Skylanders: Giants

Skylanders: Giants
Developer(s):	Toys for Bob n-Space (3DS) Vicarious Visions (Wii U)
Publisher(s):	Activision
Released:	NA (October 21, 2012) EU (October 19, 2012) AU (October 17, 2012)
Genre:	ESRB: E10+
Platform:	Nintendo Wii Wii U (November 18, 2012) Nintendo 3DS Xbox 360 Sony PS3

Skylanders: Giants is the latest released Skylanders game, a direct sequel to the spin-off Spyro game, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure.

Story Summary

Thousands of years ago, the Giants fought battles in Skylands but were banished to Earth. With a new threat looming, they are summoned back to join forces with the Skylanders.

3DS Version

The Portal Master, along with Flynn, Hugo, and others along the way, race Captain Frightbeard, the villain of the 3DS version, to the Chest of Exile. 10,000 years ago, the Arkeyans locked away Captain Frightbeard and his crew in the chest, with his sword acting as a lock. However, Frightbeard found a way out and is on his way back to free his crew and wreck havoc on all of Skylands.

Details

Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow had returned to help write the story. The theme music is again be composed by Academy Award Winning film composer Hans Zimmer and there will be a brand new score by returning composer, Lorne Balfe.

In the brand new console Starter Pack, the player will get three Skylanders (Tree Rex, Jet-Vac, and a Series 2 Cynder), a Portal of Power, Trading Cards, a Poster, and the game itself. The Starter Pack will also be available without the Portal of Power for those who already have it, and that Pack will contain only a Giant (Tree Rex). In the 3DS Starter Pack, you will get Punch Pop Fizz, Tree Rex, and a Series 2 Cynder.

24 of the Skylanders from Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure are returning with a remodel called Series 2, and have an orange base instead of a green base.

Features

Skylanders: Giants builds upon the breakthrough fundamentals of the first game—merging the physical and virtual realms with a line of cross-platform toy figures that have "brains," which players everywhere can play as in the game. This next installment of the franchise features a variety of new characters, new challenges, a new story-driven adventure, and advanced integration across console, handheld, mobile and online:

Going Big

Skylanders: Giants introduces eight new highly collectible figures that are more than twice the size of the main Skylanders cast in both physical and virtual form. They are more powerful than regular Skylanders.

LightCore Skylanders

Skylanders: Giants includes a set of characters that light up when near or on the Portal of Power. These characters have additional in-game benefits as well, and no batteries are not required.

Brand New Skylanders

Eight new regular sized Skylanders, each with their own unique powers, abilities, and personality, are playable as well.

Series 2 Skylanders

Series 2 Skylanders - Fan-favorite Skylanders from Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure return in an all new way in Skylanders Giants. Each Series 2 Skylander features an all new "Wow Pow" upgrade power, as well as the choice of more than one upgrade path. Fans can even play with their Series 2 Skylanders in Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure.

Forward Compatibility

Every character from Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is 100% compatible with Skylanders: Giants, leveled-up stats and customizations intact. In Giants, they will be able to level up to level 15.

Wider Worlds

Portal Masters will see all new arenas and more gameplay options in Battle Mode for exciting head-to-head play, as well as enhanced Elemental Zones, new Hero Challenges, and other features that encourage players to collect and level up every character.

Difficulty

Skylanders: Giants will include three difficulty levels: are Chompy Cuddler (Easy), Cyclops Crusher (Medium) and Heavy Hitter (Hard). Nightmare mode will be unlocked once you finish the game.

Plot

Console Version

After the events of Spyro's Adventure, on Earth, a toy store called Super Toy Planet has just closed shop for the day. Amongst the toys stood the frozen toy form of Kaos, who was recovered and placed inside the toy store. He soon breaks free of his toy prison due to his status as a Portal Master, and recalls Master Eon and the Skylanders banishing him to Earth. Kaos then discovers five of the Skylanders (Spyro, Stealth Elf, Gill Grunt, Eruptor, and Stump Smash) frozen in toy form inside a plastic display, and he proceeds to taunt them while the Skylanders could do nothing but make idle threats to the evil Portal Master. Kaos is soon contacted by his butler, Glumshanks, who has been looking everywhere for Kaos since his exile. Seeing a nearby Portal of Power, Kaos uses it to return to Skylands, ignoring the warnings of Glumshanks that Portal Masters are not supposed to use the portal on themselves.

Master Eon greets the player, who is the new Portal Master that will lead the Skylanders. He explains to them about the world of Skylands and the backstory of the Giants, the first original Skylanders who fought against the tryannical Arkeyans for the freedom of Skylands. A climatic battle occured as the Giants defeated the Arkeyan King and removed the source of his power, the Iron Fist of Arkus, in order to fully stop the Arkeyan empire. However, in a form of sacrifice, the Giants were swept from Skylands and haven't been seen since, until a Giant was recovered by the new Portal Master. Master Eon then goes on to explain that he has summoned the new Portal Master after sensing a new evil rising and that Skylands needs their help. He reassures the new Portal Master that they won't go alone, and reveals that Flynn and Cali will embark on a journey with the Skylanders and Giants to save Skylands from the threat.

Upon his arrival, Kaos landed in a very ancient part of Skylands and inadvertantly reactivated the Arkeyan Conquertron, quickly learning that if he could acquire something known as the Iron Fist of Arkus, he could not only reactivate the entire army of Arkeyan robots, but also command them. With that kind of power, Kaos would be unstoppable. Despite their efforts, with the help of old and new friends along the way, Kaos manages to reach the Iron Fist of Arkus and transformed into a large Arkeyan robot, preparing his conquest over Skylands.

The Skylander soon reached Kaos within the City of Arkus, only to discover that the the now robotic Portal Master was impossible to stop unless the Iron Fist of Arkus was removed from his grasp. With the help of Ermit and Machine Ghost, the Skylander was able to remove the Fist of Arkus, returning Kaos to his normal form and stopping him from commanding his Arkeyan army. The Arkeyan Conquertron carries Glumshanks and Kaos out of the collapsing city and to the safety of an island before shutting down completely. Master Eon congratulates the new Portal Master, but hints that the journey with their Skylanders, and Giants, are only just beginning.

After the credits, Kaos returns to his castle where he revealed to Glumshanks that he has at least 37 more plans to take over Skylands. The evil Portal Master laughed evilly, only to be confronted by his mother moments later.

Realms

• Time of the Giants
• Junkyard Isles
• Rumbletown
• Cutthroat Carnival
• Glacier Gully
• Secret Vault of Secrets
• Wilikin Village
• Kaos' Kastle
• Aerial Attack!
• Drill-X's Big Rig
• Molekin Mountain
• The Oracle
• Autogyro Adventure
• Lost City of Arkus
• Bringing Order to Kaos!

Adventure Pack Levels

• Darklight Crypt
• Dragon's Peak
• Empire of Ice
• Pirate Seas

Voice Talent

• Josh Keaton as Spyro
• Daniel Hagen as Master Eon
• Sumalee Montano as Cali
• Patrick Warburton as Flynn
• Michael Yurchak as Hugo
• Richard Steven Horvitz as Kaos
• Chris Cox as Glumshanks
• Kevin Michael Richardson as Stump Smash, Tree Rex
• Bobcat Goldthwait as Pop Fizz
• E.G. Daily as Sprocket
• Tara Strong as Flashwing, Seraphina
• George Takei as Arkeyan Conquertron
• Steven Blum as Auric, Vathek
• Alex Ness as Lightning Rod, Drobot, Double Trouble
• Fred Tatasciore as Warnado, Slam Bam, Flavius, Zook
• Troy Baker as Sunburn, Brock
• Bumper Robinson as Bouncer
• Joey Camen as Terrafin
• Salli Saffioti as Whirlwind, additional voices
• Tobie LaSalandra as Cynder
• Jeff Bergman as Zap, additional voices
• Thomas Bromhead as Drill Sergeant
• Ryan Cooper as Wrecking Ball
• Darin De Paul as Gill Grunt
• Keythe Farley as Eruptor
• John Kassir as Ghost Roaster
• Yuri Lowenthal as Fright Rider, Additional voices
• Lani Manella as Sonic Boom
• Julie Nathanson as Chill
• Peter Lurie as Prism Break
• Chris Parson as Wham-Shell
• André Sogliuzzo as Camo, Voodood, Sparx, additional voices
• Travis Willingham as Eye-Brawl
• Courtenay Taylor as Hex, additional voices
• Dwight Schultz as Ignitor
• Audrey Wasilewski as Stealth Elf
• Dave Wittenberg as Trigger Happy, additional voices
• Other Additional voices: Keith Silverstein, Dave Wittenberg, David Lodge, Liam O'Brien, Jen Olson, Thomas Bromhead, Cam Clarke, Kathryn Cressida, Hunter Davis, Roger Jackson, Neil Kaplan, John Kassir, Keith Szarabajka, Salli Saffioti, Lani Minella, David Markus, Bruce Lanoil, Hope Levy, Lloyd Sherr, Courtenay Taylor, Amanda Wyatt, Lloyd Sherr, Patrick Seitz, Matthew Yang King, Dave B. Mitchell, Masasa Moyo, Danny Jacobs

Reception

This game was received with mostly positive reviews. The game was praised for the ability to use all previous Skylander character toys from Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure to be used onto the game, three new difficulty settings with a fourth one being unlocked, and with a new pack of characters added into this installment to show a good addition to the sequel with a successful expand to the series from it's original game, and with difficulty settings adding some extra appeal. Although it was still criticized for the visuals not changing much from its predecessor and for it's lack of online play, with the exception of the upcoming Wii U version, that will utilize online play with Nintendo Network.

MetaCritic holds the Xbox 360 version an 82/100 score, with the Playstation 3 version holding a 80/100 score.

IGN gave the game an 8 out of 10 score, calling it a "...a more polished but by-the-numbers sequel that’s really fun to play". Cheat Code Central gave the game a 9.2 out of 10.0 saying: "With tons of new and exciting things to do, new figures to collect, and the ability to use your previous Skylanders, it feels like someone finally got everything right when creating a sequel. Playstation Lifestyle however, gave the game a lesser score with a 70/100, saying: "The reality is that Skylanders: Giants is age-appropriate fun that harkens back to the delight you had collecting Pokémon cards or mashing your way through a dungeon crawler. If you've got little ones, then you already know the verdict here."

Trivia

• It was mentioned by Alex Ness, the producer of Toys for Bob, that Spyro would have a role in Giants. However, in truth, Spyro's role is the same as the other Skylanders in the game.
• The Skylanders who originally did not speak English in Spyro's Adventure (Whirlwind, Drobot, Terrafin, Prism Break, Double Trouble, Wrecking Ball, Sonic Boom, Zap, Slam Bam, Trigger Happy, Bash, Voodood, Boomer, Drill Sergeant, Wham-Shell, Eruptor, Sunburn, Dino-Rang, Camo, Ghost Roaster and Warnado) now talk English in Giants.
  • However, unlike Spyro's Adventure, the Skylanders always say their catchphrase instead of other things when placed on the Portal.
• The first animation test for Giants was a 300x scaled up version of a Spyro's Adventure character in that game. Everything broke, which provided inspiration for what a Giant could do.
• Skylanders: Giants was hinted at in one of the Spyro's Adventure story scrolls called 'Elder Elementals', showing that Toys for Bob was thinking ahead. Or it is possible that Toys for Bob actually got the idea for Giants from the Story Scroll.
• PandaPanther, the company who previously did the animation of Skylanders: The Beginning trailer, as well as the E3 2012 Tall Tales trailer, has also done the CGI cutscenes in Giants.
• Skylanders: Giants is also the first Skylanders game where the Skylanders talked in the cutscenes.
• Onk Beakman, the author who wrote Skylanders: The Machine of Doom and other Skylanders books, is mentioned in a Story Scroll in Secret Vault of Secrets and in Chill's Heroic Challenge.
• Dino-Rang, Ghost Roaster, Camo, Warnado, Wham-Shell, Voodood, Boomer, and Sunburn do not have Series 2 carnations.
• This is the only Spyro game so far where he is not in the box art or his name being in the title.

External Links

• Official site
• Debut Trailer
• E3 2012 Trailer
• Game and Features Trailer