Well, the game is fun. Especially with kids. I'll give it that. However, it fails on several key fronts:
First, there is no reason that this game should have been tied to a toy franchise. The toys merely unlock characters in the game. No significant data is stored on them, and leveling them up does nothing for the characters themselves other than incrementing a numeric value. From aWell, the game is fun. Especially with kids. I'll give it that. However, it fails on several key fronts:
First, there is no reason that this game should have been tied to a toy franchise. The toys merely unlock characters in the game. No significant data is stored on them, and leveling them up does nothing for the characters themselves other than incrementing a numeric value. From a collector's perspective or a child's perspective, it might be nice to have figurines to show off or play with, but from a gamer's perspective, this is an entirely egregious use of resources and a rip-off to boot. They could have made the same game without the portal of power knock-off and the toys that go along with it, charged less, and focused more resources on improving on the game itself, which is lacking, in the end. The Toy Story 3 game, which this one was clearly based on, was great, affordable, and provided fantastic game-play, both linear and open ended. Disney infinity is a stumble in the a half-right, half-wrong direction.
Second off, the creative toy box mode is extremely limited and totally buggy. You cannot fill your toy box with much before it maxes out and forces you to delete things if you want to add more. You cannot make any of it interactive beyond the built-in interactivity of the objects you place in it you can't create missions, or dialog, or set up any sort of logic-triggered events. Also, it often breaks. I often will place an object and want to move it around, but half the time the object becomes permanently fixed is space with no way to select it. This is one of several unacceptable glitches in this mode that make it frustrating more than fun, more stifling than freeing.
Finally, co-op presents many missed opportunities. I love couch co-op, I love playing video games with my kid. This one is pretty fun for a little while. Still, forcing you to buy more toys to unlock specific characters in order to even play co-op after you're already spent 70$ on the game is an insult. See, you can't bring characters from different movies into each others worlds. This right here is a huge missed opportunity for fun. What's more, there is no co-op specific content. There are no vehicles that can carry two people. There are no missions requiring two players, co-operation, or that particularly benefit from being carried out by two people other than you might finish them faster which means you likely have to split up anyways.
Again, it can be fun for kids. Disney Infinity is more creative than its obvious counterpart, Skylanders, provides more interest methods of travel throughout its worlds, and is a fine way to distract or spend an evening with your kid. But it doesn't really live up to its promises, and takes on the excessively wasteful and expensive baggage of real world toys without any clear reason or obvious benefit other than to make more money.… Expand