The fact that Skylanders has been an annualized franchise since its first sequel means that the announcement of a fourth game in the series is hardly a shock; still, it’s always interesting to find out what new hook Activision will include for each installment in its mega-popular toy and accessory-based franchise. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure kicked off the concept of bringing figurines to life in-game, Skylanders Giants brought us bigger and stronger characters, and last year’s Skylanders Swap Force introduced new figures that could swap their top and bottom halves for different abilities and characters.
Now, we come to Skylanders Trap Team, which was announced just a few minutes ago at a press event in New York City. Series creators Toys for Bob will be returning to the role of developer this time around (Swap Force was handled by Vicarious Visions), and have come up with a very intriguing concept that makes use of an all-new Portal of Power accessory, as well as a new mechanic for utilizing certain characters.
The game’s plot will kick off with returning antagonist KAOS causing a jailbreak that unleashes some of the most fiendish villains in the Skylands, and forces a new team of Skylanders (known as the Trap Masters) to mobilize. For those wondering how exactly this story point ties into the game’s new central mechanic, here’s the rundown. As always, the new Portal of Power will have a flat base to place your traditional Skylander figurine on. The catch here is that the portal now houses an additional speaker on the side, along with a hole to put new crystal accessories. This will enable villains to be sucked into the crystals, and not only will you hear them commentating in the real world via the portal speaker, but you’ll be able to swap between the captive and your figurine’s character at any point with the press of a button, saving time traditionally reserved for swapping out figures.
Trap Team‘s gameplay looks to be akin to the traditional hack-and-slash action that Skylanders is best known for, and besides once again offering backwards compatibility with toys from the first three games, the announcement trailer, which can be viewed below, promises over 60 new Skylanders, presumably a mix of traditional figures and trapped enemies. A U.S. release date of October 5 has also been confirmed, along with the fact that every system that got Swap Force last year will get Trap Team as well, those being the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii, Wii U, and 3DS.
We will continue to keep you updated on Skylanders Trap Team as more details are announced in the months leading up to the game’s release.