Skylanders: Fur Affinity

In a world, distant from the reality we know of, Skylands is a very different place. In this version of Skylands, the Skylanders were defeated in the final hurdle against Kaos, the core of Light was destroyed again and the Skylands were shrouded in darkness when no heroes could return.

As time progressed, Kaos became corrupted by the darkness itself and slowly tried to take world after world to the darkness, that was until it reached one world in particular. In the final moments when Kaos arrived and proceeded to claim it, within the split second of the blast, against all odds and probability, a new world was made, a new set of Skylands and new a band of heroes to defend it and take Kaos down once and for all.

The fate of this new Skyland hangs in the balance; the new Skylanders must band together, build the Core of Light in some shape or form, or else another world is lost to Kaos.

As with the current title, Skylanders uses pretty much the same controls in terms of combat and movement and the Portal of Power continues to return however notable changes exist.

The Portal will now require two characters to be placed on it simultaneously. The game supports drop-in/drop-out co-op play and online multiplayer. Introduced into the game is the feature called "Fur-Affinity", in which a character, once they have acquired sufficient, power can temporarily unleash this power with their teammate in combat. The power and effect of this "Fur Affinity" depends on the character who activates it and can have varying effects from rapid healing, increased speed or enhanced stats, to things as strange as making all the enemies dance for a short while or them to be frozen in time.

When playing one player, one character will be the major character whilst the other will assist as controlled by the computer. When playing multiplayer, each player can take on their own Skylander.

In addition to this, players will have more advanced communication options during play. Players can hold the Triangle/Y/C button on their controllers and use certain commands to other teammates by pressing positions on the directional pads. For instance;

• Pressing Up will allow you to call a player over either in greeting or perform a high five.
  
• Pressing Left will call for help.
  
• Pressing Right will call for healing.
  
• Pressing Down will call for "Fur Affinity"
  

And pressing the corresponding button without holding Triangle/Y/C will allow you to carry out that action.

Discovered upon reaching the Skylands, the Skylanders discovered they could forge powerful connections between teammates called "Fur Affinity". This mysterious connection allows power to be shared and used that another team mate has stored and harnessed. The connection takes on all forms and each Skylander can carry it out.

For instance, some Skylanders' "Fur Affinity" can simply be boosting stats, offering invulnerability or helping to remove enemies more quickly. Some Skylanders can use theirs to also carry out other strange things, such as creating duplicates of their team mate that will defend them or transform them into beasts with low defences, but high offences.

The "Fur Afiinity" can be triggered by approaching a team mate and pressing up on the directional pad, or calling another team mate to do the same. This feature is very diverse and the overall affects can vary greatly depending on who is paired together, ultimately giving a key selling factor to the individual characters.

As with the previous version, the Skylanders will be classified under the eight elements; Magic, Tech, Water, Fire, Earth, Air, Life and Undead. This time round, each element also entails additional factors in combat and abilities.

Magic element characters are able to work with magical contraptions outside of combat and are automatically protected from stat changes from enemy attacks.

Tech element characters can rebuild and work machines outside of combat and are immune to confusion from certain enemy attacks.

Water element characters, like in the original, can cross bodies of water and swim easily and cannot be frozen.

Fire element characters can cross fire and lava and cannot be burnt.

Earth element characters can dig in areas of soft ground and are resistant to stunning.

Air element characters can naturally cross gaps without assistance and negotiate air currents and are immune to blow-back effect from certain enemy moves.

Life element characters can control plants, heal other players much quicker than other elements and are immune to poison.

Undead elements do not take indirect damage and so can survive in dangerous areas, such as poison gas, no air or high radiation, with no consequence.