Developer: Avalanche Software, Studio Gobo, Ninja Theory
Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios, Bandai Namco Games, Microsoft Studios
Platform: Vita, PS3, PS4, Windows, iOS, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Disney Infinity 2.0 – Review
With the coming of the first Skylanders game, a new kind of interactive gaming was born. Having actual figurines you could use as ‘in-game’ characters was something that might have seemed like science fiction a decade ago, but more and more developers are leaning towards these fun gimmicks to enhance gaming experiences of gamers of all kind of ages. That being said, after the success of the first Disney Infinity game, it was only a matter of time before the 2.0 version was released, to present you with a new cast of figurines and a totally new Disney world to explore and above all – create.
Story
Whilst Disney will immediately scream out great storylines and epic adventures, Disney Infinity 2.0 might be a tad different than what you’d expect. The base game itself presents you with a story that revolves around ‘The Avengers’. This story is quite basic and in reality it shows that the story portions of the game itself aren’t the true strength of Disney Infinity 2.0.
The story parts of ‘The Avengers’ revolve around the fact that Loki is on the loose again, with the help of the ‘Ice Giants’. These frozen monsters are trying to cover the world in ice, starting with one city at a time. You’ll be treated to an occasional cutscene with the necessary wit and amusing comments to keep you entertained for a while. Sadly, the value these stories give you is quite under par.
Disney Infinity 2.0 does offer other storylines, such as a ‘Spider-man’ arc and a ‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘ arc. These arcs can be unlocked by placing the necessary ‘play set’ on the Disney Infinity portal and then you’ll be able to play a new story for several hours and thus expanding the overall gameplay. So in a way, you’ll be able to buy new story portions in order for you to expand the adventures you’re going on.
Other than that, the game actually serves as a great game to make up your own stories and epic adventures for you and your friends to depart on. The Toy Box mode, which will be explained further below, will allow you to do such a thing.
Graphics
Disney Infinity 2.0 offers a graphical style suitable for those of a younger age, as well as diehard fans from different Disney series (or Marvel in this case). Characters such as Captain America, Thor and so on, adopt a more childlike style along the lines of Disney’s ‘The Incredibles’ and the more recent animated series from the Marvel universe. This creates a more accessible theme and above all, this makes all the characters go hand in hand, when it comes to the overall style of the game.
Having tested the Xbox 360 version, it’s easy to say that the graphical quality of the game is a bit of both worlds. The characters and a decent portion of the maps look quite amazing, in its own comic-like style. The characters move fluently, they suit the world and look amusing enough to keep you entertained. The areas itself look quite decent, whilst sometimes a bit more details would have been nice.
Even on the so called previous generation of consoles, the game does not really have any frame rate issues. At least if you don’t go overboard in the Toy Box mode and spawn too many enemies in a world that you have already filled up (or fight them all on the same screen).
Sadly, the game still has its share of bugs. You’ll find yourself occasionally walking through walls, falling through floors and pretty much end up in a state you will have to reload your save file.
Sound
The musical score of Disney Infinity is suiting for all of the available story arcs. The music is tranquil during your overall cruising of the environments and it lifts up during more action packed scenes.
To top it off, you’ll have characters that have been voiced over quite nicely. Each character has its own lines and suiting ones at that.
Gameplay
Disney Infinity 2.0 will present you with two different kinds of gameplay. On the one side you will find the adventurous side with some story value and on the other side you will find the portion in which you create your own world, missions and content to be shared online (if you want to).
The adventures your characters partake in, are typical action/platforming missions that hang loosely together with some cutscenes. Often you’ll have to kill certain monsters, protect a target or solve a few simple puzzles. When doing so you will be rewarded with some extra experience and credit for the Toy Store and after that you’re off to the next missions. This simplicity allows you to play for shorter sessions if you’re lacking the time to play longer. Sadly, this also means most of your missions will only take a few minutes for you to complete and they often tend to look alike.
It’s fun to know that you can expand the adventures by purchasing new play sets. These play sets will unlock a new area and a new storyline for you to complete and spend several hours on. Sadly, these play sets have their own set of limitations. For example, characters from the ‘The Avengers’ world will not be able to play in the ‘The Guardians of the Galaxy’ world. This means you’ll have to own the specific characters for the specific world if you wish to use them to partake in any kind of adventure. Luckily some characters, such as Iron Man, can go on adventures in different kind of worlds, after you collect all the needed tokens to unlock him in that play set.
Your characters will receive experience on their adventures and thus you will be able to upgrade their skills each level. Each character will have its own skill tree in which you will be able to pick the skills that suit your fancy. You’ll be able to choose a decent amount of upgrades and new skills to create some diversity when you wish to ‘rebuild’ your character.
The second big portion of the game, is the building part in which you’ll be able to create your own Disney house and/or world. On the one side you’ll have the ‘INterior’ mode, in which you will be able to create your own gigantic mansion and on the other side you’ll find the Toy Box mode in which you are able to create your own world.
In the INterior mode you start off in a small house, which seems to have suffered from the test of time. That’s where you come in, seeing you will have to redesign the place, add rooms and complete small quests for your visitors. These visitors are chibi versions of well known Disney characters and they will often ask you to design rooms in specific themes or to expand and so on. When completing these small quests, they will often reward you with items that you can place in your Toy Box.
The Toy Box mode will present you with some different options, namely the tutorial, premade maps and the option to create your own world from scratch. The first two pretty much point out themselves. When you decide to create your very own world/adventure you will be presented with a blank patch of land which you can start customizing.
You’ll be able to place all kinds of objects in different types of themes. Most of these are simply to shape your world and to decorate it. You’ll be presented with loads of options and if you still can’t find your pick of the litter, you are able to buy plenty more in the Toy Store and you’ll also be able to unlock more items by finishing story parts in the story arcs.
When you finally get around to placing all the parts, characters and even enemy characters you’ll be able to start creating your own ‘missions’ and other activities to do. If you are truly proud of what you have built, you can also share your creation online in order for other people to enjoy.
Being able to share content means you’re also able to try out content from other users. This means you’ll be able to lengthen your gameplay even further by trying out player-made missions or simply by exploring picturesque worlds that might inspire you to create something great as well.
The game allows you to play co-op locally with a friend or up to four players online. Whilst the online mode speaks for itself, the offline mode has a rule set to it, if you wish to play in certain story arcs. To play together with a friend locally, you must both have a character that is allowed in that specific world. However, in the Toy Box, both of you are allowed to use whichever character you like.
Disney Infinity 2.0 does, sadly, has a few flaws that hamper the overall great ideas that make the game great instead of amazing. Camera angles, especially in the ‘The Avengers’ arc are often horrible. You’ll often have no overview and you will not be able to see your opponent properly because of this. Other bugs such as randomly dying and not being able to respawn when retrying a mission also happen from time to time, but luckily the game provides more than plenty checkpoints.
Conclusion
Disney Infinity 2.0 is a great game for a wide variety of gamers. You will certainly find your ‘thing’ to do in the overall gameplay that truly seems ‘infinite’ when you enter the Toy Box. The diversity of characters and ‘play sets’ create enough content to keep you occupied for quite some time, as well as pick up the game again after finishing a specific story arc. That being said, the game still has a few flaws and limitations but creationists and adventurers alike will surely be able to find their own path in this infinite Disney universe. To Infinity… and beyond!
Disney Infinity 2.0 - Review,
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[…] a year ago Disney Infinity 2.0 hit the shelves, riding on the wave of success that The Avengers were bringing to Disney. This time […]