分类： iOS平台
2014-07-24 14:14:24
The Skylanders series finally has some real competition in the form of Disney Infinity, but rather than cowering at the might of the oncoming juggernaut, the Skylanders franchise confidently strides forward with the best gameplay, best presentation, and best toys the series has seen yet. Spyro's Adventure was a cute little start two years ago, but with Skylanders: Giants last year and now Skylanders: Swap Force in 2013 the series has grown into a legitimately solid action / platforming experience. It is still definitely aimed at kids, but adults will have a good time too, and it is a perfect game to play as a family. Find out all of the details here in our full Skylanders: Swap Force review.
The basics of Skylanders is that it is a game that comes with a little USB gizmo you plug into your Xbox 360. When you place special Skylanders toys on this "portal", they are instantly activated in the game. This means you can quickly swap characters that have different powers and abilities. The toys are well designed and nicely crafted, and have the added benefit that gameplay data is actually saved to the toy itself, so you can take your toys to a friend's house and play with your leveled up and customized character in their game.
Skylanders: Swap Force introduces a new type of toy that has a swappable top and bottom, which lets you combine the top and bottom (held together with magnets) of two different characters in order to use new abilities and powers. The Skylanders: Swap Force Starter Pack comes with a portal, the game, two swappable characters, and one non swappable Skylander for $75.
It is important to note that your portals from the first two Skylanders games won't work with Swap Force. You have to buy the new Starter Pack to get the new portal. With that said, however, the Swap Force portal does work with the first two games. Also, all of your toys from previous Skylanders games there are around 150 counting variants at this point all work with Skylanders: Swap Force. The new Swap Force figures won't work with previous games, however.
It would be irresponsible of me to talk about all of these toys without mentioning that Skylanders can be an expensive hobby to get into. You don't actually need to buy any extra toys other than the three included in the Starter Pack to beat the game, but you'll only see a fraction of the content the game has to offer. In short, if you want to see and do everything you'll need to buy more toys at least one of every element type to really get the full Swap Force experience. Toys range from $7.99 9.99 for individual standard figures, $12.99 for special "Light Core" figures, $14.99 for Swap Force characters, and $24.99 for three packs. And, remember, all of the toys from the past games work here as well, so you don't have to only look for "Swap Force" branded items. Many retailers have regular sales and specials on Skylanders figures, though, so you could potentially build a decent collection for less cash if you wait for sales.
The gameplay in Skylanders: Swap Force is fairly simple and linear dungeon crawling where you hammer on the attack buttons to defeat enemies, all the while collecting treasure so you can buy new abilities and loot (like hats) that you can equip that boosts your stats. It is quite a bit like the Diablo or Torchlight games, just without the demons and trips into Hell. Each character plays a little differently, so swapping characters in order to have the best abilities for a given situation is a key to the gameplay.
It has to be said that the game isn't especially complex or challenging if you're a veteran gamer. It was designed with kids in mind, after all. I have to admit that I was turned off by the simplicity of everything in the original Skylanders, but a lot of things have been added to Swap Force to make things more interesting. The core gameplay is tighter and just feels better to play. There are also a ton of enemy types that all require different strategies to beat, which keeps things fun. The game is also filled with tons of hidden items to find and collect, and the most well hidden ones will test even seasoned adult gamers' abilities to find.
I also really like how often you are encouraged to swap figures. Whether a certain element is required to open a door, you need a specific ability to play a challenge (like flying through a series of rings or climbing up a vertical wall, etc.), or you just like fighting a certain enemy type with a particular figure, you'll be swapping figures a lot. Even with just the three figures included in the Starter Pack, I was swapping them in and out (and playing around with the different abilities the two swappable characters offered) every few minutes. It is genuinely a lot of fun and I like the meaty "clack" sound the swappable characters make when you connect them.
It also really can't be understated how great the game is to play with kids. Kids don't care that the gameplay is simple or if everything is too easy. Kids just like to have fun. The story and world and huge cast of characters featured here are outstanding and will keep kids entertained for the long term. Even better is when you play the game along with a child, and everything you accomplish is all the more satisfying because you did it together.
The presentation is very nice in Skylanders: Swap Force. The environmental details have really been cranked up over the previous Skylanders games, so the worlds you explore are much more interesting than before. The game is filled with nice bright colors and everything is really sharp. The Skylanders themselves have always looked good, and that is still the case here. All of the little details present on the physical toys are present in the game, which is very cool.
The sound is also very well done. A cast of well established voice actors do a great job with the quirky characters and surprisingly gripping story. Sound effects for everything are solid, though hearing the same catch phrases for attacks over and over is a little grating. The music has always been a strong point in Skylanders, and Swap Force is no different.
I have to give Activision credit for its handling of the Skylanders series. It could have easily been lazy and just sat back and raked in the profits while pumping out the same game every year, but the company has actually tried to innovate and has really worked to improve not just the toys but the game itself with each new release. Looking back from the newest release, Skylanders: Swap Force, back to the original Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, it is really amazing to see how far the series has come in just two years. I still don't necessarily love the idea of disguising DLC as toys, but at least the toys are well made and (maybe) actually worth the money.
At any rate, Skylanders: Swap Force is easily the best entry in the series yet. It plays the best, looks the best, and the new Swap Force and light core toys are some of the best yet. Longtime Skylanders fans will love it, but it is also a solid starting point for new fans since all of the old toys will work with the new game so you can build up a collection and have fun pretty quickly. I do suggest waiting on sales and special deals to buy extra figures, though. Skylanders: Swap Force is easy to recommend as a game for kids or families who want to play games together.
