Epic Mickey Live Report (5pm)

Right, I'm finally here and online - after a small nightmare with my wireless connection. Better late than never...

I'm in a dark corner of London's uber-trendy Shoreditch, birthplace of the asymmetrical haircut. In a few minutes, we'll be seeing the new Mickey Mouse game - which also happens to be the latest project from Warren Spector.

You all remember him, right? He had a hand in making Deus Ex and System Shock, among other gaming greats...

Up until now we've not heard much about this game, but we do know that it's supposed to have a much darker tone than what you'd normal expect from a Mickey game.

There's plenty of Disney artwork decorating the venue, but none of it gives much away. The most prevalent image is a sort of ink blot on a white background, with black splodges that suggest a simplified outline of Mickey's face.

And we're off...

Hopper is giving us a welcome. "Warren's got a show for you that will make your trip worthwhile."

This project arose from a Disney think tank in Glendale, apparently.

Disney felt that Mickey had never achieved his full potential in videogames.

And that's why we've only seen Mickey in Kingdom Hearts, lately.

The Think Tank went back to basics, tried to reconnect with the core of "who Mickey is". They also found a character called Oswald... Mickey's predecessor.

The rights for Oswald actually belonged to Universal, so Disney had to buy him back.

Then Disney hired Warren to make the project work. Apparently he;s a bit of an animation buff. And here he come....

Nice green pullover, Warren!

Warren says there were two main goals here: Present Mickey in a new way, and re-introduce Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Warren says that Mickey has "never been treated right" in gaming; he's better known as a symbol on a watch, T-shirt etc.

This game aims to make Mickey cool again.

Warren also wants to honour Disney's creative legacy, but he knows that the team needs to present this in a different way: taking familiar items and giving them a "twist up", a darker edge.

He also wants to tell a story, as with the 19 games he's made before this. The story must also be player-driven. Everyone will have their own experience as they play.

Warren adds that he likes confounding people, giving them stuff that's hard to define. This game combines elements from platform, adventure and RPG gaming.

Warren adds that he likes confounding people, giving them stuff that's hard to define. This game combines elements from platform, adventure and RPG gaming.

There'll also be a system called "Paint and Thinner". The player can dynamically change the environment. We'll hear about this in a sec.

An image on screen shows Disney encountering an angry black rabbit. It's from the Disney archives, and it's the only time a Disney artist drew Oswald after 1928, when Walt got fired from his old job (at Universal?) over a contract dispute.

So the idea is that Oswald is this bitter twisted husk who felt that Walt rejected him. He came so close to being a star, and was then cast aside.

"How crazy is it that we have to re-introduce Mickey? Everyone knows him." But, Warren says, we need to remind people that he's a hero, and not just an icon. He can do cool things, be funny, be young and not "your favourite uncle".

It's also important to show that Mickey can be badly behaved, as he was in the really early Disney cartoons... before he went all squeaky clean.

The team took their animation rig and blended it with exisiting Disney cartoons, to see how the two compared. From where i'm sitting, they look remarkably close. Warren's engine gives 3d models moving in a 2d scene... if that's not a contradiction.

It's the way Mickey moves that brings out his personality, not just his look.

Here comes the Paint and Thinner mechanic...

everything in the world is made of paint. Some objects are inert (and immune), but for the most part stuff will look bright and puffy... because its all a cartoon.

Example: a cartoon bookcase. You can jump on it, use it as a platform - but if it's in the way, you can erase it. You could then re-draw it once you've moved past, if you like.

Warren won't be saying much about the inert stuff; he'll talk about that on another day.

It'll be your call when to erase stuff, and when to paint stuff; when to behave, and when to be bad.

You can either be a scrapper (mischievous), or a hero. Being a loner, or working for the greater good.

These choices will lead to a unique experience, one that makes Mickey cool to you. Mickey has changed a lot over the years, and the idea is that you'll be able to have him act in the way you like. If you're heroic, and don't erase all the important cartoon stuff, it'll change the world and give you special powers...

....If you make him act like "normal", you can play neutral - sometimes helpful, sometimes not...

...and if you want to make trouble, you can turn him into a Scrapper. A bad mouse who gets into fights. This will change his look.

In this game, you can choose to NOT fight the bosses. You can get around them. Warren says that his team think he's crazy, due to this mechanic.

Seems like an interesting variation on the classic Good/Neutral/Evil thing.

Now let's look at Oswald. He's a little black rabbit with big black ears. Slightly more simple look than Mickey. He's resentful of Mickey, but he's going to play a big role in the story. He can be redeemed.

The badguys are called Spatters - newly-created monsters that look like imps. you can erase them, distract them or make friends with them.

Oswald has lots of kids (hey, he's a bunny, right?) and they all love Mickey. The combination of these kids with Spatters results in problems... but Warren won't spill the beans how.

The gamje will also feature Gremlins - characters that Disney created with Roald Dahl, yeeears ago. There was going to be a film, bit it never happened.

Other Disney friends and foes will appear. There's an image on screen of Donald Duck, and he's half robot. It's like Donald Duck: Judgement Day. Weird.

These characters live in a place called The Cartoon Wasteland, based on drawings by Disney.

The idea is that this is an alternate world where all of Walt's forgotten or unused creations live. The toons live here, waiting for audience to remember them. One setting looks like a mad doctors lab. Another one, Gremlin Village, looks very purple-y with what look like pagodas in the background.

Other levels will be based on famous cartoons. One level, inside a giant clock, is based on the classic short "Clock Cleaners".

There's also a massive, super-creepy house with a graveyard and gothic architecture.

PLOT: Mickey is kidnapped from his home and taken to the cartoon wasteland. The first act of the game is about working out where you are, seeing friends he hasn't seen in ages. He'll re-discover Oswald, and then he'll find out something shocking: he was the one who caused all the devastation. How? I don't know yet.

A pic on screen shows the Phantom Blot... a massive-looking black wave with yellow eyes. He looks quite scary.

And that's all folks (whoops, wrong cartoon studio). The presentation is over, but i'll be seeing a demo of the game in a little over an hour. We'll have a preview up on VideoGamer some time soon.

Now i'm off to raid the free bar. Get in!