Game Room: October Roundup

It's easy to dismiss Skylanders and its new sequel as a shallow, cynical money grab. After all, the game is replete with ads -- errr... previews -- for the 40-plus action figures that open new areas and characters in the game. The integration between the toys and the game, though, is still awfully cool, and the toys and the characters they unlock are varied and great fun to upgrade. This time around there are eight giant-sized characters that add a additional wrinkles to the familiar kill-the-bad-guys-to-level-up action from the first game. Fortunately, all of the characters from the first game continue to work in the sequel, though Activision has brought plenty of new toys to the party. The game's uneven difficulty level can bring frustration for younger gamers, but the three levels of difficulty help smooth things over. Skylanders Giants is perfect for kids, fun for adults, murder on the wallet.

Score: 8 out of 10