Parents loathe them, companies love them and your child simply needs them. Welcome to Skylanders, Activision Blizzard's incredible marketing tool that has taken the gaming industry by the throat - in a loving way of course.

Being the sequel, Skylanders Giants is introducing brand new giant models to the fold along with an assortment of other goodies that will undoubtedly send the world into a state of frenzied shock this holiday season.

Skylanders Giants interview

           

The success of Skylanders cannot be denied and neither can the concept behind them. Having a fully interactive experience with a collection outside of the game is purely genius and this isn't going to slow down with Giants. Looking to introduce eight brand new giant models, one per each element, the things are massive and carry with them brand new abilities that contain very powerful attacks. I mean, when something is named Tree Rex, you wouldn't expect its abilities to be lackluster, would you?

He's a carnivorous plant demon monster. Actually he's just big.

Along with the new giant figures are eight new standard sized Skylander models, also one for each element, and what's known as series two Skylanders. The series two figures are select favourites from the first game that come equipped with additional poses and abilities the older ones never had the pleasure of bearing. There are also new LightCore Skylanders that light up as they get closer to the Portal of Power, which should have your child screaming in delighted terror. It's actually really cool.

Unlike my terrible habit of calling it an expansion in our interview, it's important to note that Giants is a full blown sequel, not an expansion. The visuals have certainly been pumped up, voice actors have been brought on to give each model a more personal touch, new collectibles are being introduced and the level cap is being increased to 15 instead of 10. This means all your older Skylanders cam attain that higher level, grab the new hats and, you know, siphon even more of your life into the game.

Whatever this thing is, you need to run. RUN!

While I haven't personally sunk a huge chunk of time into Skylanders, I can tell you that just witnessing the changes that Giants brings makes a definite difference. It's clear Giants wants to be the definitive version of the mega-popular series and with Tree Rex alone, I think it's a done deal.

Expect the new game to hit around the holiday mark of this year. C'mon, you aren't surprised are you?