Skylanders Swap Force Preview

In 2011 Activision launched Skylanders, which was set in the Spyro the Dragon universe. The game was groundbreaking, and the folks at Nintendo probably criticized themselves for not inventing it first. You basically have action figures that you place on this portal device and the toys come to life in an action fighter. It was immediately the most sought after toy for Christmas of that year. Activision followed up with a sequel in 2012 and a third installment is also due out this year.

This year’s iteration is Skylanders exchange force. The innovative gameplay feature of the cheat of this game is that you can change the character’s body and lower torso. Do you want a powerful robot with octopus legs? You got it. The toys themselves have little magnets so changing is easy and hassle-free, although I can see the kids losing the toys all over the house and making clean-up an all-day event.

The E3 demo I got to work with was basically the same Skylanders game that has been on the market for two years. There was absolutely nothing new or fresh in the game. Obviously being able to switch between the Skylanders you already have seems cool, but that’s to be expected. The only new feature they had was that the new Skylander figures can activate “travel powers” with the B button (Xbox 360) or the circular button (PlayStation 3). It seemed like the characters could jump higher with some of these abilities activated, but they didn’t actually add anything to their set. The Giants from last year’s game have a charge attack going instead of travel powers.

One of the good things for past fans is that the level cap appears to be raised to level 20, instead of 15 from last year’s game. It lengthens the time you will spend with the game, but it is disappointing when that is one of the key points for a new game. One of the main problems I had with the above Skylander games is the obvious lack of cooperative online. This is inexcusable for a game like this, which is basically a simplified dungeon crawler at its core. This feature has been missing from previous games and needs to be added. I could also see that four player co-op play is really fun in a game like this.

In terms of the new Skylander figures, I’ll admit they look great; if you were in the target age group, you would be in all of this. If you look at the game as a serious gamer, you won’t find much, but it’s not really for them. Skylanders it has always been about having fun with your friends or family; it is overly forgiving and designed not to frustrate younger players. I feel like Skylanders It could also suit older kids if the gameplay evolved a bit. With a game like this, Activision is more interested in selling toys and accessories than providing a solid gaming experience.

This year, Skylanders will face its greatest test with the new Disney game infinite. Basically, Disney decided to enter the hybrid market for collectible video game action figures as well. They will bring all kinds of recognizable characters and brands to their own game. It will be interesting to see if Activision will be able to fend off the potential goliath that game could be. Heck, Disney even owns Marvel and the Star Wars brand now so they could dive into even bigger universes.

It’s a shame Activision chose not to evolve too much from the core of Skylanders. They really stick to the mantra of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Kids will eat these things right away, but at some point they will throw them aside if there’s nothing really new or exciting to enjoy. This game is from a younger person. Obligations; every year it will come back and every year people will continue to buy it. Maybe that’s why Activision doesn’t care about changing too much with either franchise. That’s all I can really say about Skylanders exchange force: there is simply nothing new about it. It’s a fun, no-nonsense action game for kids and until they add more that’s all it will be.