Skylanders Giants (Video Game Review)

Last year, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventures burst onto the scene and created an addictive beat 'em up series that parents could enjoy with their kids and young gamers could appreciate more than anyone. The game utilized many unique ideas to create an appealing title by offering in-game characters as toys that could be purchased in retailers nationwide, would save data directly to the toy to take data with you wherever you go, and offered the ability to play the game on any system with cross play compatibility. Fast forward only one year, and the Skylanders series is already one of the most well known games in the industry and has set numerous records for selling more than any other game or toy anywhere in the country. Now, developer Toys for Bob and publisher Activision has released an all new adventure called Skylanders Giants with offers much of the same gameplay with plenty of great new features that are sure to make it one of the best-selling games and toys of the year once again.

Skylanders Giants continues the story of the world of Skylands. Just when things appear to be getting back to normal in the world, Kaos returns and is once again up to no good. That's when the mythical giants mysteriously return to the world following their ancient banishment from the world to Earth. The game's storyline allows you to further explore the fantastic history of the giants while completing the game's 16 missions on your way to putting an end to Kaos. By using the Portal of Power, you are able to summon your own characters into the game to use in battle and progress through the game, and additional toys are available for purchase that give the game plenty of replayability, but of course, the game's starter pack comes with enough monsters to complete the game if you're gaming on a budget.

Skylanders Giants is a platforming beat 'em up in the style of other action RPGs such as Gauntlet or Diablo. You'll spend plenty of time in the game swinging away at hordes of enemies that greatly outnumber yourself, and a partner in cooperative play, and you'll find plenty of loot, in-game currency to purchase better equipment and skills and the like. Unlike the previous entry in the series, Skylanders Giants offers up multiple difficulties for the game's campaign out of the box, and you'll unlock the game's hardest difficulty after completing the game for the first time. In addition to the game's main campaign, you'll find plenty of other ways to play such as Heroic Challenges that present timed missions to complete, Arena Battles that put you up against waves of enemies where you'll unlock some special prizes and earn plenty of experience points, and Skystones, which is a fun collectible card game located within the world of Skylands. Of course, there are plenty of new characters in the game that come from many unique elements including new Series 2 Giants, and all of the characters except for the Giants are compatible with the previous games just as the Series 1 characters are compatible with the newest release.

Skylanders Giants is more of the same in many ways, and that's not a bad thing. The game is one of the best-selling of all-time for a reason, and the returning, addictive gameplay is complemented by a host of new improvements and features. Of course, the colorful characters and humorous interactions remain, and many of the game's characters talk this time around to make the game that much more interesting. The addition of several new toys to use in-game would be enough to sell plenty of copies on its own, but you'll find a new level cap of 15, more skills to equip than ever before and new ways to play in Skylanders Giants, and Activision has already announced 16 additional characters will be releasing over the next few months to ensure the game continues to be entertaining for hundreds of hours of gameplay. Pick up Skylanders Giants for your little gamer today and be careful that you don't get too addicted to the game yourself!

Skylanders Giants is now available from all major retailers, and its starter pack can be purchased for the MSRP of $74.99 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo 3DS and is coming soon to Nintendo Wii U. Skylanders Giants is rated E by the ESRB for Cartoon Violence. For more information on the game, check out the official Skylanders Giants website.

Game Features:

Multiplayer 1-2

Series 2 Characters

Level Cap of 15

New Hats, Upgrades and Loot

Trophy/Achievement Support

Game Information:
Developer: Toys for Bob
Publisher: Activision
Platforms: PlayStation 3(reviewed), Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U & Nintendo 3DS Release Date: October 21, 2012

Score: 9.5 out of 10