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Yeah from the videos shown it has looked a bit blury with big textures. I'm yet to see any truely beautiful effects like Galaxy's water or the fur effect etc...

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To me, it looks like the Rayman universe and the game especially boasts that Rayman: Hoodlum Havoc vibe.

 

One of the major reasons I'll be buying it, for I miss Rayman kind of games.

 

This is probably one of the reasons that I haven't found myself particularly interested in Epic Mickey :hmm:

 

Rayman 2 was a pretty good game on the N64, but I was never really fond of the Rayman 'universe', especially from my brief experience of Hoodlum Havoc which I found quite boring :sad:

 

I'm definitely seeing that vibe in the videos of Epic Mickey and, to be honest, Mushroom Men gave me a similar impression when I saw darksnowman's copy in action.. and it did nothing for me :nono:

 

I hope this game will somehow win me round, but I have serious doubts..

 

..oh.. and Warren.. it's definitely not the best looking Wii game..

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This is probably one of the reasons that I haven't found myself particularly interested in Epic Mickey :hmm:

 

Rayman 2 was a pretty good game on the N64, but I was never really fond of the Rayman 'universe', especially from my brief experience of Hoodlum Havoc which I found quite boring :

 

 

Quite boring....wow.

 

Two complete opposites meet.

 

And no, this thread is not going to turn into "EPIC RAYMAN SERIES DEFENCE"

 

Let it just be known that I worship Rayman: Hoodlum Havoc.

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This is probably one of the reasons that I haven't found myself particularly interested in Epic Mickey :hmm:

 

Rayman 2 was a pretty good game on the N64, but I was never really fond of the Rayman 'universe', especially from my brief experience of Hoodlum Havoc which I found quite boring :sad:

If Specor had been responsible for Rayman, I would've never cared for Epic Mickey, no more than I ever did for Rayman. He was responsible for Deus Ex though.

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Must get round to writing my impressions this weekend...

 

But this is THE game for me. I know it won't be a ten but it will be a fun old time for a Disney fanboy like me.

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So is this a kind of 'for all ages' game, Sort of how Mario Galaxy is? I only ask because I got laughed at earlier for saying it looked pretty decent because it's Mickey Mouse...

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So is this a kind of 'for all ages' game, Sort of how Mario Galaxy is?

 

Amazing name for a game for all ages :p

 

I bet there were pages worth of jokes about the name but I still can't hear it without sniggering.

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So is this a kind of 'for all ages' game, Sort of how Mario Galaxy is? I only ask because I got laughed at earlier for saying it looked pretty decent because it's Mickey Mouse...

Nothing I've heard so far suggests that this is in any way specifically directed at kids. Very much in the contrary.

 

Out of interest: who laughed at you or rather what is their knowledge about computer-/video-games? If they have any idea of the matter, it might be worth pointing out who Spector is and what games he has been involved in. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother.

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I'd say elements are aimed towards children. Certain tasks are easy for example.

 

More on that tomorrow when I shall finally post my impressions!

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Here's a hands on impression while we wait for Ash. :D

 

Arriving at the Nintendo Experience I saw Epic Mickey posters at the front of the shop as well as hanging from the ceiling inside. As I waited in the line for the upper floor (the floor where the game was), an EB Games staff member held some Disney trivia. Naturally, I got the first question right and won a free Epic Mickey poster... which was later given out to everyone else in the line, even if they didn’t win. Upon opening up the upper floor, the first 100 people in line received a free Disney showbag, containing a BLOC28 by Disney pencil case, photo frame, sticker, diary and notebook (which, I should mention, features heaps of artwork). For those unaware, BLOC28 by Disney is a graffiti art project where various street artists who were inspired by the works of Disney reimagine and reinterpret the famous mouse in interesting new ways. Most of which are completely awesome. Click here to see some of their other works. Together with the poster I’d say the showbag was well worth coming to the event for, especially since it was free.

 

Now, onto the game. I played the first 20 or so minutes of the game, right after the intro cinematic. The demo game starts off with Mickey being pulled into the Wasteland, a land created to house all of Disney’s forgotten characters, by the the Phantom Blot. He is then strapped down while the Mad Professor, another forgotten Disney character, then starts to try and extract Mickey’s heart using a giant Swiss Army Knife-like robot. But Mickey is not one to be tampered with, and pulls himself out of the straps. This is where the player comes in. Mickey is controlled with the Control Stick, the camera is controlled with the +Control Pad (Mickey’s ears always face you, so when you rotate the camera his ears rotate as well, making for some odd ear movements). Jumping is handled with the A button and when in the air you can press A again to do a double jump, which is handy for when you mis-time a jump. With the help of your new ally Gremlin Gus you must destroy two generators to cut power to the robot. Once the robot is destroyed you get to do a bit of exploring. This level is called "Dark Beauty Castle", and as such is very dark and, coincidentally, is a castle. Suits of armour resembling Donald Duck line the walls and the stair cases, while statues of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Disney’s first forgotten character and the ruler of Wasteland, are dotted around the world.

 

This section is where I noticed the superb graphics, especially in the various lighting and shading effects. The world of the Wasteland has a very dark colour palette, with bits of dark primary colours. It’s very different to any other environment you see Mickey in nowadays, that’s for sure. This is also the section where I found my first Mickey pin, of which there are 105 scattered around the game world for all you completionists to hunt down. Finding pins gets you extra content, presumably concept art etc. After a bit of exploring Mickey gains the use of the paint and thinner, which is the real meat of the gameplay in Epic Mickey. Pressing B and pointing at the screen squirts paint; pressing Z while pointing at the screen squirts thinner. Basically, you use the paint to draw in platforms, move cogs or build bridges, and you use the thinner to remove platforms, obstacles, walls and the like.

 

Once you start exploring you are presented with a few all-text, non-voice acted, 2D cut-scenes in which Gremlin Gus explains to Mickey a bit about the Wasteland and its inhabitants, namely the Seers, members of the evil Blotling army. Mickey can make them change their ways and befriend him by squirting them with paint, or he can dispose of them with the paint thinner. I chose to dispose of them. Once the enemies are disposed of and after a spot of paint/thinner-based platforming, you are presented with your first major morality-based puzzle. You’re presented with a Gremlin, locked in a glass cell and a treasure chest on a pressure pad. You can either free the Gremlin and lose your chance to get the treasure, or you can grab the treasure, but doing so will launch the Gremlin into the sky. I chose to launch the Gremlin. I was told that this would have an impact on how the other characters treat you later in the game, but alas, the demo wasn’t long enough to demonstrate what consequences would be had.

 

After this little segment Mickey comes across a projector screen showing the title card for the classic Mickey short, Mickey and the Beanstalk. In Epic Mickey, projector screens act as portals to other worlds. Jumping through this particular projector screen transports Mickey to a short 2D level, based on Mickey and the Beanstalk. This 2D section of the game featured no paint or thinner mechanics and was pure 2D platforming fun. Definitely a highlight of the demo. The demo ended once you finished this 2D level.

 

My final impression of the game was "I need more time with this game". The paint and thinner mechanic is genius, the 2D sections are fun, it’s filled to the brim with various Disney references and the depth of the morality system sounds promising to say the least (I really need more time to see the consequences of my actions). Personally, I can’t wait to get my hands on the game come November 25th, to see just how deep this game can get.

 

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Thankfully my Mother is a Disney junkie and asked me about this and I ended up swaying her to get it. Saves me buying it. Can't wait for this. Which still sounds odd seeing as i'm not a huge Disney fan.

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Nothing I've heard so far suggests that this is in any way specifically directed at kids. Very much in the contrary.

 

Out of interest: who laughed at you or rather what is their knowledge about computer-/video-games? If they have any idea of the matter, it might be worth pointing out who Spector is and what games he has been involved in. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother.

 

My girlfriend lol. She's into games but she's not really got the understanding of how a childish looking game (Viva Piñata for instance) isn't necessarily for kids. Hence me thinking this looks pretty cool and might be worth getting for Christmas.

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@That Guy:

 

As long as she's not the "OMFG this kidz game iz suckz, play mature games like CoD lolol!!11"-youtube commenter kind of person... :p

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When I was in GAME yesterday, I saw they were advertising Epic Mickey with a free t-shirt when you preorder.. if anyone's interested :heh:

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I was wondering what the Game pre-order bonus was. I've got a voucher and loyalty points so having to go there.

 

Whatever happened to the collectors edition set? Has anyone seen it within the UK? I know HMV are giving away a bonus DVD but I want it ALL!

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^ Yeah I don't know what's happened to the collectors edition, it doesn't seem to be around anywhere, online atleast. There are those paintbrush Wii-mote/nun-chuck sleeves out there though, but whether they're actually of interest to anyone, or official, I don't know.

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A few reviews have started coming in and they are echoing what the members of Gaf that have been playing it have been saying... it needed more work/polish.

 

ONM had this to say, which looks pretty positive.

 

- praises the game's "touching" story

- there are moments when it is up there with the console's finest looking games but a few environments are bland

- between-level side scrolling sections come in for some criticism, being described as "average."

- huge replay value

- "impossible to get everything in a single playthrough."

- "Epic Mickey is a deep game with explicit replay value and immense character."

 

85%

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How come Wii games with mostly compliments and hardly any criticism can't get up to 9. But Assassin's Creed Brotherhood that got 80% criticism in the Gametrailers review gets a 9.

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How come Wii games with mostly compliments and hardly any criticism can't get up to 9. But Assassin's Creed Brotherhood that got 80% criticism in the Gametrailers review gets a 9.

Because for Ubisoft to put out a playable game is an achievement in its own right.

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