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POSTED
25/10/13

SKYLANDERS SWAP FORCE
Activision
PS3 (also on Xbox
360, Wii U, Wii, 3DS)


Oh
you’d better swap (SWAP!) before you tear me all apart...
Umm, this whole new SWAP thing actually involves tearing your
Skylanders apart. Sam Brown, you don’t know shit about this stuff!
Actually, we didn’t either before this encounter with
Activision’s world-conquering ‘Game or toy?’ thingy. We admit to
having judged it all a bit of a scam, based purely upon rampant
uninformed cynical conjecture. We recently checked out the
conceptually similar Disney
Infinity though and, despite some lingering cynicism, it
had much to offer. So, can these Skylanders compete with the might
(and magic) of Walt?
Well, honestly, if we were to fill our
shelves to bulging point with collectible figurines that double as
in-game characters that you plop on a USB-connected base, we’d
prefer ones we know. Yet, if we’re playing the associated game we’d
rather it was super-slick and hyper-engrossing. SWF nails
the latter.
It’s very
Ratchet & Clank,
with elements of ‘My First RPG’ – a fairly typical third-creature 3D
collect stuff platforming adventure, but with lots and lots of
shiny. Being the third incarnation, much finessing has (apparently)
happened. This is the first time that characters can jump (really!),
but the big thing is that which we alluded to while desperately
scrabbling for an intro. While old ones still work, many of the new
figurines have magnetised tummies, so they can be torn asunder and
mixed and matched like some sort of crazed Dr Frankenstein lab orgy.
These creations are, naturally, mirrored in-game.
While we
remain highly cynical of the ‘gotta collect ’em all’ expensive toy
element – many areas are inaccessible without certain character
types beyond the three pack-ins, and the game could have been as
good without a reliance on sculptured plastic lumps - this is no
shonky money grab...
It’s a polished one.
 
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