Skylanders Trap Team

Even though having an annual franchise can be dangerous, Activision is doing a great job keeping the series fresh and fun.

Quite simply the best Skylanders game yet. New game mechanics and an improved speaking portal makes this more than a quick cash in. Though it will most certainly suck your wallet dry. You will be smiling while it does so though.

The villains steal the show, but at least they're on your side this time.

With great character and level design, and so much to do, there is more then enough to keep anyone busy. The new trapping of enemies adds a more immersion to an already busy game.

Activision did it again: the new Skylanders game feels fresh thanks to the new Trap mechanic and is still great fun both for children and their parents. Our wallets are doomed.

Trap Team is an expensive proposition (see sidebar), but one that pounds out thrills and gives fans plenty of reason to visit Skylands for a fourth time.

Yes, Skylanders will make your wallet cry out for mercy, and parents the world over are probably dreading their kids’ Christmas Wish Lists this year. But their latest offering, Trap Team, is more than just a money grab. It’s one of the most polished, expansive (expensive?) platformers available and is sure to entertain a wide audience, both young and old if you have the cheddar to keep up.

However, the game itself can be more-or-less completed without additional purchases and is such a wonderfully-crafted and enjoyable experience that even without spending extra cash, it will keep kids (and adults…this reviewer is 33 and has about 25 hours logged so far with a lot more to come) busy for a good long time.

Skylanders Trap Team is the natural evolution of the brand. This fourth installment arrives on our consoles with new enemies, new mechanics and new Skylanders to collect, without however going to touch a tried and tested formula that already works just fine.

Skylanders Trap Team won’t be the cheapest video game for families this year, but with the Starter Pack and some old figures, this compelling action adventure offers good value.

While not without its questionable qualities — expect to pay $120 to get something approaching an optimal play experience — Skylanders: Trap Team continues the series' tradition of catering to kids by treating them with respect. And the new trapping gimmick more than justifies itself through the flexibility it offers... not to mention the amusing and diverse role it gives the game's villains.

Even with these quirks Trap Team is still the best game in the series to date.

Skylanders Trap Team refreshes the toys-to-life magic with new portal tech, charming characters, and engaging gameplay that any gamer can enjoy.

With strong gameplay and lasting appeal plus creative and collective physical figures, Trap Team is a Toys-to-Life recipe for success and one that keeps the series fresh for yet another year.

The few new ideas are welcome but not enough to differentiate it from its predecessors.

Story and humor are less entertaining than in the last years, the mechanics are a mix of well known elements on one side and entertaining new ones on the other. And while the trap masters are little more than overpriced doorkeepers, the trapping concept is cool and technically very well presented.

While I never really connected with the trap mechanic or the new Trap Master toys, Skylanders: Trap Team is still a well-oiled machine. On newer consoles it looks fantastic, the action gameplay is still exciting, and the charm is still there. I just hope that Activision and its ilk have more interesting concepts in mind for the next iteration.

Skylanders: Trap Team offers a varied experience with just the right amount of depth in the gameplay to appeal to younger kids. Grown-ups will probably get more out of the experience in the company of kids. But then they will find themselves having so much fun that they may even forget how crazy expensive the game is.

Skylanders Trap Team offers a nice new feature with its monsters' capture possibilities. Kids will love it, even if it's not as interesting as last year's SWAP figures in terms of gameplay... and beware : you'll have to buy all the new Trap Team figures and all the new traps to finish everything. That could easily become a huge trap for your money.

Let down by money-grabbing that manifests in entirely unsubtle nudges towards buying new characters. [Dec 2014, p.79]