Review: Epic Mickey

[Sartan0]

Hmmmm. Well I actually bothered to play the game myself. And found a most charming game indeed. It's no Super Mario Galaxy 2. But what is? But I found Mickey easy to control and while yes, the Camera was a little annoying at first. It didn't take long before it was merely a little niggle. Hell, I found the camera on this to be more co-operative than certain games (Uncharted 2 and Prince of Persia.)

I think this is one of the games where people were so hyped up for it (especially when we saw the concept Art.) yet it didn't manage to be perfect.

I generally agree with this. I got past the view issues after a bit of a adjustment and a liberal use of the controls that do allow you to yank control back from the camera. (Most of the time)

I have been having a good time with the game but your mileage may vary.

 

[Ekim Takusan]

I don't know what it says about me, being the newb to The Escapist that I am, but I found this review to be a bit unfair. Epic Mickey is a pretty solid game in it's own right. It's not perfect, if anyone thought it was going to be they should get their head examined. This is a game, like many from the past, that was simply a bit too high concept and a few years too far ahead of it's time.

The Wii is not a great console, it's widely regarded as a $200 electric paper-weight, but we have to remember that it was the one that started the trend of motion-based control. It was the pioneer that dared to try something new. As with all prior games that I have played on/for the Wii the learning curve to control the games are steep. However, how many hundreds of games from the past can we name that have been flawed in some way, shape, or form? I think that the games that force us to work a bit harder make us better for the experience. Mistakes are how we grow in games and in life. We trip and fall down the stairs, we get up, and try again. We make a game, we fix the bad, and we make the good better.

I would like to point out that the part that ticked me off more then it probably should have was the mention of, in an almost flustered tone of voice, interlocking fetch quests. Yes they are there, so what? There are countless MMO lovers that will waste days of their lives grinding and farming and running circles around the in-game world for one piece of a multi-part interlocking fetch quest... for a fricken useless pet/title/badge/whatever. Quests would be easier to finish in Epic Mickey if they simply implemented a compass of sorts to help find your way, but then would you have taken the time to explore and find your own way to solve it?

I've ranted too long as it is, but I feel this game is good. I am willing to go out on a limb and say it's one of the best new games I've played in months. It got a lot of great hype from the media and from Mr. Spector himself, I just can't help but think that people are disappointed because they expected way too much. These are the same people that are going to be back here in a few months getting all worked up because Duke Nukem Forever isn't all their wonderful fanboy/fangirl dreams made it out to be in their heads before they even got the disk in the tray. When taken for what it's worth I'd give Epic Mickey at least a solid 8/10.

 

[Mista Miggins]

I, in no way, anticipated this game.

Mabye it's my general distrust of any form of advertisment, or i'm just that good at predicting bad games. If TRON turns out crap, I will be correct in my assumption.

 

[CopperBoom]

[quote="SensibleCrout" post="6.248593.9159916" We have lots of stunning looking but very boring games (like Heavy Rain or Assassin's Creed)

Reading this makes me think how rediculous any conversation about personal taste is, this is not a critique of you at all, but your two examples of "boring games" are my two top games of the year!

Neither one of us is wrong though which is what makes all this back and forth seem so trivial... I mean, I know it is, but... even more so.

Do you ever wonder (any one reading this) what it is that makes us post on boards? It ultimately feels kind of silly; not that it will stop me.

 

[jjboat]

Why are so many of you saying "I saw this coming" or "too bad it isn't good" when all of you give no sign of actually playing the game. Do you guys think that this critic's opinion is the only one you should go by? Ign and Gametrailers gave this game 8/10 and G4 have it a 5/5! it is obviously not as bad as all that. having just beat the game I can attest to the fact that is flawed and probably not good for a casual gamer, but i can also honestly say that in spite of all that it is a truly remarkable gaming experience and one of the most unique to come out of the mainstream in a long time. If you ever wanted to buy this game, than there is no reason why you shouldn't now, it is very, very good. Sure it can be frustrating(especially near the end) but overall the game is so damned awesome that as soon as i finished i was ready to play the whole thing over again.

 

[jjboat]

why does everyone hate motion controls so much? have any of you played resident evil 4: wii edition which was, because of controls, superior to the original? Or how about the fantastic Metroid Prime 3? If you think of them as a new button, just like the addition of the second analogue stick on the play station almost 15 years ago, motion controls make a lot of sense. Being a game design major myself, motion controls lend themselves to numerous gameplay possibilities that where only dreams before. sure they've come to a slow start, but in time the world, even you stuck up, snobby "hardcore" gamers will see the light and hopefully embrace it. if not, its really your loss.

 

[jjboat]

one more damn thing, if any of you say a game is bad by principle because its on the wii, than you sure as hell had better played the mario galaxy series first for your opinion to valid at all. AND THEN after you have played those masterpieces try telling me that a wii game is bad by default, at which point you will have exposed yourself as a complete and utter moron. Finally, you will be able to watch as SMG2 sweeps the game of the year awards this year like its no ones business.

 

[sageoftruth]

Why'd you give it 3/5 stars? You spend the whole review talking about how it isn't fun at all.

Thinking the same thing.

Probably because it does have good qualities. The only problem is that those good qualities don't pertain to actual gameplay.

 

[Quaero]

In it's defense, the developers have stated that programing a camera that could handle appearing and disappearing walls and platforms was an incredibly daunting task, and that the final result might have been not as polished as what they would have liked.

It boils down to personal taste when it comes to this game IMO, what would you prefer? A mediocre story with good game play, or a good story with mediocre game-play? There is no right answer, just different opinions.

 

[dududf]

Review: Epic Mickey

The happiest place on Earth spawns the most frustrating game on the Wii.

Read Full Article

Dare I say, the game needed
*puts on glasses*
A little more paint, and a lot less thinner.

 

[Phuctifyno]

I don't understand where all the hype for this game came from in the first place. I mean having "EPIC" right in the title is cringe inducing, and making Mickey dark sounded like the most contrived and souless idea Disney's ever had from day one. It'd be exactly the same if it were the early 90's and they made a game called "Radical Mickey" and threw him in neon clothes and a backwards hat. The whole thing reeks of stupid.

 

[Zagzag]

How can you say you didn't like the game and then give it three stars? It should get only one or two surely. I would consider three stars for a game that is actually good, two for ok, four for great and five (to be used in rare cases) for absolute perfection.

 

[AndreyC]

Disappointing. That was one of those announcements that made me want to buy a Wii.

 

[ObsessiveSketch]

Hmmmm. Well I actually bothered to play the game myself. And found a most charming game indeed. It's no Super Mario Galaxy 2. But what is? But I found Mickey easy to control and while yes, the Camera was a little annoying at first. It didn't take long before it was merely a little niggle. Hell, I found the camera on this to be more co-operative than certain games (Uncharted 2 and Prince of Persia.)

I think this is one of the games where people were so hyped up for it (especially when we saw the concept Art.) yet it didn't manage to be perfect.

I hope you're right. I can deal with most of the camera issues that seem to break the game for other gamers, but this whole review has been such a crushing blow. I haven't followed ALL the news on Epic Mickey, but the concept art had me ridiculously psyched to play the game. I think I'm going to get it anyways, but I'll be sure to have Kirby's Epic Yarn close by if I need to console my ailing heart with adorable gameplay :/

 

[SFR]

Why are so many of you saying "I saw this coming" or "too bad it isn't good" when all of you give no sign of actually playing the game. Do you guys think that this critic's opinion is the only one you should go by? Ign and Gametrailers gave this game 8/10 and G4 have it a 5/5! it is obviously not as bad as all that. having just beat the game I can attest to the fact that is flawed and probably not good for a casual gamer, but i can also honestly say that in spite of all that it is a truly remarkable gaming experience and one of the most unique to come out of the mainstream in a long time. If you ever wanted to buy this game, than there is no reason why you shouldn't now, it is very, very good. Sure it can be frustrating(especially near the end) but overall the game is so damned awesome that as soon as i finished i was ready to play the whole thing over again.

I'm with you when referring to going by a single opinion. Reviewers have preferences. Some hate plat-formers while others love RPGs. There are biases (although most of the time slight), so you really should check other reviewers first.

You know what disgusts me more? When people choose games based on Yatzee's "reviews."

 

[Urgh76]

Wow. I also read reviews from X Play (G4TV.com) and they gave Epic Mickey 5/5.

Starting to think that between these written reviews and Zero Punctuation's reviews, this site is a lot better at analyzing games then X Play is.

X Play has begun catering to the big game companies and always saying that their games are great without really diving into them. Then a new game company with a fresh idea comes along and X Play says it sucks. Hmmmm...

Welcome to the Escapist

Stay out of the Basement

OT: Aw, they had to screw this one up too, didn't they? ;(

 

[MarsProbe]

Well, I may take some flak for this, but yes, I'm glad this game got this kind of review. I actually do want this game to go tits up.

That's what you get for trying to make us believe that Epic Mickey won't really be that different from the Deus Exs, Thiefs and System Shocks of this world.

Still, at least we're getting a new DX, and this game remains safely tucked out of site on the Wii.

 

[jjboat]

haha true SFR how can they. Yatzee is comedy. and he bashes things because its his hook. i love it but would never take his reviews seriously. if i did the only games i would ever have played are prince of persia sands of time and saints row2...oh and shadow of the colossus.

 

[Mysticgamer]

I bought and played through the game over the previous week and had very little trouble camera and the controls. If the enemies back me into a wall, there was a little problem but if I jumped away and reset the camera it was just fine. The enemies aren't too easy either, The early enemies are easy but later enemies are fast and strong and if you're not used to playing with a wiimote their going to kick your ass. Honestly, the beetleworx, Blot, or any level boss are not to be fucked with in this game. You don't have to do most of the quests in the game if you don't want to be bothered delivering a cake to Horace. You only need a few power do-hickeys to continue and that's it. I loved destroying stuff in the small world ride and I loved exploring the actual areas seeing what happens if I erased something or painted. If the game sounded good to you but you don't know I recommend renting it and seeing for yourself.

 

[RollForInitiative]

If this is as lacking in enjoyment to play as you describe, then why on Earth did you rate it at 3 stars?