Short Cut – Skylander Review
Short Cut is a new Undead Trap Master making his debut in Skylanders Trap Team. Short Cut made the finest clothing in all of Skylands. His magic shears could cut through any cloth, any thread, and follow any pattern. One day a fleet of skeleton pirates appeared in flying ships. They had just stolen a cargo of golden yarn from some local fortunetellers. The pirate captain demanded that Short Cut use the yarn to make him a magic hat that would tell him the future of anyone in Skylands. Short Cut did not want his worked used for evil, so that night while all the pirates were sleeping on their ships, he snuck onto the ships and sewed together the pants and shirts of the sleeping pirates so they couldn’t fight. Then he took his magic shears and cut all of the sails and wrapped them around the ships which prevented the pirates from escaping. Master Eon found out about his brave capturing of the pirates and offered to make him a member of the Trap Team. Now Short Cut uses his Traptanium Shears to cut evil’s future short.
Short Cut is not your average Trap Master. He is about half the size of any other Trap Master. He could almost be mistaken for a core Skylander if it wasn’t for the gigantic Traptanium Shears that he holds. His Traptanium weapon is literally twice his size. Luckily for the Skylanders, he is very good at cutting things with them, and their large size makes them a great weapon. Most of his body is covered in a brown burlap sack looking material. He reminds me a lot of the PlayStation character Sack Boy. Hopefully his burlap clothes are pretty strong because he doesn’t really wear any other type of armor. You can’t really tell what kind of attacks he might have just by looking at him. But obviously his large shears will be heavily involved. As it turns out, he can use his shears just as well as a weapon as he does to make the clothes that he was once famous for.
The Traptanium Scissors are indeed his main weapon. It’s kind of like wielding a sword or another melee weapon, however, the shears do damage like a sword, but it does it rapidly almost like a gun. His ability to quickly close and open his shears makes for a quick ability to reload and cut again. It turns out that it’s pretty fun to snip away at enemies. His secondary attack is called Phantom Puppets. Short Cut can summon puppet minions which seek out and attack enemies. They can take some damage too. They won’t be destroyed at the first hit of an enemy. An upgrade called No Strings Attached will let Short Cut use his scissors to cut the puppet’s strings before they are released. This will make the puppets faster and more powerful. His third attack comes from a purchased upgrade. It’s called Nether Needle and it goes quite well with his Traptanium Scissors attack. Pressing Attack 3 will shoot a needle straight ahead and will pull in any enemy hit. Once the enemies are close, Short Cut can go to work with his quick scissors attack. If you have bought the Cutting Frenzy upgrade, then you can make the cutting even faster. The final upgrade is called Cut Through Worlds and it allows Short Cut to cut a rift into another dimension which will damage any enemies who come in contact with it.
To upgrade Short Cut more, you’ll have to make a decision: Do you want to improve the Traptanium Scissor attacks or the Phantom Puppet attacks? If you choose the Scary Seamster path then you will upgrade your scissors. The Treacherous Tangle upgrade allows the Nether Needle to tangle up the enemies that you grab. This gives you some time to cut them up without fear of getting damaged. The Super Snips upgrade will make those tangled enemies take extra damage from scissor attacks. The last upgrade in the path is called Threadsplosion and will cause an explosion to the enemies once they are untangled. It sounds to me, like this path really improves the Nether Needle attack and more or less only supports the Traptanium Scissor attack. We chose the Puppet Master path for improving the puppet attacks. I rather like having the fighting done for me, and these minions might be the best minions of any character. The first upgrade is called Go Out With a Bang and causes the puppets to explode before disappearing. The next upgrade is called Puppet Population and it allows for more puppets to be summoned and they all do extra damage. Finally there is the Paging Dr. Puppets upgrade which gives Short Cut some health back when the puppets damage an enemy. So not only can you run and hide and stay out of the fight, you can heal any damage you might have taken while hiding. I’m a big fan of the puppets, and I have no regrets choosing that upgrade path. Once you get tired of the puppets doing all the work, then you will want to use the Soul Gem ability. Once purchased you’ll be able to do the Scissor Stilts. Short Cut will use his giant scissors like stilts and will shred anyone in his way. It’s a powerful attack, but it is a little tricky to execute. You will have to hold the Attack 1 button and then press the Attack 2 button. This is hard to do with one hand, but if you can find a way to maneuver your fingers, it will be worth it.
Overall, Short Cut is a pretty good Trap Master. His scissors produce a satisfying and quick melee attack. If you like staying out of the battle then the puppet minions can do an excellent job for you. They last a while, take some damage, and can easily overrun most enemies. You can also summon them from anywhere and they will find the enemies. If you need to deal some heavy damage fast, then using the Scissor Stilts Soul Gem ability works pretty well even though it doesn’t last long and is a little hard to pull off. He’s not the biggest or the strongest Trap Master but he is interesting and fun to play with. If you are looking to get one of the Undead Trap Masters, then I think it’s a clear cut choice, go with Short Cut.
SkylanderNutts gives Short Cut…
8.0 out of 10
Short Cut Video Review
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