Disney Epic Mickey | Review

Synopsis: One of the year’s most anticipated games is finally here, toting the Disney name and a number of characters and environments almost forgotten; Disney Epic Mickey is an action platformer for gamers of all ages exclusively available on the Nintendo Wii. You will play as Mickey Mouse on a journey of creativity and discovery, armed with a brush, some paint, and thinner which is used to change environments, solve puzzles, and interact with your friends and enemies, in a play style described as “Playstyle Matters”, where there will be consequences for your decisions and actions. All characters, both friends and enemies, and environments are inspired from Disney’s vault of films and shorts, some newer and some older, such as the ruler of the alternative Disney universe, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Will this title from the mastermind behind Deus Ex, Thief, and Wing Commander, Warren Spector live up to its hype?

Praise: To start off, the characters and environments in this title make me feel like I am looking at Disneyland through the eyes of Tim Burton. The graphics and music that accompany the game are beautiful, memorable, and keep players hooked to see what they will encounter next. The “Playstyle Matters” element of gameplay is the standout feature which also provides the games replay value, as the story and character interactions are based on your previous actions, whether heroic or mischievous. The levels are a pretty good length, taking between a half hour to an hour depending on how much you are looking to complete and explore. I really liked how the developers made the world from Disneyland and provided their own twist on how the park would look in their eyes should an evil blot run rampant through it.

Gripes: I really wanted to like this game more but there were a few issues that really affected the gameplay for me. The camera, yes I know this is commonly a complaint from me on adventure games, you cannot manually control it but press a button to bring the camera behind Mickey, unfortunately sometimes that doesn’t work or help. The paint/thinner does get old at times as this is your main means for playing through the story, however, when you have to decide on what to use on each enemy along with challenges, it grows tiresome. I have a love/hate relationship with the controls as I understand why this was made for the Wii, using the remote to aim your brush, but half of the time you aim at something and are unable to hit the target without having to move around trying to find the right angle.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this title, all gripes aside, the good outweighs the bad. Sure it was very frustrating at times trying to complete quests where the boss seems to be the camera, but once you best the camera, it is very fulfilling and entertaining, until your next fight with the camera. Unfortunately, I do feel that this game was oversold as I had higher expectations, and with a little extra polish to the gameplay it could have been a truly epic title.

Mashbuttons.com gives Disney Epic Mickey a 7 out of 10.

Disney Epic Mickey is available now for the Nintendo Wii.

New epic mickey trailer shows off the epic environment.

The friendly folks at Disney Interactive sent over a five minute featurette showing off the Disneyland-scape behind Epic Mickey. With these featurettes, I have learned that they can be hit or miss, but with this, it surely was interesting to see the development team take as much as they can from the park and put their own dark little twist on it. November 20th cannot come soon enough for this release.

Epic trailer for what looks to be an epic Wii title

What better way to show off a potentially epic title like Epic Mickey than to release an epic trailer for the title. Okay, enough word play, but really this game looks like it will live up to it's title. In the trailer you will get a glimpse of characters and worlds your little friend Mickey will encounter. Expect to see Epic Mickey for the Wii on store shelves November 30th.

Tron Evolution multiplayer trailer has me drooling on my keyboard

Since the sequel to the film has been announced, I have been amped for all things Tron lately and I am quite sure I am not the only one. Disney Interactive has provided the below multiplayer trailer for the available online modes and let me finish this post with......light cycles!

Epic Mickey journey trailer shows off the power of the brush

With all the news coming out regarding the release of Epic Mickey, we have not had much in the form of videos showing what we can expect. Well wait no longer as the below trailer shows of the worlds, characters, and the oh so important paintbrush, enjoy!

Disney unveals their collector's editions, I want!

Disney has released the big guns today by announcing collector's editions for both of their upcoming titles, Epic Mickey and Tron: Evolution, showing of the large amounts of swag for the Disney fanboy in everyone. Below is a glimpse and list as to what to expect from each.

Epic Mickey
* Special packaging
* Disney Epic Mickey Software
* 5" Collectible Vinyl Figure
* Special Edition DVD with behind the scenes footage and other marketing materials and videos
* Wii Remote Faceplate and Wii console skins

Tron: Evolution
* Light Cycle model
* special case for both the game and model bike

What the Dickens? Its the official Guilty Party trailer

Disney Interactive is introducing those savvy sleuths that make up Dickens Detective Agency from the upcoming Wii whodunit which is Disney Guilty Party. DGP is a family friendly mystery game which we told you about a couple months ago, but now you get to meet that cast and learn of the August 31st release date.

Car Carnage in the form of reality TV coming to the PSP

Yes, that Michael Bay looking, highly addictive, racer that is chock full of triggers to take our your competitors is coming to the PSP. For those that are still not following, I am speaking of Split/Second. Now you don't have a reason to stay inside as you can now take it with you, well this holiday season you can.

Split/Second| Review

Synopsis: Reality TV fans, racers, and just plain destructive people in general have a reason to unite with the new racing title, Split/Second. Disney Interactive got us our review copy on Friday, so we got a few days without multiplayer to unlock new cars for when multiplayer racing went live Monday night. In Split/Second, you are a driver in a reality TV series show, where racing takes place in a destructible environment and your goal is to complete the season and become the champion. Explosive events and power plays triggers which, when timed right, take out opponents and alter the track are rewarded for drafting, drifting, close calls, and catching air. These trigger are what separates this title from other recent racing titles. The season is made up of 24 episodes and each episode has a number of events to play through to unlock the next episode and specific requirements to unlock additional cars on your way to become champion. Let’s get to the review so I can get back to playing online.

Praise: Racing fans rejoice because this is all you will need to cure your itch for fast paced near flawless racing. This is not your typical racer, it’s like Burnout and Grid, made a baby and Blackrock Studios shows their love for their work when playing through this. Whether you are into single player, two player split screen, or online play, you will enjoy all that there is too offer as there are numerous race modes to prevent single player from getting old and racing online has not lagged for me at all. There are a variety of cars and each handle significantly differently focusing on different things like drift, speed, acceleration, and strength. Rather than unlocking the newest car and only using that, it is helpful to change up your cars for the different type of events to help your chances of becoming champion at the end of the season. Outside of the gameplay aspect of Split/Second, the looks and sounds are like you are watching an actual race, especially with the very minimalistic HUD. Another new feature that is a great way to show off all your achievements to friends and rivals is that the achievement pictures are placed on your car as decals. Oh yeah, it’s also nice to have more explosions than a Transformers movie.

Gripes: A few features and issues that I wish were different in the game is a very short list. There is no vehicle modification outside of visually, as it would have been nice to have some sort of performance modifications available to make to the cars in your garage. Though there are a number of events, about halfway through the game, it does begin to feel a little repetitive, but the motivation to unlock better cars to play in multiplayer does make it so you want to complete the season. The lack of licensed cars is something I feel took away from the title as most games nowadays have licensed vehicles and not generic vehicles made to have a “similar” look. Finally, the opponents on the single player mode rubber band constantly, as it seems no matter how well you race or how many cars you take out, the other racers always seem to be right on your tail.

Overall, this is a game where you come for the single player season but stay for the online races. With a huge replay value as long as you have an Xbox Live membership that allows you to play online you will be coming back for a while. There are only a few online modes but how often do you get race in a remotely destructible environment, having races that only last a couple minutes each, and enough online support to minimize the amount of lag when online. Little issues aside, this is a game that is just plain fun, not having to worry about getting through a story, just plain racing, so if you like your games with that good arcade feel, it is definitely worth the purchase.

Mashbuttons.com gives Split/Second a 9 out of 10.

Split/Second is available now for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Toy Story 3 looks, um, fun?

Disney Interactive released its trailer for their movie game yes I know I said movie game, but don't let that turn you away from the game or write it off as something you would get for a little sibling. After watching the trailer, I am strangely intrigued to see just how fun it will be, and easily something I can buy for myself with the excuse of it being for my daughter. The Toy Box mode looks fully customizable to make and play through your created levels.

Ditch the board games this Summer for Guilty Party on the Wii

Disney Interactive Studios has just announced the release date for Guilty Party, their video game version of Clue for the Wii. This family friendly title has been receiving a lot a positive feedback recently and it appears that the studio is giving families and gamers something to do indoors to avoid the summer heat as the title is scheduled to release on July 27th. Guilty Party puts players in the role of detectives solving crimes using the Wii remote as detective tools to thwart the criminal mastermind Mr. Valentine. The stand out feature for me is that after the crime is solved, players can play again with a different set of tools for a new experience every time.

New trailer available for Split/Second

So I am now officially torn on whether to get Split/Second or Blur. After playing the Beta for Blur I was hooked, however, after seeing all the gameplay trailers and videos of Split/Second, I am officially back on the fence. I have attached the most recent Downtown trailer for Split/Second for all to check out and give me your thoughts as to which you will choose. I think, like Blur, we should get a Beta, you know for comparison reasons until each come out.

DIS finally releases launch date for Split/Second

We got word from Disney Interactive Studios that the upcoming acion racer, Split/Second from the studio that brought us Pure will be hitting store shelves on May 18th in the states and May 21st in Europe. For those of you unfamiliar with this title, it is a racer set in the world of a reality TV show where contestants trigger explosive events to take out other players and find shortcuts.