Activision Blizzard has announced a brand new character for the Skylanders Trap Team lineup, and a special pre-order program. If you do order now you'll get your hands on the tech element characters months before the game's release.
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Who is this Gearshift? "In the game, Gearshift was created on the Tech island of Metallana by King Mercurus, who considered the young robot to be his own daughter. But rather than performing royal duties, Gearshift preferred to spend her time in the oily depths of the kingdom among its workers, secretly tending to the huge subterranean machines. When her father discovered this, he was furious - but then a squadron of Undead Stormriders suddenly attacked. Learning that these marauders wanted to capture her father, Gearshift used her knowledge of the labyrinth below to hide him. Seizing the emblem of her people - The Great Gear - she used it to fight the Stormriders, inspiring the workers to rise up. Together, they drove the Stormriders out of Metallana and saved the kingdom. For this, Gearshift was made part of the Trap Team, using her new awesome Traptanium-forged gear to help defend Skylands."
Now the Traptanium is the big gimmick for this installment, as it allows you to trap enemy characters and turn them over to your side. Playable enemies hugely increases the number of characters and powers you can use in the game, and it also offers opportunities for Activision to sell you little plastic crystals that are used to trap them in-game.
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The new Traptanium Portal included with the Starter Pack will allow the players to hear the villians speaking to them from inside the physical trap, a neat little touch. Gearshift will not be included in that pack, however, and if the past is any indication she will be in short supply. Your only chance to get her could be to pre-order her- she'll be available for pre-order at all major retailers starting today.
Skylanders Trap Team will be available on Nintendo Wii, Wii U, 3DS, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One on October 5, 2014. Gearshift will be featured at the Skylanders booth at this year's E3, so expect more on it soon.