Disney Infinity Review

Up next was the Incredibles Play Set, and boy was that a breath of fresh air. Likely the best of the three sets in the Starter Pack, this campaign offered one big city to explore, more memorable encounters, a better structured narrative, and simply a joy to play. The mission design had more variety, with more transportation options and much, much less climbing. It brought the best memories of arcade open world games, for example those of the Lego variety, and is the only set in the pack to offer a flying option. This is likely best to be saved for last, as it is the most well-rounded experience from the gameplay perspective.

Finally, we ventured out into open waters with the Pirates set. This Play Set is likely the most impressive in terms of the game world, as you get to control your very own ship and sail the seas between different islands in a free open world. Each island tasks you with some collecting and platforming sections, and though they are fairly small, the whole experience feels vast thanks to the open world exploration mechanics and even the sea battles against other ships. It’s no Assassin’s Creed 3, but the ship battles were enjoyable none the less. The same quest mechanics apply here as other Play Sets, but most are focused on upgrading your ship by purchasing upgrades.

Completing the Play Sets and challenges earns your characters golden stars, and experience. Every time your character reaches a new level or gains enough stars, you earn a Toy Box Vault token. Other then that though, there seems to be no purpose to your character’s level, as there is no progression system. Which is odd, considering many of the game’s Power Disks (none included in Started Edition) offer bonuses to damage and abilities – but the game does nothing to explain or identify if character or enemy stats have any place in the combat design. And yes, even between the different figurines, besides a few different animations and attack combos, nobody feels particularly different from the rest. This was likely done for the sake of balance, but one would have hoped that Mr Incredible had something a bit cooler than the same drop-punch ability as Sully.

But we’ve digressed. The aforementioned tokens are used as an entry to take a spin in the Vault and see what kind of new object you can unlock. Players can take as many spins as they have tokens, and each one produces a new object that is added to the editor and can be used in the Toy Box. It’s a neat idea to distribute new items in this way, and definitely gives players something to look forward to as a reward after their adventures.

The game’s presentation is average, audio design being the notable highlight that features fantastic orchestral scores from all the major franchises in your Play Set, and even though the voice actors are not the ones from the movies, they do an OK job imitating the characters. Less stellar are the visuals, which are serviceable but leave something to be desired in the quality of the props, characters and effects. And then there are the technical issues – the game stutters on a number of occasions, produces bugs such as frozen timers or starting an event while the player character is being attacked. Or worse yet, has a scripting error leaves you unable to progress without restarting the game.

For players seeking to experience the game with others, there are multiple options to be had. There is two player local split-screen available, as long as you’ve got another controller handy. Those wishing to play online can participate in four player activities with drop-in drop-out, although you can’t play against random players as only friend invites via your console of choice are possible. This is probably a good idea, for the sake of safety for kids playing online – but if you have no friends on Xbox Live/PSN who own the title, the game offers no way to connect or discover other Infinity players. All four players can simultaneously participate in the Toy Box, creating and placing objects with the editor or just roaming around. For split screen story mode, however, you’ll require to make additional purchases, as only toys from the specific universe can participate. So for example, playing Monsters U in local coop will require you to buy an extra figurine (Mike or Randy) to join Sully that comes in the Starter Pack. It’s a bit of a deterrent that some players will likely be unhappy with.

Undoubtedly the biggest appeal of the whole experience is the Disney and Disney Pixar universe. It’s not often that the company puts out video games, let alone with so many franchises all found within Infinity, so fans passionately await another opportunity to visit the world of Toy Story or have a paintball fight as Sully. And in that regard, the game delivers, along with great sound design and a firm, if slightly clunky, foundation of the Toy Box mode. The gameplay itself however tends to get repetitive, and there is not much variation between the activities you’ll be performing in Toy Box challenges and Play Sets, though The Incredibles and Pirates stand out thanks to good overall design. Fantastic sound and decent visuals keep things moving along, even as some technical issues try to get in the way of the fun. Overall, the very strong franchises that make up the Disney Infinity universe may prove to be enough for players, especially in the younger demographic, to overlook some of the game’s shortcomings.