Paint Thinner looks to be an important mechanic.
Today, in London, Disney Interactive held an unveiling party for Epic Mickey, a new game exclusivelyover at 1up.com by Thierry Nguyen.
Spector discussed many different aspects of the game, from the hero himself, to the game world, enemies, and gameplay style. The game will be, of course, starring Mickey Mouse. One of Spector’s largest worries was that of Mickey’s status in pop culture today, saying, "Mickey is most recognized at an icon on a watch or t-shirt, but not as a character in a narrative". The reinvention of Mickey Mouse was a consistent theme throughout the presentation, with Spector stating that he wanted to to look deeper into the character of Mickey, to discover his "essence". Keeping on the protagonist thread of things, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was announced as joining Mickey on his adventure. Additionally, Goofy, Donald, and Minnie will be in the game in some capacity, though Spector was cryptic as to how.
Gameplay-wise the game will be a platformer with RPG and adventure elements. Another prevalent gameplay mechanic is that of both paint and paint thinner. Paint is used to create, whilst paint thinner is used to destroy. Spector’s example had Mickey erase a bookshelf with paint thinner in order to progress further. The mechanic works because the entire world has the aesthetic of a painting.
The gameworld itself was referred to as the Cartoon Wasteland, and seems to be a sort of purgatory for cartoons that failed to make the cut. Two locations in the Wasteland were also revealed; Gremlin Village and Lonesome Manor.
Finally, Spector touched a little on the general shape the story would take. Through a nefarious plot against him, Mickey ends up in the Cartoon Wasteland, which is full of toons who were thrown away because of Mickey’s runaway success.
It’s very interesting that Spector is so dedicated to crafting a persona for Mickey, and crafting a very intriguing story in the process. Much like he suggested, I personally think of Mickey as just a marketing tool for Disney instead of his own character. While Junction Point Studios have never released a game, Warren Spector has worked on titles such as Thief, Deus Ex, and Systems Shock. So the pedegree is certainly there. For the moment all we can do is look at the new screenshots, as well as the full live-blog at 1up.
