Skylanders Trap Team is a little bit Ghostbusters, a little bit Mega Man

By Adam Rosenberg April 24, 2014

The 2014 entry in Activision’s family-friendly juggernaut is Skylanders Trap Team, a Toys For Bob-developed outing that introduces the ability to capture enemies and drag them into the real world, then use their abilities to rain havoc on their former villains-in-arms. In true Skylanders fashion, the process of trapping and holding baddies is enabled by a new set of physical toys that work in tandem with a new near-field communication (NFC) Portal.

On the game side, you hunt down and face off against the powerful foes scattered throughout the Skylands, and then contain them in the real world using the new Traptanium Portal. This NFC device (included with the game) works with special “crystal” Trap figurines that are designed to capture the essence of villains, as well as their unique abilities. Back inside the game, you’re then able to swap between playing as a Skylander hero or your trapped foe on the fly.

Along with the new trap feature, Skylanders Trap Team also introduces 40 “capturable” villains and 60 Skylanders, including the new Trap Masters and their Traptanium-powered weapons. You can see a sampling of these in our gallery above, along with first-time looks at the new portal and the video game that all of this connects to. The game’s story sees the villainous Kaos staging a breakout at Cloudcracker Prison, with players having to track down and contain the dangerous escapees.

Skylanders Trap Team is the first Toys For Bob-developed entry in the series since 2012’s Skylanders: Giants. These are kid-friendly games at heart, but the garish gameplay is not without its challenges, and the collectible nature of the toys fuels the same sort of “gotta catch ’em all” mentality that makes Pokemon such a popular franchise. Only here, you actually have a physical collection of figurines to seek out and enhance your game with.

Pre-orders are open now, with the release set for October 5 in North America, October 2 in Australia/New Zealand, and October 10 in Europe. Skylanders Trap Team will be coming to all PlayStation, Wii, and Xbox consoles, with a “completely unique adventure” also coming to Nintendo’s 3DS. Take a peek at what’s to come in the trailer below.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

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