Disney’s Epic Mickey for Wii was the talk of E3, thanks to the family entertainment giant’s surprising move to cede creative control of its most famous character over to Warren Spector, a man better known for dark, adult games like System Shock and Deus Ex. Could this really be the same company who pumps out cross platform cash-ins for all its new movies?
The game’s now on sale and the first verdicts are out, so see what the gaming gurus made of this bold move in our Epic Mickey review roundup.
IGN‘s Matt Wales was mesmerised by the unexpectedly dark setting in Epic Mickey – which takes place in the Wasteland, a demented, dilapidated version of Disney’s theme parks ruled over by forgotten cartoon creation Oswald the Rabibt. “It’s a twisted mirror-image version of Disney’s iconic theme parks, stuffed full of glorious details that make exploring the Wasteland an absolute delight for Disney fans…The result is a loving tribute to the mouse and one of the most strikingly original, thoroughly charming adventures to hit Wii or any other console,” he wrote.
Wales was also impressed by the element of morality and decision making in Epick Mickey you’d expect from Bioware rather than Disney. “The more interesting tasks factor in a degree of morality (do you deliberately sabotage someone’s relationship to reap the sizeable reward?) while others test your wits and powers of observation. At one point, you’re tasked with rescuing a character from a safe dangling from above – the easy solution is to cut the rope and free the prisoner but you’ll need to find a smarter approach to avoid squashing the character below and closing off additional side-quest opportunities.”
But though IGN rated both the 3D and 2D levels in this action game, the former caused some serious gripes. “Let’s hear it for the eternal bugbears of the 3D platformer – camera and controls. The game’s semi-autonomous camera tends toward the sluggish with a spectacular knack for finding the most impractical viewing angles the further you stray from the main path.” Still, you might be willing to put up with this to play a game that’s otherwise “richly imaginative and thoroughly charming”.
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The Guardian‘s Steve Boxer meanwhile loved the combination of classed Disney and a Spector twist, and the resulting graphical delight. “Spector was let loose in the company’s archive and clearly revelled in what he found. Graphically, the game is as good as anything we’ve seen on the Wii, striking a great balance between cuteness and the odd hint of menace”. He found however that the problematic camera is actually “at its worst in the earlier stages”, so it might be worth grinning and bearing it for a few levels.
Destructoid – a site we expected to be least bothered by the Disney setting – actually adored the storyline above all else. “With Disney, I almost take it for granted that the storyline is going to be a throwaway, packed with one-dimensional characters, but top quality craftsmanship will make up for whatever issues I have with the narrative content. With Epic Mickey, the exact opposite was true. If it weren’t for the storyline, I probably wouldn’t have wanted to finish this game,” wrote Jonathan Holmes.
But that same problem came up once again – the iffy camera. “It’s ironic that the game’s writing does such a great job of showing off its characters from multiple angles, while the in-game camera has the horrid tendency to auto-adjust to the most unhelpful positions”.
Gamespot however found the mis en scene did not outweight the gameplay control frustrations, and marked the game much lower than other outlets, at just 6/10. The “artistic touches are not enough to salvage the rest of the dour experience.,” wrote Tom McShea. “A number of fundamental design flaws derail this colorful adventure before it ever has a chance to get going…Its lifeless experience is further hampered by the bland 2D platforming levels between each section…(and) fundamental design flaws.” Ouch.
No reviewers were left disappointed by the setting of Epic Mickey and the truly unexpected Disney twist, but almost every critic came away feeling that the camera marred the experience substantially. Only Gamespot had anything bad to say about the game’s combat system however, which involves Mickey painting or “thinning” out enemies with a brush.
It looks like Epic Mickey won’t trouble this Christmas’ best Xbox and PS3 games, but if you only have a Wii, it should prove hours of fun for adults and kids alike, especially if you’ve already thrown Donkey Kong Country Returns out of the windows in frustration.
