During our trip to E3 last week, we took a booth tour of Disney Interactive, which was highlighted by a hands-on demo of Epic Mickey 2 (preview coming shortly).  However, towards the end of the tour, we came up on a playable demo of the PS3 version of Brave: The Video Game.

Based off the upcoming feature film by Pixar and Disney, the game put gamers in the shoes of Merida in a third-person action game.  As Merida, players can fire off melee and ranged attacks using the face buttons while having the ability to use powered attacks such as those of fire, wind and more.  Rather than just having fancy attacks for the sake of variety, the attacks had a purpose as some enemies were susceptible to certain attacks, such as the large boulder enemies that didn’t like wind, while those who were made out of trees didn’t fare too well against fire. Having played the demo for only a few minutes, you already got the feeling that you were playing a dual-stick shooter, at least as it pertained to attacking.  Other times, it felt like a platformer, as you progressed through a gorgeous looking island.  When not on the offensive, Merida solved puzzles, collected loot and upgraded herself using the in-game store that let you use coins you found while playing.

Helping me along the way was a Will O’ the Wisp, which was being controlled by our own Ryan Bates. As Merida’s companion, it too was able to attack and help out with puzzles, though the camera angle favored Merida, meaning you’d want to be close to her if you’re using Will O’ the Wisp, or be forced to get lost on the screen.

I must say that throughout the demo, I kept thinking that this game was much more entertaining that I would have imagined it would be.  Sure, the gameplay was more or less straight forward, but there was something charming about the experience.  Disney says Brave: The Video Game will also have Kinect and PlayStation Move functionality, which would see helpful with attacks or archery.

Set to be released on June 19 for all major platforms, Brave could be an E-rated game to look out for.