since they are only available by TELEPOD or Character Swap usage. See more below.
• Bird Credits, TELEPODs and Character Swap! We’ll talk more about this below, since it’s very extensive.
• Achievements! These are now listed both in GameCenter (iOS only) and in-game! This way, all users can compete! There’s a massive 67 to begin the saga!
• Ability Label: Since there are so many birds and so many abilities, each character in the lineup has a little label next to it. This identifies what that character’s ability is: A small lightsaber handle, a shockwave, a laser blaster, etc.

Choose Your Destiny! Who Will You Join?

Bird Side

Playable characters on the Bird side at initial launch include:

• Qui-Gon Jinn and his single-lightsaber attack.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Force
• Yoda and his incredible bouncing spinning attack of doom!
• Jar Jar Binks and his grappling-hook tongue.
• Anakin Episode I and his missile-riding daredevil-ness.
• R2-D2 and his electronic blasts.
• C-3PO and his self-destructive explosion.

Pork Side

Playable characters on the Pork side at initial launch include:

• Darth Sidious and his magic lightning fingers.
• Jango Fett and his single-rocket attack!
• Battle Droid and its triple-shot laser blaster.
• Darth Maul and his double-ended lightsaber attack.
• Count Dooku and his boomerang lightsaber throw.
• Droideka and its incredible bouncing spinning attack of doom.

Characters Not Yet Featured

More characters will be made available in later updates to the app, and some are only available by using TELEPODs or Character Swaps (more below). While we won’t list them all here, they include Darth Vader, General Grievous, Padme, Mace Windu, and many many more.

Be sure to check out our Star Wars 2 Character Reveal videos to see all their abilities in action!

The Shop: TELEPODs, Character Swaps, and More

If you don’t like the character lineup you’ve been given for a particular level, don’t worry! With the technology of TELEPODs and “Character Swaps”, you can now set your own attack lineup! This feature has actually been requested for years in the Angry Birds community, and it’s interesting to see how Rovio has included it.

So let’s talk about how exactly this works:

• TELEPODs are physical figurines that you can place on a stand over your device’s front-facing camera (if applicable). The stand has a small magnifying glass and the figurine has a QR-code. Clicking the “TELEPOD” button in-game (looks like a T roughly) will use the camera to read the code, then BAM that character appears in the slingshot! Note that you can only import a like-side character: Pork-for-pork or bird-for-bird.
• Bird Credits are earned periodically through normal gameplay, or can be purchased from the shop. Prices are 150 credits for $1.99, 400 for $4.99, 1000 for $9.99, 2250 for $19.99, 6000 for $49.99, and 15000 for $99.99. (Worried? Be sure to see our post about restricting In-App Purchases.)
• Character Swaps are used to switch the active character in the slingshot for any character that you have “swaps” available for (on the same side)! These uses come in many shapes and sizes. They are earned in-game by completing certain achievements, can be purchased from the shop, or activated using TELEPODs. When purchasing from the shop, you can choose to purchase 10, 30, 100, or unlimited for any specific character. Note that the credit cost varies by character, with Darth Vader costing 3500 credits for unlimited.

There are also some restrictions on how these items can be used:

• You may only TELEPOD-in a certain character once per level, but you can use multiple TELEPODs per level. As an example, if you start with a level of all Jango Fett, you can one-by-one change the lineup to go Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Droideka. You cannot use TELEPODs to make the lineup 3 Darth Vaders in a row, however.
• You may use in-game Character Swaps without such a restriction. That is, you can use in-game Character Swaps to make a level of all Jango Fett into all Darth Vaders. Mwahahaha!!!
• Using a TELEPOD temporarily changes the in-game counter for that character. This seems to disappear after some time, however, and these character swaps appear to be stored in the Cloud. We tried turning on Airplane Mode and we lost them, but we will try playing around a bit more to get some more info.

Which Systems Are Go? Compatibility and Pricing

* Please be aware that this info may change at anytime. Beware of fakes! Only download apps published by Rovio Entertainment Ltd.

• iOS: Angry Birds Star Wars II is a universal app for iOS and costs $0.99 USD. It is compatible with iPhone 3GS+, iPod Touch 3rd+ generations, and all iPads. You must have iOS 4.3 or higher, and yes, it does include iPhone 5 support!
• Android (Google Play & Amazon Appstore): The Android app costs $0.99 USD and requires Android 2.3 or higher. Specific device requirements may vary and users should contact Rovio with questions pertaining to their particular device. There is also an ad-supported free version of the app.
• Windows 8 Phone: The Windows 8 Phone app costs $0.99 USD and has a plethora of device requirements. See the Windows Phone Store for all the details.

Notice for PC/Mac users: PC and Mac are not included with initial launch. Until recently, Rovio has made no statements about the future of these platforms. On the 19th, Rovio tweeted: “#AngryBirdsStarWarsII is now the #1 app on the @AppStore. We’re also working on a PC/Mac version!” No word yet on ETA, but it will likely be some time. Released for PC on 24 October; no ETA yet for Mac. We also suspect that TELEPODs will not be compatible with desktop platforms.

Helpful Links and ABN Information

• All Angry Birds Star Wars II 3-star walkthrough videos are live. This will also include Hidden Bonus Boxes, Treasure Maps, and much more.
• Compete with the best players in the world by entering your scores on our Angry Birds Star Wars II leaderboard. For the first time ever in a mobile app, ALL SCORES ARE VALID. This includes scores obtained with TELEPODs and Character Swaps. However, please explain what characters you used on the walkthrough pages.
• Hunting for hidden bonus boxes? Check out our complete boxes guide that shows their locations and how to obtain them.