Toy Box Takeover (Disney Infinity 3.0) Review

New with Disney Infinity 3.0 are the Toy Box Expansion Games. These are different than the Play Sets that have been a part of the series since its first iteration in that they are not directly tied to a single film or franchise and you can use any figure that you own with them. Like Play Sets, though, they require a token piece, albeit a much smaller one, to be placed on the hexagonal space on the portal in order to launch the game.

Toy Box Takeover opens with Syndrome, the villain from The Incredibles and one of the couple of available figures who actually died in the movie they appeared in, stealing the wand used to create Toy Box games straight out of a careless Merlin's hand. He uses it to open and take control of a few Toy Box worlds, and your job is to clear each of those worlds of his minions and eventually return the wand to Merlin.

The play area in the game consists of a central hub to which is attached worlds based on the Pirates of the Caribbean, Lone Ranger, Marvel's Avengers, Star Wars, and The Incredibles franchises. Making your way through each world involves some platforming and a little puzzle-solving, but the gameplay emphasis in this Toy Box Expansion is on brawler/beat 'em up style play. Story takes a backseat to the brawler action here, as the only cutscenes are placed at the very beginning and end of the game and the rest of the narrative, limited to what amounts to announcements that the next area is open for play, is delivered via voiceover from Syndrome.

The gameplay isn't overly imaginative here, but it serves its purpose as a diversion for kids to enjoy well enough, although with a few caveats that can lead to some frustration. The first problem is navigation ' it's not always clear where you should be going next when you're in the hub which can lead to a lot of running around in circles and questions of 'where do we need to go now?' being lobbed up from the carpet at the adult watching the festivities from the couch. Navigation can also be an issue in some of the worlds, particularly the Lone Ranger world which features a maze of canyons and mesas that blink in and out of existence as the game camera tries to decide what you should and shouldn't be seeing at any given moment. The other issue is the way that the game throws in 'Hero Destroyer' levels between the worlds; levels that serve no other purpose than to pad out the already short gameplay length. These are pure brawler levels in which the goal is to eliminate every enemy in the sprawling zones. Finding that last enemy can be a chore as the players cross and re-cross the now empty and generic levels looking to find it. Making matters worse, these levels periodically send in a smoke monster like enemy that can't be killed and instantly kills players on contact. I suppose it's there to add an extra element of challenge or to keep players moving along, but in reality its appearance leads to a lot of screaming and running around at random by the players, which in turn makes them miss an enemy or two, which in turn brings us back to the missing enemy hunt again. Each new visit to the Hero Destroyer was greeted with a 'not again!' from my playtesting crew.

On the positive side of the equation, Toy Box Takeover gives you more Disney Infinity gameplay that's more directed than a typical Toy Box game and that lets you use any figure. If your little gamers are looking to do more with Elsa and Anna than compete in kart races and the like, this gives them that chance. On the negative side of things, it's thin on story and is missing some of the elements found in the Play Sets such as mini maps and quest beacons that help keep gamers on track. It's also a lot shorter than Play Sets game-wise, and doesn't offer the replay value you get from all of the extra activities that come with the Play Sets.

Final Rating: 70%