The Phantom Mickey?
The first Epic Mickey passed me by, but it was well received despite some flaws. Warren Spector wants to bring the game to Xbox 360 and PS3 and maybe that’s what he should have done before bringing out a sequel to a game that only appeared on Wii. The story follows the aftermath of the events in the first game, while earthquakes tear apart Wasteland and the Mad Doctor says he is a changed man and wants to help the townsfolk, but it’s clear that he’s up to no good. The story is nice and the cutscenes feel lifted right from a Disney cartoon.
Gameplay remains the same as it did in the first game, Mickey will use his paintbrush to bring the world to life or wear it away with thinner, the controls are a little awkward as aiming where the paint goes isn’t as smooth with an analog stick compared to aiming with the Wiimote, jumping also has some issues and the biggest problem has to be Oswald for solo players, the AI for him is just ridiculously dumb and it sometimes takes a real effort for him to do what you want him to, you can play the game co-operatively but the lack of online for this is not only a mystery, it’s frustrating.
But on the plus side, there’s plenty to do with side quests, collectable pins to find that will take you hours. Achievement hunters will also have to go through the game twice to 1000 it, while the main quest is on the short side. The quests are good and colouring and thinning out Wasteland is addictive, but combat is where Epic Mickey 2 is weak and it almost feels out of place. The game’s strength is in puzzles and platforming, but fighting is awkward.
Visually, Epic Mickey 2 is a nice looking game and has plenty of nods to the Disney universe. There are a few bad textures knocking around and there are a few glitches, mostly related to Oswald or missing jumps. The music and voice-acting are brilliant if you love Disney; if not then it’ll put you off a bit.
The Verdict
Epic Mickey: The Power of Two is a decent follow-up to the original, but it does have its issues. The lack of online play for a co-op game is frustratingly mystifying, the Oswald AI is dumb and the combat feels wrong, but it’s a good experience if you can just get past the issues that hold it back from being great.
