He may be one of the world's most iconic characters, but for the upcoming co-op platformer Epic Mickey 2: The Power Of Two, the talented mouse looks set to try his hand at something a little bit different, by taking part in a game, that, while it plays out a bit like the Lego games, is also a full blown musical. Yes, you did read that right - instead of long, boring cutscenes, we'll have singing pantomime villains, and musical showdowns galore - and with the release of a new video showing the intro to the game, we now have our first glimpse of quite how it's going to work.
Set a few years after the previous game, Epic Mickey 2 once again takes place in the Cartoon Wasteland - a world where abandoned ideas for cartoon characters live alongside similarly thrown away concepts for rides for the Disneyland parks, which is a much happier place, without the tyranny of the evil Shadow Blot and Mad Doctor, who'd attempted to capture Mickey in the first game in an attempt to escape from the Wasteland. Supposedly defeated in the original, Epic Mickey 2 opens with the Mad Doctor reappearing, claiming to be a reformed man, as he offers his services in repairing and restoring the land of Wasteland. But not long after accepting the Mad Doctor's peace offering, Wasteland starts to suffer – which is when Oswald's friend and advisor, Gus the Gremlin, along with Oswald's girlfriend/wife Ortensia send out a plea to help to Mickey Mouse.
Quick! Change ze channel!!
Once again armed with his magical paintbrush and bucket of paint thinner, Mickey heads off to uncover the truth behind the Mad Doctor's reformation and reappearance. By making clever use of his 'weapons', Mickey can make bridges and ledges appear, leading the way to the next part of the level – or he can use his paint thinner to remove things, like gears in machines, to help make his way through the level easier. Aside from being used to solve the many puzzles you'll encounter on your journey, the paint and paint thinner can also be used against enemies, to either persuade them to join your side, or exterminate them – and, in an interesting twist, your actions will have consequences later in the game.
As with the previous Epic Mickey game, Epic Mickey 2 promises to make use of a concept known as 'playstyle matters', where you can tackle the game's challenges however you see fit – which in turn will influence how the story pans out. In the first game, how you behaved changed how the residents perceived you, depending on whether you used your paint to make wasteland a better place and helped people out with their problems, or shot thinner everywhere and were generally a bit of a roughneck. The sequel plans to take this morality system a step further and actually even affects the songs that appear in the game. Don't worry though - you won't have to join in with the singing.
Used to set the scene for the story, the latest trailer for the new game includes a musical introduction from the previous game's villain, The Mad Doctor – who promises everyone he's now a reformed man. We think you can't trust anyone with a beard, moustache and a rather unusual monobrow in a game:
We don't know about you, but we're pretty excited about Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two – especially as it does two player co-op this time round, with a second player able to drop in as Oswald to help you out with his own unique abilities. Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two releases this November on the Wii, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and there's also going to be an exclusive 3DS version of the game, Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, with a whole different story to play through.
