Disney Infinity Preview For PS3

Can Disney Become Infinite?
by Becky Cunningham

If there's any company that can challenge the sales juggernaut that is Skylanders, it's Disney (or perhaps The Pokemon Company, but that corporation appears to be keeping its plastic toy-related games in Japan for now). With hordes of fans worldwide and nearly a century of beloved characters to draw from, Disney Infinity promises a figurine-linked video game extravaganza that has an all-ages appeal far beyond the reach of the Skylanders monsters.

In basic form, Disney Infinity works similarly to Activision's creation. Players insert figurines into an “Infinity Base,” and those figurines materialize in the game. Figurines can be taken from one game to another and work cross-platform, so players can enjoy up to four-player co-op either split screen or online.

Still, in order for Disney Infinity to truly take off, it has to create an experience that's distinct from Skylanders and marry the company's popular franchises with gameplay that is genuinely accessible and fun. From what we've seen so far, Disney has definitely achieved at least the first of these goals.

Although both games have an action-adventure bent to them, Disney Infinity is structured quite differently from Skylanders. The main gameplay is separated into Play Sets and the Toy Box. Play Sets are adventures set within particular Disney franchises and can only be played using figurines from the proper franchise. The Toy Box allows players to create their own adventures, mixing any figurines and other elements they have unlocked or purchased to create custom games. It will come with pre-made worlds and adventures to get players into the mood, but players will be able to edit those worlds or create new ones from scratch.

The nice thing about Infinity's Play Sets is that they contain different kinds of gameplay based on the property they're representing. Thus, the Pirates of the Caribbean Play Set is a traditional action-adventure game with sword fighting, ship battles, and other swashbuckling activities. Monsters University, on the other hand, challenges the players to out-prank their rivals in college-style hijinks. The Cars 2 set will introduce racing gameplay into Infinity. This gives us the possibility of a more diverse and long-lasting experience than Skylanders offers, provided the gameplay is actually good.

Players will be able to share the Toy Box adventures they've made in a heavily moderated manner. Adventures must be submitted to Disney, which will decide which ones meet the quality and decency standards needed to be offered to players around the world. The elements available in the Toy Box appear to rely heavily on which plastic discs players have purchased, and we're unclear on how that affects which player-created adventures an individual will have access to.

The Infinity Starter Pack includes the Pirates of the Caribbean, The Incredibles, and the Monsters University Play Sets and comes with three figurines: Captain Jack Sparrow, Mr. Incredible, and Sulley. Other figurines from these worlds will be sold separately, but it seems a missed opportunity not to mix up the figurines that come with the starter sets. That means that two friends with nothing but the Starter Pack figurines will have to play two Captain Jacks (provided that's even possible) if they want to run a co-op game in the Pirates of the Caribbean Play Set.

Beyond the starter pack, there will be plenty of opportunities for players interested in separating themselves from their (or their parents') hard-earned money. Special Power Tokens can be purchased and attached to the bottom of a figurine to give that character special powers or accessories. Then there are the extra characters, Toy Box discs, and Play Sets available, representing a ridiculous possible number of future purchases. We've already seen characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Toy Story, Cars, Wreck-It Ralph, and Phineas and Ferb. A Play Set for Cars 2 has been officially confirmed, and one for the upcoming The Lone Ranger movie has surfaced on various retail sites.

Rumored future possibilities for Disney Infinity go beyond the Disney and Pixar properties we've seen thus far, with Marvel and Star Wars Play Sets as future possibilities. That's right, players might be able to use the Toy Box to send Han Solo and Wolverine on an adventure together. It sounds like a geeky dream, and since Disney is quite fond of money, there's a good chance that dream could come true. Thinking deeper into Disney's stable of franchises, one might postulate great things like Labyrinth or Fraggle Rock Play Sets. David Bowie's Goblin King Adventures? Muppet Insanity? Aww, yeah.

For now, we can entertain these fantasies because Disney Infinity is largely a bundle of flashy promises. We know a lot about the game's physical components, which appear to be high-quality, but what we don't know is how well the game controls or how easy and flexible the Toy Box truly is to use. Hopefully we can get some actual gameplay impressions out of E3. Otherwise, we'll have to wait until the game releases in August to find out if Disney Infinity lives up to the promise it shows on paper.