Epic Mickey: You Choose How Evil You Want To Be

Warren Spector's upcoming Disney game, Epic Mickey, is getting some serious attention. And for good reason – the clash of two well-respected, established forces creating something that takes somewhat bends what you expect from the classic cartoons should be a draw for even the most disillusioned fan.

Game Informer spent some time with developer Junction Point to understand the processes behind the game's development, and from it we learn new information on the project. 2D side-scrolling levels will interconnect with larger 3D areas, and as you'd expect all of these will be based on an old classic Disney cartoon.

Play will involve using your magic paintbrush to draw (or otherwise erase) pathways in the world around you, but there is a restriction on what exactly you can manipulate. It comes in the form of 'inert objects' – dark, twisted looking renditions of Disney-esque objects and locations. While you cannot use your paintbrush on these wicked features, a 'toon' object – that which looks colourful and “marshmallow”-like – can be modified as you please. The two art styles combine in some of the enemies you encounter, of which certain parts can be erased to give you some breathing space, but the inert parts of the enemies mean you'll never be able to completely destroy them.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the feature is when Warren Spector talks about 'different versions' of Mickey that changes in reaction to the player's actions. A dark, 'scrapper' version of Mickey will transform if you play the game with a dark heart, a middle-of-the-road 'wastelander' for when you're playing neutrally, and a 'hero' Mickey for saving the day on numerous occasions.

“How you decide to play the game should make a difference. You get to determine what kind of hero you are. Everybody solves the problem. Everybody saves the day. Everybody gets to save the world and gets the girl,” Spector explains to Game Informer, “But how you do it, and how you end up looking is up to you. What abilities you have is up to you. Who likes you is up to you. What missions you hear about or not is up to you.”

Looks and sounds awesome already, right? We'll have more news on the Wii exclusive Epic Mickey in the coming months up to its release.