Disney Infinity 3.0 Review

With Disney taking over the entertainment world one brand at a time, the Disney Infinity franchise has been given a brand new take on one of Disney’s latest horses in the stable, Star Wars. Sure its a great way to expand the world of Star Wars, and we haven’t had a Star Wars game in ages, but I cannot help feel the Disney Infinity is moving in the wrong direction as its younger market do not even know how to spell Master Yoda, never mind know who he is. Should you give Disney Infinity 3.0 a skip when the series’ past titles offer more variety, and when there are other toy games on the market that offer a better well-rounded experience than this? Let me tell you why you should consider waiting for now.

I cannot help notice that most coverage of Disney Infinity 3.0 has been done by writers who absolutely love the Star Wars universe, and unfortunately for this game I couldn’t care less about the franchise. I am not hating on it, but I do not see what the whoop is about, and I refuse to give into the idea that adding Star Wars to a “children’s” game was a wise move. Disney Infinity 3.0 is for younger players, sure I played it and I know many people who did too, these are players of all ages, but in the end its demographic is not older gamers. Disney Infinity 3.0 will bring about brand new toys in the future like the cast from Inside Out, and some other much-beloved characters from Disney, but right now it is Star Wars, and you either deal with it, or don’t buy it.

Like past titles, Disney Infinity 3.0 requires you to splurge out a bit on the toys. You could go out and purchase every single character out there, but without the Pay Sets you basically just have a character that walks around and levels up. The starter pack is what you would need to get going on the game as it comes with the portal that brings the figurines to life in game. Unlike previous releases, Disney Infinity 3.0 comes with only two characters. It comes with the disc that gives you access to the Toy Hub, the main hub for everything Disney Infinity. Here you will earn the basics, create your own maps, and play around with your own toys. The starter pack comes with only one Play Set, Twilight of the Old Republic.

First off the Play Set that comes with the starter pack is pretty decent. It lasts around 4-5 hours and takes you on a trip through some iconic Star Wars areas, but its the gameplay overall that feels extremely tedious. Slashing your Lightsaber has never been more boring and the gameplay mechanics never feel fully realized as they are over before you even get used to flying around, or racing about. You just tap the same old button over and over again to attack, and it lacks any higher grade education. It feels more like a piece of cheap DLC than anything else, and if the other Play Sets are anything like this, I will not be spending any money on them.

Characters do level up with XP and learn new abilities, but these upgrades are nothing to write home about and you will find yourself forgetting about the fact that you have these abilities waiting to be unlocked. It all feels very generic, and the combat, plus the glitchy animations, added in with the copy and paste mechanics never make you feel like actually wanting to go out and get other toys to play with. After a few attacks you will realize that characters are just the same as everyone else.

When you are not spending a few hours playing an over-priced Play Set, you will find yourself in the creator hub. Disney Infinity 3.0 has definitely given this a major makeover as its as deep and refined as any of the past titles. There are new places to go and things to do like farming and managing your sidekicks. In previous titles the Sidekicks only appeared in game discs, but in Disney Infinity 3.0 they follow you around everywhere in the Toy Box. They help you in combat by attacking enemies, and you can manage their equipment by equipping a tool and a hat. These will give them stat boosts and new abilities. You can also feed your Sidekicks’ food to level them up and you can grow your own food to feed them by placing a crop to grow it.

There is a major emphasis on creating and being creative in Disney Infinity 3.0. Buying toy sets using in game currency lets you decorate your mansion, or unlock new creator toys to use when making your own levels. These are all great mechanics that you can use to make the most out of your levels, and there are some new ones that will see you making some rather nifty new things. The creator mode is not for the weak minded though as it goes pretty deep and you will need some time and patience to master it. If you are not one to create you can play other player’s creations that have been uploaded to the game. There are some great creations out there, and that, along with the ability to create your own masterpiece is probably the best Disney Infinity 3.0 feature.

Get your wallets ready because Disney Infinity 3.0 is expensive. There are 5 planned Play Sets releasing sometime later this year as well as game discs that unlock new game modes like racing and the dungeon crawler mode. These game discs will allow you to play with any character and vehicle that you have either purchased or unlocked since the original game. There will be 24 character that you can purchase along with these 5 Play Sets as they all roll out during the course of the year. These character will be some new Marvel, Disney, and Star Wars characters, and the Play Sets will revolve around their worlds too.

The issue Disney Infinity 3.0 faces is not only its cost, but its lineup. The Starter Pack comes with two characters and one Play Set, and every character that you have purchased before Disney Infinity 3.0 will work on the game. Keep in mind that no Play Set will work other than Disney Infinity 3.0 Play Sets. So it all comes down to the individual purchases that you will need to make in order to experience the game. Not only will you need the toys but you will need the Play Sets too, and by the look of the starter Pack Play set, the content is lacking.

Disney Infinity 3.0 is surely a step in the right direction, but the game in general did not gel well with me. Its combat and mechanics feel extremely generic, and I could not but feel that it comes across cheap, like a re-skinned version of the past titles. For the price of the game and all its added power discs, and play sets, there should be more variety. The Star Wars theme will not sell me out, but I am happy for those who are splurging just because its Star Wars. For those who are questioning its value, it is a re-skinned version of an older game, and its about time that someone who is not blinded by the Star Wars factor gets that message out there. If you are not a Star Wars fan, then I suggest wait until the next few waves of content is released. There is a promising heap of Disney content coming that is not based around Star Wars, which could be more appealing, especially if your child has no idea what Star Wars is all about. And lets be honest, Spiderman and Big Hero 6 is much more child orientated than Star Wars