Epic Mickey -- Initial Impression.

Wow, three Wii games in a row. And all within a two week release window. Too bad the system couldn't see more quality titles throughout the entire year. Next up for me is Epic Mickey. The game was developed by Junction Point Studios as led by Warren Spector and published by Disney Interactive Studios. Epic Mickey is a 3D platform adventure game with a basic morality system in place. The basic concept has Mickey Mouse being sucked into a world for forgotten Disney characters. A world Mickey Mouse has accidentally turned into a wasteland through a bit of mischief. Mickey will have the ability to wield paint or thinner through a magic brush and it's in how you choose to use the powers that the morality system comes into place. Do you use the thinner to literally erase your enemies or do you use the paint to convert them to your cause? Do you repair the world or further destroy it to get what you need or want? That's the kind of concept that's become the hallmark of Spector's design philosophy. He's all about the freedom in the how you go about whatever in your games. I've only played one previous Warren Spector title and that was Deus Ex. A game sold on the very same promise of freedom in the how you go about things. I didn't very much care for Deus Ex ten years ago. It'll be interesting to see if the change in genre, the Disney aspect, and a decade's worth of time and experience make a difference in how Spector does this time around for me. From what I've played so far it seems clear that Spector has an immense love and appreciation for all things Disney. He's clearly come up with a great concept. A concept based around Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks' original creation. The Oswald films were owned by distributed by Universal Pictures. When the series had become a hit Universal put pressure on Disney to produce them at a lower cost. Universal had managed to steal away most of the Disney staff working on the Oswald cartoons and made it clear that they really no longer needed Disney. Disney left with a few loyal employees and set about creating another cartoon character. A character that was little more than a modified version of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. That character was of course Mickey Mouse, and as they say, the rest is history. Disney would go on to form an empire off of Mickey Mouse and Oswald would fade into obscurity. I'd have to say that Epic Mickey has one of the coolest concepts for a game I've ever seen. From what I've played so far I think it's safe to say that he story and the Disney aspects of the game are in good hands with Warren Spector. What isn't so sure at this point is if the gameplay will live up to the other aspects of the title...