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E3 2015 Preview: Disney Infinity 3.0

Disney’s back for a third go at Disney Infinity, but this time with the power of the Force. Stevivor had a chance to check out three different Disney Infinity 3.0 Play Sets at this year’s E3: Star Wars’ “Twilight of the Republic” and “Rise of the Empire” alongside one for the new Pixar film,“Inside Out”.

First, Star Wars.

We went in order of the films (actually, I guess that’s controversial in itself), starting with Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano in “Twilight of the Republic”, a Play Set that takes place not only across Star Wars’ first three films, but the Clone Wars television series as well.

Gameplay was fairly similar to that in Disney Infinity and 2.0, with Jedi powers replacing that of the Marvel heroes in 2.0. Playing as Anakin Skywalker, fully levelled up, I was able to do super jumps, use Force blasts and deflect blaster beams with my lightsabre.

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This time around, Avalanche Software has poached the talents of other studios to flesh out the Infinity experience; DmC’s Ninja Theory has been brought on board to add to the game’s combat. You can tell, too; Anakin can use his lightsabre to throw enemies up into the air, and then can jump up to juggle them with a variety of combos. Lightsabre combat also offers up dramatic finishers, with time slowing down and the game’s camera pulling right in when you trigger them.

Controls are better, but not perfect – I found it hard to aim Anakin at times, turning around in circles in an attempt to point in a specific direction to use my Force powers. I’ve had this type of problem in past Infinity titles as well, and I can’t imagine it’d be fun for a child to have to struggle with.

Despite this, I enjoyed my time with “Twilight of the Republic”, but I was glad when it was over too. The sequence we played consisted of running to different groups of enemies and cutting them up. There were some very light platforming elements introduced, but that was it.

“Rise of the Empire”, on the other hand, was a very different beast.

disneyinfinityhoth

Playing as Princess Leia, I was spawned on the planet Hoth and tasked to take down an AT-AT walker. By myself.

And it was awesome.

The AT-AT itself was evidence that Disney Infinity is heading back to its roots and treating its vehicles and characters like they’re toys rather than gritty, hardcore superheroes (shame on you, 2.0); Leia had to shoot the housing off each of the AT’s legs and then climb hand-holds to remove big AA batteries in the walker’s main housing. The walker had a variety of toylike things that Leia could manipulate to take it down; one button would power it down, while another would eject its pilot.

When more walkers threatened our fair Princess, she was able to take off in a Snow Speeder to wrap cables around their legs. Speaking of vehicles, Sonic and All-Stars’ Racing’s Sumo Digital has lent its talents to driving, so expect a different experience than in past titles.

It might just be bias towards classic Star Wars, but I enjoyed “Rise of the Empire” far more than “Twilight of the Republic”. Either way, the two Play Sets proved that Infinity 3.0 gameplay can be diverse.

disneyinfinityinsideout

That’s idea is basically beaten over your head when playing “Inside Out”, a completely different Infinity experience than anything I’ve seen to date. A companion story to the new Pixar film – so not a rehash of the movie itself – the game switches between 2D and 3D platforming. Character swaps are highly useful, as Sadness can walk on clouds, Anger can handle lava, and so on. If that wasn’t enough, the Play Set introduced gravity puzzles about halfway through our E3 playthrough. It’s sure to be a kid pleaser.

The game’s Toy Box has been beefed up as well, but time constraints meant we were only able to check out one of the mode’s pre-built modes: a racing experience with power-ups. Yeah, Disney Mario Kart, complete with power slides and frustration when an AI takes you out with a lazer beam just before you’re about to cross the finish line. It was great fun and an idea of what’s to come with the Infinity sandbox.

Sure, it’s another year and another Disney Infinity, but this release is sure to provide enough value for Disney – and especially Star Wars­ – fans.


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About the author

Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.