Review: Skylanders: Trap Team (PS3)

"We have seen the evil of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors in our midst; let us try prohibition and see what this will do for us."

- Thomas Jordan Jarvis

Swap out "intoxicating liquors" for "Skylanders" and you'll know where I'm going with this review of Skylanders: Trap Team. In fact, I really wanted to write this review in the spirit of a 1920's speech on the evils of liquor and the shortfalls of Prohibition because this is the era that Skylanders has started to conjure in my mind. Not just for the addiction angle and the corruption of youth, but because it would be pretty interesting to see what homebrew figures would look like.

Review: Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes (PS3)

Besides offering hours of enjoyment for the kids, Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes did something for me. It reminded me how much I enjoyed the likes of The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (2005), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), and the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games (2006, 2009) and then plunged me into a hole of nostalgia eight miles deep reminiscing about Stunt Island (1992) but before I can really explain that it's worth quickly describing Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes.

Besides the actual game, the "starter pack" comes packed with three figures -- Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow -- two Toy Box Game Discs, and the Infinity base, which plugs into your PlayStation 3. To actually play the game, one need only put one of the plastic characters on the base; their digital reflections appear in the game and it's off to the races.

At least, for the kids.

Review: The Last Tinker: City of Colors (PC)

If games could be disassembled and broken down into their “ingredients” The Last Tinker: City of Colors would form neat stylistic piles of Viva Pinata, Little Big Planet, and platforming action and sensibility of Banjo-Kazooie. That doesn't prevent The Last Tinker to convey a charm all it's own – it's often cheery and light-hearted even if though the storyline's main message is a Sesame Street take on BioShock Infinite's racist underbelly and there's an ominous tone throughout (if you think about it too hard).

Feature Preview: Skylanders - Swap Force (Part II)

Check Part I of Sidd's Skylanders: Swap Force.

Part 4: The Audio Behind Swap Force
We met with one of the sound designers who took us inside his studio where the walls are covered with soundproofing foam and a really cool audio board, full of computers and dials.

The designer revealed that the sound offered a challenge when you add the "swapability" elements to the characters, since the two characters might have different personalities. As a rule of thumb the developers would play up the more aggressive side of a character, but they would also have to strike a fine balance between something that is cool and not scary to kids.

One of the characters we were shown was Wash Buckler who features tentacles. The audio team wasn't really sure how to make an octopus sound when walking on land. The team came up with an idea like using a bath tub, bath mat and laundry detergent to create Wash Buckler's sound. It seems like inspiration can come from the strangest places.

Feature Preview: Skylanders - Swap Force (Part I)

On September 17th, Sidd was in Albany, New York visiting Vicarious Visions Studio where he was given a tour of the studio, spoke with members of the development team and got some more hands on time with the game. In the next few days we will be featuring some articles taking a behind the scenes look at the next game in the series and have some more hands on impressions. This article will cover how the concept of Swap Force came about, the game's technology, and the process of how the writers create an engaging story.

Part 1: How The New (Swapping) Feature Comes About
Skylanders Swap Force still supports all the old Skylander figures/characters, but introduces sixteen new characters. These new characters have top and bottom halves that can be separated from each other and recombined with the halves from other characters. This allows for 256 total combinations.

The top half controls how you fight, while the bottom half controls how you move. This was an idea that was presented early on to Activision CEO of Publishing Eric Hirschberg. Immediately he latched on to the idea and loved what it could mean for the third iteration of the game. As the developers described it, it was their "Aha!" moment.