Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two - Nintendo Wii

Epic Mickey 2: The Power Of Two Review: The Mouse Falls Flat

2012-11-17T05:01:00Z

Junction Point clearly knows its Disney, from the way Mickey Mouse’s ears turn and bob in Epic Mickey 2 to the constant nods about visiting the classic theme park. That love shines through with beautiful animation and art, silly cartoon voices, and constant opportunities to delve into the history of Disney fiction. Unfortunately, Junction Point’s obvious affection is the most redeeming element of this sequel; from the structure of puzzles to the implementation of the cooperative experience, nothing ever coalesces into consistent entertainment.

Epic Mickey 2 moves in a number of new directions, but usually away from what I liked in its predecessor. Tedious puzzle rooms have replaced longer platforming levels. While Mickey and Oswald still jump from place to place, the focus is almost always on fetching some hidden object or opening a door. Solutions are rarely intuitive, and wandering from place to place before stumbling upon the answer is common. Regular vocal cues do little to alleviate the problem, like telling me to “go over there” without specifying where, or to look “by the entrance” in a room with multiple doors.

The Edge

While the Wii version is a noticeable visual step down from 360, the dedicated motion controller is a plus. Balance your preference for visual fidelity against control to choose a system, or play on PS3 to get the best of both worlds while using a Move controller. The Wii U version also offers excellent graphics and motion controls, but exhibits some slowdown at times.

The story is a flimsy excuse to send Mickey and Oswald from one place to the next, many of which are recycled (but modified) locations from the first game. The middling plot is punctuated by painful interludes of the Mad Doctor’s singing, which fails to elicit any of the intended magic of a classic Disney musical. Appropriately silly voice acting now helps to enrich the storytelling, and frequent cutscenes help move events forward. Unfortunately, rather than focus on a few characters that could be fully realized, the game throws dozens of characters into the mix, and few are around long enough to be memorable.

Mickey’s familiar paint and thinner mechanic returns as the central tool for affecting the world, and it’s entertaining to shape the world by filling in objects or making them disappear. Unlike in the first game, I was occasionally unsure which objects could be thinned. Meanwhile, Oswald’s ability to create electricity with his remote is less interesting than the paintbrush, mostly acting as a tool to flip switches by giving them power. Nonetheless, the ability to aim and shoot objects consistently works well for both characters, and Epic Mickey remains one of the stronger implementations of motion controls in the systems that support it.

Playing alone, the ally AI is profoundly unhelpful, getting left behind on the most basic platforming sequences and failing to revive me when required. Playing with a cooperative partner makes the frustrations mount, largely because of each character’s inability to complete basic actions. Oswald can only stun most enemies, Mickey can’t jump long distances, and relying on each other for these gameplay fundamentals isn’t fun. Split-screen play complicates the already confusing level design, but that’s the only option; no online cooperative play is supported.

Whether alone or with a friend, there’s plenty to do as you wander. Side quests, collectibles, and hidden locations abound in Wasteland, but I commonly found myself wondering what they are all for. From shiny pins to any number of pictures to take with the camera, I got lost in the sea of objectives. Plus, it’s usually inconvenient to return to the quest giver once a job is complete.

Even if I wasn’t enjoying the activities on offer, I rarely had complaints about what I was looking at. The game deserves a nod for its beautiful visual presentation, filled with vibrant colors and imaginative twists on familiar Disney iconography. In particular, I applaud the return of dedicated 2D platforming levels based on old cartoons. The 3D levels look equally pretty, but level design and shape is often confusing and haphazard.

Attractive visuals only carry the game so far. Just when I finished one infuriating, monotonous boss fight I’d get thrown into another directionless, obtuse puzzle room. The discrete sections connect into an unbroken string of frustrating gameplay. I’m genuinely sad that a game rooted in the joy of Disney failed to evoke any in me, but Epic Mickey 2 is so disjointed and rambling, I was ready to escape Wasteland when the time came.

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Play As You Like In Epic Mickey 2: The Power Of Two

2012-11-08T16:41:00Z

Take a look at this latest snek peak at the upcoming title, and how your play style matters in the game.

The game apparently lets you take on challenges in the order you choose, without jumbling up the overall story or restricting your possibilities.

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two comes out for the Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, PC, and PS3 on November 18. The demo is out now for Xbox 360 and PS3.

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For more on the game, take a look at this previous gameplay video.

Epic Mickey 2 The Reconstructed Wasteland Trailer

2012-11-02T01:59:00Z

Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit work to rebuild the Wasteland in this gameplay vignette for Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two.

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two brings two player co-op to Epic Mickey's ink spewing, platforming action. The game releases on November 18. For a deeper look at the Wasteland, read about how it was based on Disney's Frontierland theme park.

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Epic Mickey 2 Heading To Frontierland

2012-08-31T19:15:00Z

Junction Point Studios, the developer behind Epic Mickey 2, has revealed Fort Wasteland as part of its presence at PAX 2012. The level is based on Frontierland, which opened in Disneyland in 1955. As part of the announcement, Disney has opened up the Disney Vault (surely they keep other things in there besides movies, right?) to release two archived images from the parks original opening. If you scroll down a little further, you can check out the new screenshots from Fort Wasteland.

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two is coming to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and PC on November 18. The game's creative director, Warren Spector, joined us on Replay a few weeks ago to play the game he is arguably best known for, Deus Ex. Check it out here.

The Intro To Epic Mickey 2: The Power Of Two

2012-07-12T23:15:00Z

Disney released a video showing the opening cinematic intro for Epic Mickey 2: The Power Of Two.

This musical number runs about five minutes and sets up the plot of the sequel. The game is out November 18 on Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.

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The Cooperative Potential Of The Sequel

2012-06-08T05:35:42Z

Our hands-on time with Epic Mickey 2 reveals the cooperative potential of Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

E3 finally gave us the opportunity to settle in and get some hands-on time Junction Point's sequel to its strong-selling Wii game from 2010. While the game is still headed to Wii, new platform options on 360 and PS3 mean we'll finally get to see Mickey in all his HD glory, and the gorgeous color work and dynamic shadows are a testament to what the additional tech can do.

Epic Mickey 2 picks up some time after the end of the first game. Mickey has returned to his life in the the world of Toons, and Oswald has remained behind in the Wasteland to help fix things up. A series of natural disasters rock Wasteland, and supposedly reformed villain, the Mad Doctor, sweeps in to save the day. Naïve Oswald believes the Doctor has turned over a new leaf, but Oswald's girlfriend Ortensia and Mickey's old buddy Gus aren't so convinced. They manage to contact Mickey and draw him back into their world, and he brings his magic brush along for the ride.

While Epic Mickey 2 can be played solo (with Oswald showing up as an AI controlled partner), the game is being built with co-op in mind. We were disappointed that the game won't support online co-op, but the split screen option works well. Players adopt the role of either Mickey or Oswald. Both characters have their own unique movesets. Mickey has his paint brush, while Oswald has a remote control that allows him to manipulate electricity. Mickey can jump higher, but Oswald can jump further thanks to some helicopter ears. At numerous points during the game, the two characters can come together to complete cooperative actions that neither one of them could do on their own.

Camera was a stubborn problem in the first Epic Mickey, and the team has gone to great lengths to improve that element of the experience. A dynamic camera regularly rotates to the best view of the action, but players also maintain the ability to move the cursor to the edge of the screen and rotate to a more desired view. Also in response to criticism in the previous game, the changes you make to the game world will now remain persistent even after you leave an area. In addition, Epic Mickey 2 is now fully voiced, dramatically expanding the storytelling depth.

Meanwhile, many of the features that were praised in the original game are returning. Most notably, the popular 2D platforming sections return, except they now have increased complexity and rewards for smart cooperative players. We saw a fun level based on the 1937 The Old Mill cartoon in which Oswald could boost Mickey up to a distant golden e-ticket reward. In addition, the ability to befriend enemies has expanded, as Oswald can use his electricity powers to turn the mechanical Beetleworx enemies over to his side of the fight.

Our demo closed with an impressive boss fight against a giant mechanical beast that looked an awful lot like Elliot the Dragon. Even using the 360 controller, fighting the enemy monster worked well, and shooting paint and thinner felt natural. We still have lots of questions about the flexibility and levels that will flesh out the rest of the game, but it seems as if Junction Point is making a lot of smart decisions with this sequel.

Mickey Mouse Readies For His Most Grandiose Adventure Yet

2012-03-23T10:00:00Z

After taking the backseat to Pixar and other in-house Disney films for several years, in 2010 Mickey Mouse made a comeback on the media platform most suited to the 21st century: video games. Rather than use a new Mickey film or cartoon series to reintroduce the most famous mouse in the world, Disney gave the keys to its mascot to respected video game designer Warren Spector (Deus Ex, System Shock), an admitted Disney aficionado. The resulting Wii exclusive delivered a bold reinvention of the hero that recaptured the playful and mischievous side of Mickey.

Tapping into the Disney archives, Spector’s Junction Point Studios created a rich world of forgotten characters and lost footage that appealed to children and adults alike. As much as critics embraced this new vision, technical limitations like a wonky camera kept the game from receiving universal praise. For the sequel, Spector doesn’t see this being a problem.

“The one criticism that we heard most often was that the camera needed to be better,” Spector says. “So the day the first game shipped we started working on improving it.”

For The Power of Two, the dedicated camera team set an ambitious goal of allowing players to experience the entire story without having to touch the manual camera controls. Completionists will need to use them to find hidden items, but if you’re just burning through the campaign it’s no longer necessary to fiddle with the camera thanks to an intuitive new system that knows when to alter your perspective.

One of the other complaints about the original game was the lack of voiceover work – always a questionable omission in the modern era. Rather than reintroducing the bark text from the first game, Epic Mickey: Power of Two takes advantage of the access Junction Point has to all of the current Disney voice actors.

“Every character speaks every line of dialogue, and I think that gives us a lot of advantages,” Spector says. “The emotional level and the storytelling are going to get better.”

Spector didn’t stop there. Rather than simply create animated cutscenes, why not tap deeper into Disney’s treasure chest of traditions and introduce song and dance to the festivities?

“I’m pretty comfortable – until somebody proves me wrong – saying this is the first ever musical comedy video game in history,” Spector says. “And I’m proud.”

With the help of original Epic Mickey composer James Dooley and newcomer Mike Himelstein (Shrek), Junction Point has created musical numbers that tell the majority of the story in Power of Two. This is an interesting direction for a game designer who typically empowers players with the ability to influence the narrative outcome. So why go the musical route?

“I don’t know if people want a musical game, so the musical numbers are for advancing the story,” Spector says. “In the future, perhaps there will be other ways in which songs factor into gameplay.”