Skylanders Trap Team: Initial Thoughts

The “Skylanders” franchise is still young, with its debut only three years ago, yet it’s already earned a place as one of the top video game franchises of all time. This year, the series introduces its next batch of charming characters and imaginative innovation with “Skylanders Trap Team.”

In terms of controls, “Trap Team” is not much different than its predecessors — it maintains its simplicity. Combat appears slightly easier than before, but the demo presumably featured one of the earlier levels, so let’s not hold our breath. “Skylanders” games can offer quite the challenge. But the franchise’s appeal was never about difficulty, the experience is meant for both children and adults to enjoy without much tension.

This year’s biggest innovation is the new portal, made of traptanium crystal. This portal is packed with flashy lights and is able to capture defeated villains, storing them into elemental traps that allows the player to add them to their library of good guys.

Speaking of which, “Trap Team” offers a new breed of heroes. The Trap Masters are the ones responsible for returning captured villains who were freed from the Cloudcracker Prison after series main villain Kaos blows it up. These characters hold special weapons also made of traptanium and are by-far some of the best looking Skylanders ever produced.

The game, just like previous installments, does require a bit of patience. Character movements are still slow, and animations usually cut into gameplay. Capturing a villain may look cool at first, but the player is forced to listen to the talking portal for a while before getting back to the game, which can get pretty annoying. At least the dialogue is entertaining… cheesy, but entertaining.

“Skylanders Trap Team” is an awesome family-friendly franchise that’s deserving of its quick recognition and praise, and “Trap Team” is no different. Returning fans may be bummed that they need to go out and purchase another portal, but at least their accumulated collection of Skylanders is still usable. Even if this is your first in the series, it’s a great place to start.