QCF: Disney Infinity 2.0

t was only a matter of time before a publisher decided to get their own piece of the action off of the Skylander toy trend, at least while it was still hot, and what a publisher it was; Disney Interactive Studios. The mere notion of a collectible toy-hybrid video game that would cast a ton of well-established, beloved characters from all across the various Disney properties sounded like a guaranteed recipe for success, that would give Activision a run for their money in this niche little market they carved out for themselves, and then some.

The reality of the situation however, was much different; Disney Infinity was more of a whimper than a bang.

The game still gained enough ground to earn a somewhat of a sustainable ground with consumers, as it the supposed “sandbox” adventure game had a loyal following, and by that merit, Disney went to task at the Infinity endeavor once again.

Fishing even deeper into the same marketing tactics and promotion they initially propped up Infinity 1.0 up with before, Disney took to mining a collection of properties they’ve recently obtained, from a certain acquisition of a major entertainment enterprise, adding on a host of familiar heroes and villains from the Marvel Comics universe.

While the increased star-power for the sequel was certainly an exciting prospect at first, the gameplay had reached a downgrade in the second iteration, which is a shame, considering the expanded cast of imaginative characters aren’t enough to soulless retread that’s splintered by some awkwardly bad  decisions in design.

Giving credit where credit’s due, the initial starter kit is an improvement to the first iteration as it actually includes the Avengers Playset level, and additional power discs, providing more option and variety plug in before players  will ever have to bother with Toy Box mode. This however, is where the forward thinking stops, and the potential for improvement steadily begins waste away instead.

See, one of the biggest issues, was that outside of the Toy Box mode, each available Playset level that was bought, and unlocked, allowed entry only to the respective characters associated with that Playset. Meaning that if you wanted to play as Wreck-it Ralph or Vanellope  in Andy’s Room, you just couldn’t-Buzz, Woody, or Jesse are the only authorized Disney icons that could enter—ironically limiting for a game that promotes infinite possibilities don’t you think?

So how does 2.0 respond to this particular let down? Well, the sequel can now allow figures from other Playsets to crossover into other Playsets ,so long as there is a fictional affiliation between the outsider figures and the level that’s shared; the choice of these allowed cameos generally stem from the context of their histories within the Marvel Universe.

So, that is a step in the right direction, but then, before you know it, that step quickly trips over itself, and Infinity 2.0 falls flat on its face from the absurd manner in which they implement this new feature.

Well, to start, those alternate characters for the Playset level are actually not compatible, at least not right away.  Unless you explore the level and collect all ten crossover coins of that respective foreign character; essentially meaning that you’ll need the full cast of base toys belonging to the Playset in order to collect all ten coins between them, granting the final access needed to summon the guest figure.

To be clear, I’m well aware of the concept of gating content within the game, in order to incentivize the purchase of a figure to access said piece of content. However, I’m much less forgiving towards the sordid tactic when it ostensibly gates desirable content behind the purchase of multiple figures, especially considering that again, this was one of the biggest issues initially lobbied against the original entry, the entry that it’s meant to succeed as should any proper sequel aim to do.

In spite of all that, the Playsets themselves aren’t exactly the charismatic palate cleansers to the Toy Box that they claim to be. With the exception of a few cinematic vignettes filled with some quippy one-liners and tired plot devices, the missions and content offered from them are hardly any different from typical monotony that’s available in the Toy Box.

Speaking of the Toy Box, if any of you are already familiar with it, then I’ll just save you some time; It offers a few different reskins of texturing and architecture than the familiar City Block theme, or Tree House theme—and that’s it. The new touches of reskins, and some new furniture and set piece options for your home and personal Toy Box level, are bits of new content  that’s been added; aside from that, absolutely nothing else has changed.

The Toy Box isn’t horrible to say the least, it can be fun to build, and customize upon it, gradually making it grow bigger and deeper, but all of the filler missions and quests in between these bouts of the creative process, only grow to be more, and more bland, before they ever start to feel fun. There’s no avoiding the undertaking of these monotonous “go destroy this mob” or “escort subject A to location B, and then back to location A”  either, because they’re vital for the rewarded materials and content that’s required to construct with. Despite the brief joy that building on to the Toy Box can offer, this cycle of the tedious padding that needs to done quickly wears thin.

The new skill-trees added for the character development of the figurines do manage to add a new layer of depth and meaning to the combat that was always missing, but the fleeting sensation of being able to grow you character dissipates just as fast.

While the 2.0 Marvel figures have the capacity to develop interesting new attacks and abilities, the feature is practically an afterthought for 1.0 Toys. Accessing a skill tree for them simply offers mere stat boosts and enhancements over the same base moves it had since the original, with nothing new to add, at all.

In lieu of all the previously stated criticisms though, Disney Infinity 2.0 biggest problem is that it’s game engine is consistently marred with some of the worst technical performance to ever come from  a title released in 2014, and even more surprising—the original Infinity software itself.

Whenever I encountered a mob of enemies that ranked any higher than five foes or more in number, the game immediately became susceptible to an intense drop in frame-rate, control input, and/or graphic rendering until I was able to slug through the end of it by the usual means of defeating them all. The more activity I encountered on screen, the more intense the issues became. The load times are equally as horrendous, hell, switching out a figure on the go can seize the registry of the new figure in an awkward pause—almost like the game froze during the act liked a battered Windows 95 Desktop.

When Disney Infinity was first released, it was easier to overlook a lot of its missteps in the grand scheme of the new experience it had aspired the toy-based game to be. Disney Infinity 2.0 on the other hand, isn’t entitled to that kind of leniency, inconceivably magnifying the problems of its predecessor, and setting the entire series back as result.

It may not be Thor or the Hulk, but if you want to play a legitimately fun game that require the use of some colorfully plastic accessories then go with Skylanders, they’ve been able to get it for the fourth time running, and that’s a lot more than what can be said about Disney Infinity 2.0…