The Skylanders franchise is best-known for revolutionizing the toys-to-life phenomenon, and Activision is kicking things up this year with yet another innovative way to play with the fourth installment, Skylanders Trap Team. With this new game, Activision is reversing the magic of bringing toys to life on screen by bringing the characters out of the game and into physical “Traps” that kids can hold in their hands—essentially bringing life to toys. And trust me: It is truly magical.
In Trap Team Kaos continues his quest to rule over Skylands, and this time he has discovered the location of the Cloudcracker Prison—a fortress built out of the magical substance, Traptanium, which imprisons Skylands’ worst villains. Kaos blows up the prison, releasing the most wanted criminals and blasting the shards of Traptanium to Earth in the form of Traps. Portal Masters must venture through the levels to recapture all of the escaped villains using their Traptanium Traps and defeat Kaos. Once the Portal Master defeats the villain using his Skylanders, he can trap the villain in a trap, then release him back into the game to fight for good. So, essentially, it’s less of a defeat-the-bad-guy and more of a transformation from evil to good—giving kids the opportunity to play as a whole series of new characters.
Let’s take a closer look into the game itself:
Trap That
With the new Traptanium Portal, a new ring of magical energy, which reverses the toys-to-life process, Portal Masters can bring digital characters into the physical world. A built-in audio speaker allows players to hear each of the villain’s unique voices as they travel from the game into the real world Trap, and vice versa. This really adds to the magic of the whole experience. When the sound travels and the Trap lights up, it really appears as if the villain has jumped out of the screen and into your living room. So cool.
Each Trap is elementally aligned, and you need the right Trap to capture each villain. But have no fear, parents: If your Portal Master traps a villain that he or she doesn’t have the correct trap for, gameplay does not stop. They get held in a Villain Vault so players can keep track of them until they can buy the correct Trap.
One of the best parts about this gameplay is that you can play as a Skylander OR as a villain. And personally, I’ve always been a big fan of the bad guys, so getting the chance to transform them to good and use their really cool, unique powers for good, adds a whole super fun way to play. The transition from Skylander to trapped villain happens with the push of a button, and is so quick and seamless, it truly seems like magic. No game-delaying buffering or loading here—just a quick flash and you’re back to playing. This makes it exceptionally great for battling other villains in the game, so if you decide halfway through a battle that your Skylander’s powers aren’t doing the trick, you can quickly switch to the trapped villain and give his powers a try.
What’s New?!
Of course, a new installment means a whole new group of Skylanders, known as the Trap Masters. They battle through Skylands with their oversized Traptanium weapons. And man oh man, are they fun. My main girl Head Rush uses her giant Traptanium horns to charge against evil. Bushwack can easily defeat villains with a quick swipe of his Traptanium axe, while the Trap Masters’ leader Snap Shot shows off his elite archery skills with his Traptanium bow. There’s so many cool new characters and kids will love adding these really detailed figures to their collection.
The game also features stunningly beautiful environments that Portal Masters must travel through in order to defeat different villains. The gameplay features all sorts of new adventures, combats, puzzles, mini games, activities, platforming, and drop-in/drop-out co-op play. Each level holds secrets to discover and with each new addition to their Trap Team collection, Portal Masters unlock new possibilities within each level. Even though the figures and game are designed for kids ages 6 and up, I have no doubt that the whole family will want to get in on the fun!
Skylanders Trap Team is available now for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii, WiiU, and Nintendo 3DS. There is also a tablet version of the game, so kids can play on-the-go using their (or their parents’) iPads. Skylanders enthusiasts can play Trap Team with their entire collection of forward-compatible characters from Swap Force, Giants, and Spyro’s Adventure.
Check out Toy Insider Kid Dylan, the ultimate Skylanders fan, demoing the brand new game!
Skylanders Trap Team was chosen as one of the Toy Insider’s Hot 20 items for 2014. Check out the full list here!
