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: Skylanders: Trap Team (PS4)

I first became aware of Skylanders last year at Activision's multiplayer event for Call of Duty Ghosts. We were whisked away on our last day to a hotel room that was showing off Skylanders: Swap Force. I was in awe because it was my first time playing a PS4 and seeing the Skylanders series. I rediscovered my inner child! This year sees the release of another Skylanders game called Trap Team. Trap Team introduces an interesting new concept that allows you to trap enemy bosses and play as them for a period of time.

Preview: Skylanders Trap Team (Multiplatform)

Just like all those times when Joker breaks everyone out of Arkham Asylum, Skylanders: Trap Team features a dramatic prison breakout thanks to the perpetually evil, Chaos, which plunges Skyland into a diabolical hell of violence, drugs, corruption, and organized crime. (I may be slightly overstating this.) Only this time, once the crazy guys are captured, they work for Batman.

Review: Skylanders - SWAP Force (PS3)

As a series, Skylanders has garnered a cult-like following over the past couple of years and has sold millions of copies worldwide and presumably multimillions in additional toy sales.

Skylanders can be best described as a toy-game crossover that at first glance seems like it's primarily aimed at children, However, if you dig a little deeper, you'll quickly learn that Skylanders offers something cool to players of all ages.

Feature Preview: Skylanders Swap Force (Part III)

Last week, Sidd was in Albany, New York to take a tour of developer Vicarious Visions studio. During the trip he got a chance to talk to the developers and get some hands on time with the game. In our first two feature articles (Part I, Part II, we took a behind the scenes look at the game talking about everything from the character creation to how the story was crafted. In this third and final article gives us some hands-on impressions of Swap Force for the Xbox 360.

The Skylanders series has garnered a cult-like following over the past couple of years and has sold millions of copies worldwide, which is to say nothing of the number of toy sales that has generated.

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.

Hands-on Preview: Skylanders SWAP Force

The day after the Call of Duty reveal event, Activision invited us to see a preview of their upcoming platformer title, Skylanders: Swap Force. In addition to revealing several new Skylanders , the preview also offered a chance to get some brief hands-on time with the game.

Skylanders is a series that has garnered a cult like following over the past couple of years and has sold millions of copies worldwide, which is to say nothing of the number of toy sales that has generated. Skylanders can be best described as a toy-game crossover that at first glance seems like it's primarily aimed at children, However, if you dig a little deeper, you'll quickly learn that Skylanders offers something cool to players of all ages.

Review: Skylanders: Giants (PS3)

I really like Skylanders: Giants. The chief reason for this enjoyment is that I don't have to play it. That might require some explanation if you're just stumbling onto this review and you don't know me from a hole in the ground.

I have five (5) kids at home, boys and girls ranging in age from 13 to 1. The bulk of the games I play and enjoy can't be played in the presence of minors. Halo 4, Dishonored, LA Noire, titles that are definitely not in the kid-friendly wheelhouse. Skylanders: Giants, carrying forward the ideas of the original Skylanders, is very kid friendly. It's bright and colourful, progress is relatively straightforward (beat things up, collect stuff, open doors, etc.), and any adult with a bit of knowledge of video games can step in and navigate the truly difficult areas. It's great to have a game like this that engages kids but doesn't insult the intelligence of adults.