Much has been said about the legendary game designer Warren Spector's
unexpected journey into Disney mythology and his attempt to bring the
legendary Mickey Mouse back for a new generation of gamers, the promises
become real once you play the game. Epic Mickey's concept is brilliant and
helps to suck you right into its' beautifully realized world. As the game
begins, Mickey finds himself sucked into a netherworld called the
Wasteland. This is a place where forgotten characters end up, and as the
charming opening cinema explains, a universe that the Mouse himself might
have inadvertently created by messing around in a wizard's workshop. Epic
Mickey lives up to its name in the scale of its quest and the game puts
you in control of the famous mouse as he seeks to fix the Wasteland, fight
the evil blots that have taken it over and find his way home.
Unfortunately, the blot monsters have taken over large portions of the
wasteland and stand in his way. This leads to one of the more interesting
aspects of the game that occurs when Mickey encounters them. He can choose
to either attack them with his thinner brush or try and turn them into
friends by using his paint. Thinner gets rid of them quicker, and is also
quite dangerous to Mickey if it splashes back. However, when he gets them
on his side, they can potentially help him and his virtuous actions also
help his reputation with the other toons. As he explores the world of the
Wasteland, he'll also encounter numerous friends who come in two types.
He'll find many goblins laying around and sometimes trapped. If he chooses
to free them, they'll usually repay his gratitude by fixing something,
which can open a new path and areas for him to explore. There's also a
group of guardians who will help him along in another unique way. By
holding the wiimote straight up, they'll light up a path that will help
him see the way forward, which helps immensely in some of the larger
levels where the next objective isn't easy to see.
What's most impressive about the design
is how seamlessly its brush and paint system is integrated into the rest
of Epic Mickey's gameplay mechanics. To keep things simple, each type of
paint assigned to one button on the wiimote and nunchuck. In addition to
attacking enemies, the paint and thinner mechanic acts to build or destroy
objects in the Wasteland. For example, Mickey sometimes encounters bridges
that are partially collapsed and can fill them in using his paint brush.
There are also barriers that seem impossible to pass, but using the
thinner can erase these objects and clear a path for him. When you're in
this mode, control changes from standard platform to first person, and you
merely need to point the wiimote at the general area to accomplish your
goal. To keep things accessible for a broad audience, painting and
thinning is simple and the developers have implemented a forgiving
mechanic. This means that you don't need to be precisely accurate, which
makes the paint system one of the more ingenious and engaging we've seen
on the Wii to date. This system also wins points because it encourages
players to experiment and play around in certain sections of the game.
Even though some objects seem very dangerous, you can change them by
adding or subtracting to mitigate them. The paint can also be used to
create objects, such as gears and platforms that are essential to
progression in the game. While it might not be immediately obvious, some
areas are seen as transparent outlines that you need to fill in, others
are slightly mis-colored, which makes them stand out. This approach might
seem complicated but Epic Mickey's intuitive approach makes the
paint/thinner system easy to learn and use.
Most of the other controls are fairly
good as well, and make the game an intuitive joy to play. The game's
platforming elements are straightforward with Mickey's movement controlled
using the standard analog joystick while his special actions can be
performed by shaking the wiimote around a bit. The designers at Junction
Point have also included a handy camera system that can be controlled
using the standard cross-bar controller on the wiimote. It's not always
completely smooth but it mostly works. There are occasional glitches where
its hard to see where you're going, but these are sporadic and don't
really hurt the game's overall quality. Epic Mickey's structure doesn't
suffer from these points, and it's a nicely rounded platformer with many
familiar elements. The game's levels are divided in smaller quests, where
you usually have to complete one section of the area before moving on to
the next. This usually involves getting a group of gears working or
clearing out a section of a level. There's a lot of variety in these
quests which can involve closing all the thinner-leaking pipes, collecting
pieces of a broken ride or restoring a section of bridges. You'll also
need to be aware of dangerous whirlpools and have to avoid falling into
the rivers of thinner, which can quickly decimate Mickey's power-bar. As
you navigate each level, you'll also find numerous bonus objects such as
E-bucks, currency Mickey can use to buy uogrades or other items,
additional paint and thinner buckets, life-restoring items and bonus
objects such as film reels, which can be used to unlock cinematic
sequences and cartoons. These extras give you a strong motivation to keep
playing and earning extras and unlockable content.
Epic
Mickey's gameplay flows naturally from one sequence to another and the
main game is very nicely designed and cohesive. You can play through
several levels in one sitting and even losing your energy bar isn't much
of a problem thanks to the game's frequent save points and respawns.
Completing the various quests in the game isn't much of a problem thanks
to the relatively straightforward mission design and placement of
objectives. There's plenty of jumping from platform to platform and
fights, and the pacing is generally fairly good. As stated earlier in the
review, the game's storyline is surprisingly interesting and enjoyable as
you and Mickey search out lost characters, including the infamous Oswald
the Lucky Rabbit who have been trapped in the Wasteland for many years.
You can definitely see that a lot of care and concern has gone into the
game's storyline and its levels, most of which are based on long-forgotten
Disney theme park rides. Epic Mickey definitely straddles the line between
a cartoon history lesson and a contemporary video game and does so
successfully because neither element is over-bearing. One of the coolest
aspects of the game are the intercessions between levels where the action
switches to a traditional 2D approach. Here, you are given the opportunity
to travel through famous cartoons including Mickey's first appearance in
'Steamboat Willie' and other significant moments in his history. You can
also collect additional items in these sections as well, which makes them
important to the main game as well. There are many small touches like this
that make the game feel and play incredibly smoothly. Epic Mickey is
definitely one of the better designed titles we've seen available on the
Wii and it's long quest is satisfying without becoming excessively
frustrating.
Epic Mickey's gameplay is superb and
highly-polished, delivering an outstanding platforming experience from
start to finish, but its presentation also deserves praise. From the
outset, its brilliantly designed cut-scenes set an appealing stage. You're
quickly immersed in a surprisingly interesting storyline that goes a bit
deeper into Disney myth and legend than you're used to seeing.
Half-remembered characters appear while more familiar ones show up in new
forms which keeps your interest level high. The tension between the good
and evil sides keeps you constantly on guard, but the overall feel isn't
nearly as dark as some of the early previews might have indicated. A lot
of this has to do with the way Epic Mickey allows you to transform the
wasteland areas from somewhat depressing, dark sections into brighter more
welcoming sections. Performing these transformations is one of the more
enjoyable parts of the game. The task of repainting these areas brings
them back to life. Its graphics engine itself is quite impressive and
represents some of the best visuals on the Wii to date. Each level is
loaded with details, with large areas to explore and secrets to uncover.
As you'd expect, Epic Mickey's animation is beautiful as well, with vivid
colors and vibrant backdrops making the game feel like an interactive
cartoon throughout. The production values are superb and the game
frequently hits high notes in its approach and execution.
An appropriately cinematic soundtrack
accompanies the action, enhancing Epic Mickey's cartoon roots, though it
does tend to become a little tedious at points. While there are a few
minor issues with the camera sytem, the can be correctly manually with
little effort in most cases and it doesn't detract from the experience.
Epic Mickey is a fantastic game for the most part - and delivers on much
of its promise. This could have been another case of slapping a license on
a few gimmicky gameplay mechanics, but the game's vision remains quite
coherent throughout. Most third-parties have seen the console as a dumping
ground for third-rate titles, but Warren Spector's team at Junction Point
have proven what can be accomplished with a little effort and by playing
to the console's strengths. Unfortunately, too few developers have the
vision and intelligence to really take advantage of the Wii's innovative
features. Wii owners should put this frustration aside for a moment,
because Epic Mickey succeeds on its merits as well. It's appealing
storyline and challenging, yet not frustrating gameplay makes it fun to
play without becoming tedious. There are a few sections that seem a little
bit less polished than others, but these are very small faults on an
otherwise superb gaming experience. Epic Mickey is one of the best Wii
titles released to date, with outstanding gameplay, brilliant visuals,
execution and polish marking it as a definitive a high-point for the
system.
-
Michael Palisano
