Last year, Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure captured the hearts of kids and the wallets in their parents, with its figurines that come to life within the game. Today at E3 2012, we got a glance at Skylanders Giants, the imminent sequel that introduces some new elements and, without a doubt , a slew of recent toys to gather. It can also put an undue strain on parents’ purse strings and lead a number of them to prevent indulging their children’s Skylanders habit.
Because the demo began, a brand new Skylander figurine named Jet-Vac was put on the Portal of Power peripheral, and the birdlike character then appeared inside the game with a rousing cry of “Hawk and awe!” The terrain during which Jet-Vac began his journey looked similar to the inviting grasslands of early Skylanders levels, and the gameplay pretty just like that of the 1st game. Pushing a block aside revealed a previously hidden tunnel, and we were told that Giants introduces these types of secret areas, encouraging exploration and giving players more reason to come to levels.
Soon, we got a glance at one of many new “light core” Skylanders; a variation of Prism Break from the unique game. As this special version of Prism Break was brought as regards to the portal, crystals within the figurine’s arms started to glow. It was a neat visual touch that’s certain to enchant many children, and it doesn’t require batteries; the ability comes from the portal. As well as this nifty figurine feature, light core characters also will have powers unique to them within the game.
After advancing a touch, the player placed another new Skylander named Pop Fizz at the portal, bringing the demented goblin-like creature into the sport. Pop Fizz was described as an alchemist, and at one point he drank from a flask, temporarily mutating himself right into a bigger, more powerful version of himself that was described as a berzerker. Pop Fizz was clearly in a position to facing foes, but if he chanced on a neighborhood that was particularly crowded with enemies, the player took the chance to change to at least one of the titular giants, placing a significantly larger figurine at the portal. The giant’s name was Tree Rex, and he resembled a mech that have been built from large living pieces of wood.
Like his figurine counterpart, the in-game Tree Rex was much larger than a traditional Skylander, and his size enabled him to yank boulders off the floor and toss them at enemies. We initially wondered if the added physical power of giants wouldn’t essentially make smaller Skylanders obsolete, but both Tree Rex and Bouncer, a robotic giant we saw slightly later, looked as if it would move more slowly than normal Skylanders, that could be disadvantageous in some situations.
We learned that Skylanders Giants raises the extent cap for characters from 10 to fifteen and that this is applicable both to new Skylanders and to these you’ve utilized in the unique game. The upgrade system have been tweaked a little; whereas before, you reached some degree where you needed to choose from one path of upgrades or another for every Skylander, in Giants you could switch from side to side between upgrades. And although Skylanders is obviously designed primarily with adolescents in mind, Giants will add a number difficulty levels in an try and accommodate those players who might want more of a challenge.
But what concerning the toys? Having physical figurines that store the progress of your characters is a part of Skylanders’ allure, but Giants may push things a touch too far. The sport will introduce eight giants (one for every element), eight new Skylanders, and 24 “series two” characters, that are new figurines of characters who appeared within the first game. Obviously, one can use your existing Skylanders, but series two characters could have powered-up upgrades, that is bound to make children long for the hot versions. Additionally, there’ll be eight light core characters, four of on the way to be variants of series-two characters (like Prism Break), and 4 of for you to be variants of latest Skylanders.
Obviously, variations on existing characters are nothing new to the toy industry. There are any selection of versions of characters like Luke Skywalker and Han Solo in Star Wars toy lines, and having the unique He-Man toy didn’t make most Masters of the Universe fans want Battle Armor He-Man any less. So in a way, putting out new versions of characters players have already grown attached to feels like good business sense.
But it surely also seems a little bit crass, and the indisputable fact that series-two characters have more powerful upgrades than their predecessors sounds designed to get kids to ignore their existing toys and inspire their parents to shop for a complete new set of Skylanders for them. We won’t help but wonder whether parents shall be willing to buy new assortments of Skylanders so soon after sinking considerable amounts of cash into building their children’s collections for the primary game, and if those many adults who also fell under the 1st game’s spell will feel an analogous impulse to gather ’em all that they did the primary time around.