Disney Infinity
SCORE: 85
There has
been massive hype over the launch of Disney Infinity on the Wii,
Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U. The hype has been so intense that
expectations of Disney Infinity have been raised to levels that are
impossible to reach. The expectations have been Disney Infinity will be
the best game of the entire century.
Disney Interactive was not first in terms of releasing a toy video game
hybrid. They do have the resources and source material (Disney
franchises) to compete with Skylanders. Can Disney Infinity knock
Activision's cash cow down a few notches? My answer to that is coming
later in this review.
The starter pack to Disney Infinity comes with the game, portal pad,
Sully (Monsters University), Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the
Caribbean), Mr Incredible (The Incredibles), and the orb with a playset
for each of the three characters. Meaning a game play world for
Monsters, Pirates, and Incredibles.
Each game play world or playset contains around six to ten hours of game
play. There are numerous missions to play, and Toy Box content to be
found. The Toy Box is where Disney Infinity is the most interesting.
This is a sandbox world where your family can create whatever they want.
Would you like a race track? You can build it. A football field? You can
build it. As long as you have purchased and unlocked the content. That
means spending time in the playsets.
The cost of the Starter Pack is comparable with the Skylander's portal
with three characters. The additional characters cost a lot more with
Disney Infinity though. Additional worlds also cost a lot more.
Thankfully they are being discounted by some retailers. The Cars playset
interested me personally.
Why is Cars such a big deal here at Family Friendly Gaming? The THQ
games are members of the Family Friendly Gaming Hall of Fame. So
anything Cars related gets our attention. The Cars playset impressed me.
In fact more so than the ones in the starter pack. Plus Cars is way less
violent than Pirates and Incredibles.
Families are going to run into a couple of issues when it comes to
Disney Infinity. The first problem is only characters from that world
can be played in that playset. Captain Jack can not enter the
Incredibles world. So from the starter pack, the only way to play
together is in the Toy Box. That is until you fork out thirteen dollars
for another character from that world.
Another problem families will run into is a poor guidance system and
occasional glitches. There is a show me button that points toward your
destination in a mission. It points directly to it. Meaning if there is
a building in your way it points you straight through the building. You
can't go through the building. You have to go around it. This becomes
even worse when there are only a few ways to say the rooftops. Finding
how to get up there is annoying. Especially when it is five buildings
down, and across a street - oh and on the alley side. While you are
trying to find your way robots keeping falling out of the sky and
attacking you.
There are also invisible walls stopping you from getting to certain
places. I was in a mission to get to an island I had not built a bridge
to yet. I could use the hover board and jump across. However the game
stopped me with an invisible wall on the other side. I had to go and
find the mission that let me purchase the bridge to get to that island.
Disney Infinity should have told me I needed to complete some other
mission first, and point me to where that mission was.
The Power Discs are one of the coolest features of Disney Infinity. They
are placed on the playset spot to change the theme, or give certain
characters a special skill. Multiple power discs can be used at the same
time. Which is a fun way to change the look of your Toy Box.
Does Disney Infinity knock Skylanders out of the park? No. It is a solid
title that families can enjoy? Yes. It is on the pricey side? Yes. If
some of the glitches can be fixed, then Disney Infinity could be a real
contender. The Toy Box mode is its real selling point. I just wish it
was not so limited and small. The storylines could have used some more
attention as well.
- Paul
Graphics: 80%
Sound: 90%
Replay/Extras: 90%
Gameplay: 82%
Family Friendly Factor: 85%
System: PS3/Xbox 360/Wii/Wii U(tested)
Publisher: Disney
Interactive
Rating: ‘E10+’ - Everyone 10+
{Cartoon Violence}
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