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Review: Skylanders: Trap Team

Skylanders: Trap Team is exactly what I dreamed video games would be when I was young. Essentially a playable Saturday morning cartoon, Trap Team is a delight for little and big kids alike. Throw in the high quality, collectible real-world toys and the impressive Traptanium Portal — new to this iteration — and it’s easy to see why Skylanders is a $2 billion franchise.

Unless you’ve been living under any form of rock even the most casual of knowledge of all things videogame would ensure you’re aware of Skylanders. Initially leveraging Spyro’s star power, the first game in the series introduced the concept of real-life toys used in-game and basically invented the genre.

With Disney Infinity staking a claim last year then making a big play with Marvel properties this year and Nintendo’s Amiibo vying for a slice of the very lucrative pie, Skylanders needs to constantly improve to remain relevant and in the forefront of the collective gaming (and Mum) consciousness. Thanks to some nifty new mechanics and toys, Trap Team does just that.

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Skylanders’ tried and true action/platformer RPG lite gameplay returns once again, but a new machanic — borrowed wholesale from the Pokémon bag of tricks — adds considerably. Trapmaster Skylanders heroes have the power to trap special villains. New totem figurines made from the powerful Traptanium element can be inserted into the Traptanium Portal thereby capturing a weakened villain. Once trapped, if the totem is inserted into the Portal players can switch between villain and hero with a simple tap of the left trigger.

Even cooler, is as you change between villain and hero the Traptanium Portal’s built in speaker plays audio of the captured villain. While a totem is inserted in the Portal every now and then you’ll hear a sentence or two from the trapped villain relevant to what’s happening on screen. It’s not huge, but it really goes a long way to helping create a link between the action on TV and the real world toys.

With over 40 villains to capture you’re going to need to spend some money if you want to “trap ’em all.” Each villain is aligned to an element as is each trap totem. If you don’t have the right one you’ll have to move on without trapping. Which brings me to the least attractive part of Trap Team. I fully understand that the collecting of real world toys is integral to the experience, but to be locked off from content from the very first mission felt a little cheap.

I would have preferred to have been eased into the nudging to buy more toys. Instead Trap Team is pretty shameless. The main story can of course be completed with a basic starter pack and there is a huge amount of content available without additional spending, I just felt as though I was being almost bullied into it immediately. That being said, it’s the nature of the beast and it didn’t sour my overall enjoyment. I just wish it could have been slightly less in-your-face.

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The meat of Trap Team, exploring, combat, platforming and trapping are solid and a lot of fun, however the target demographic is most definitely skewed towards the younger gamer. I found the best way to play as a somewhat grown up, adult man was in short bursts. An hour at a time was perfect for me as anymore than that and the simple, repeated gameplay loop would grow tired. I have no doubt younger gamers on the other hand will be able to lose entire days in front of Trap Team, and why shouldn’t they? It’s a great title and ideally suited for children and their parents to enjoy together.

Aside from the roughly 8-12 hour campaign there’s a huge amount of additional content. While some is locked behind the requirement of new toys, much of it is not. A Skylanders take on horde mode, challenges, puzzles, co-op, a Magic the Gathering styled meta card game and more go a long way to rounding out the full package. There’s a lot on offer here. Should you find yourself purchasing all available figurines and spending huge wads of cash, it’s arguable that it’d still be value for money.

Skylanders is the king of the real-toys adventure game genre and Trap Team exemplifies this. The immersion brought by the addition of audio to the Portal can’t be overstated and although Pokémon has let gamers catch and use “enemies” for decades it feels fresh to Skylanders. It offers a new way to play and keeps things interesting. Fans won’t need anymore convincing other than the fact it exists, but if you’re looking for a new take on classic platforming, look no further.

 

Skylanders: Trap Team

The good

  • Playable Saturday morning cartoon
  • Trapping is a great addition
  • The talking Traptanium Portal

The bad

  • Expect to spend a lot to see everything
  • Best in short bursts

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DeltaPhoenix08