What is Disney Infinity 2.0? It is a video game that allows you to scan real out of game toys into it. Before buying and testing it for myself, I didn’t really understand all of the items for sale on the store display. There is definitely a lot to take in, especially if you are not a “gamer”. The first thing to note is that the 2.0 only means that this is the latest implementation of Disney Infinity, and everything you buy for it will have 2.0 on it.
What do I buy to get started? The first thing you want to purchase if you are playing on a xbox, wii, or playstation, is a “Starter Kit”. Starter Kit’s come with the game disc, a scanning pad, a play set, and 2 or 3 toy figures. Next you can purchase more figures, play sets, mini game discs, and power discs. Placing these items on the scan pad will unlock them in game, and removing them will take them out of the game. Make sure to purchase the correct “Starter Kit” for your game system (Xbox360, Wii-U, Playstation, Etc). After that, the figures and power discs are not console/system specific.
Before going in depth on the different item types you can buy, I should explain the difference between the “Toy Box”, and a “Play Set”. When you buy a figure, you will notice markings or symbols on the front that say “Toy Box 2.0”.This means that the figure cannot play in a Play Set, and only in the “Toy Box”. If a figure has an “A” symbol, it can play in the “Avengers Play set”, and if it has a “G” symbol it can play in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” play set, and so on and so forth. It is important to pay attention to this when buying figures. Every single figure has the ability to play in the “Toy Box”. But only a figure marked for a play set can play in that specific play set. For example: “Captain America” can play in the “Toy Box”, and he can also play in the “Avengers Play set”. “Elsa” from the movie frozen, can only play in the “Toy Box”. If you cannot find or identify the type of play sets your figure can use, you can place it on the in-store display scanner pad, and it will tell you on the screen where your figure can play.
What is the “Toy Box”? It is an in game world where you can run, jump, fly, and explore! There are no games to play, quests to do, or objectives. It is a giant open sandbox to do whatever you feel like. On the main menu, you can generate a new toy box to play in at any time. You can also choose different types of toy box’s to play in, such as: City, Desert, Jungle, etc. A couple of toy box’s even have enemies to fight. You can enter edit mode while in the “Toy Box”, and change the world around you. You can delete and add items. You can make new landscape, spawn new enemies, and create your own worlds. You can also share your worlds, and play in worlds that other players around the world have created to share. There is a trending list of community created worlds where you can see whats popular. Lots of these creations have objectives, stories, and quests to do.
What is a “Play Set”? This is a game world already created, with tons of fun content to do! Play set’s come with a prebuilt world to enjoy, quests to do, and a voiced/animated storyline to follow. These are the bread and butter of the game. I found play sets to be the best part of Disney Infinity, because it gave me an actual game to play through. It gave me a story to follow, objectives to accomplish, and bad guys to beat. Don’t get me wrong, all the other stuff is great, but “Play Sets” really feel like a game in itself.
Item Breakdown: Single sold figures are just that. They are single sold figures to scan and play. Double pack figures come with either a play set, or mini games. The play set ones cost more and have a see-through statue in between the two figures. The mini game ones have 1 or 2 mini game discs between the two figures.
Power Discs can be purchased in packs of two, and they are marked for general play or specific play sets. The discs inside however are figure specific and packaged randomly. So there is no guarantee that you have the figure to use the power discs you are buying. These power discs grant extra abilities and outfits for figures, and can be used by placing them under the character while on the scan pad.
The Review: My overall impressions of Disney Infinity 2.0, are that it is fun and enjoyable. There are several ways to play, and there is always new community content being made. It is cool to be able to make your own worlds and share them. The game has good quality graphics, sound, and controls. Buying figures in store to unlock them in game is an awesome and affordable way to expand your game. However, I did not enjoy the randomness of the power discs, as I had a couple that I could not use.
The “Avengers Play Set” had a good story, a large city to explore, and some iconic characters from the movie. It was easy enough to figure out, and since it came with Iron Man, I could fly around at will to get places pretty quickly. Flying around and onto “Stark Tower” was pretty cool. But It wasn’t until I tried out the “Guardians of the Galaxy Play Set” that I really got into the game. Playing through parts of this movie was really enjoyable, and even made me laugh a bit.
As you play the game in any mode, “Toy box” or “Play set”, your character will earn XP(experience points) and level up. When you level up, you can learn new skills, gain new abilities, and become more powerful. These levels stay with your character and follow him/her from “Play Set” to “Toy Box” and back again. It really adds a level of customization to your characters that I found to be quite fun.
One of the greatest things about this game though, is the ability to go 2 player! Friends & Siblings can play 2 people on the same xbox or playstation! They each get to scan their own figure and get half of a TV screen to use.
On a side note, Disney Infinity for PC(personal computer) is a free game. You can go to their website and download it. Then you receive a few free characters to try out for a couple days. Every time you buy something in store, it comes with an online code to redeem the same thing on the computer version of the game. These codes do not affect your xbox, wii, or playstation console in any way. Playing the PC version does not require a game disc, or scanning pad, and so there is no need to buy a “Starter Kit”. I played the Xbox One, and PC versions of this game. I found the PC version to be a bit clunky, and harder to control than the Xbox version. So I played almost entirely Xbox after my initial tests.
The game overall is easy to learn and play. It provides many fun things to do, and is rated “E” for Everyone. I would recommend it to anyone, especially those with young kids.
Release Date: September 23, 2014
Rated: E
Price: N/A
HFR Rating:
