Coming to PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U
Disney Infinity 2.0 release date: September 19 (Marvel Super Heroes Start Pack) or November 7 (Toy Box Combo Pack)
Building on the success of the first Disney Infinity, the new Disney Infinity 2.0 is coming to both new- and last-gen consoles in September. It’s the game that is really giving Skylanders a run for its money, and it’ll really be a battle this Christmas as Skylanders Trap Team is coming out in October.
This time around Disney Infinity is all about Marvel Superheroes. The first version of Disney Infinity 2.0 to launch is the Marvel Super Heroes Starter Pack. This will offer you Iron Man, Black Window and Thor as standard. Most retailers are offering an additional figurine when you pre-order, with the choice between Hawkeye, Iron Fist or Nick Fury.
Later on, there is a Disney Infinity 2.0 Toy Box Combo coming. This gives you the Merdia from Brave and Stitch figures (the latter we can attest is impossibly cute). Plus there are Guardians of the Galaxy and Spiderman collections arriving in the future.
Each playset opens up a themed world to explore with your new characters, of course with a selection of costumes and power-ups to purchase if you have some spare cash lying about.
The new game is also completely compatible with all existing Disney Infinity 1.0 figurines too, giving you a whole load of backwards compatibility on that front. The playsets from the first game will be confined to that game disc though. It's just your toyboxes and the characters that will be able to make the transfer.
Those looking to unlock a new character without purchasing a new toy will be able to collect what's called Crossover Coins. These can be gathered throughout a playset and unlock a brand new character within your original pack. It's not clear how many characters you'll be able to collect in this way from our playthrough, but we did see Iron Man being unlocked in the Guardians of the Galaxy playset.
We were also told that if you purchase a clear costume booster ring for a specific character, you can use that disc to give other characters a buff – whether that’s defence or attack depends on the disc. That means you can bump up any character you’re currently playing with, even if they don’t visually change.
Another new feature that adds another level to the gameplay in Disney Infinity 2.0 is the Skill Trees. These offer branched, customisable skill sets for each character, letting you adjust each one to your own play style. Not only will these be offered on all brand new figures, but Disney is also adding them to original figures too. All you need to do is place your well-loved original toys on the Disney Infinity 2.0 portal to get access to them.
Those familiar with Disney Infinity 1.0 will know that collecting blue sparks allowed you to save up for brand new toys to use in the Toy Box. Well, Disney Infinity has mixed that up a bit and introduced four different types of coloured sparks.
As before, blue sparks can be used to unlock Toy Box features. But, there's a twist. Instead of collecting blue sparks to spend on a spinning wheel of random content, Disney Infinity 2.0 will price each item individually. Thus, you will know exactly how many blue sparks you'll need for an individual item and save up accordingly.
Along with the standard blue sparkles, there's now orange, purple and blue varieties. The orange ones raise your skill and will let you upgrade your character in the Skill Tree when you have sufficient funds. The purple sparkles will build your special meter, allowing you to use your special attacks in game when it is full. Finally, the green sparkles can be collected to raise your health when you've taken too many hits.
The gameplay itself seems much the same as the original Disney Infinity, with control layout maintained between games aiding familiarity for gamers. It's all about exploring the new playsets and characters, rather than revamping the combat or core gameplay mechanics.
Where significant improvements have been made though is the Toy Boxes themselves. Not only can you create your own little world in there, you can now employ builders to quickly create pre-set buildings for you. These builders are a selection of well-known Disney characters that will build you some whopping great constructions with ease.
Building was never an issue with the original Disney Infinity as it offered some very intuitive building tools, but these building buddies will cut out even more of the labour if you want them to.
You can also let out your inner interior designer with the Toy Boxes, creating wonderful homes for your characters to enjoy. This was something highly requested for the first Disney Infinity, so no doubt it will thoroughly please fans. We loved all the themed content you could deck your home out with, but we won't ruin the surprise.
With each Disney Infinity playset you also get a selection of new Toy Box mini-games to play. This is something totally new to Disney Infinity 2.0 and will enable you to spend even more time in your customised Toy Boxes. These standalone mini-games could take the form of tower defence or horde modes, but each is unique to the playset.
Overall, the developers claim Disney Infinity 2.0 playsets are also a lot bigger than their original counterparts. For example, they suggested the new Marvel Avengers playset is six times bigger than the Incredibles Playset – the most popular from Disney Infinity 1.0.
In that vein, each Disney Infinity 2.0 playset should offer 10 or more hours of gameplay for the
completionist and around 6-7 hours of gameplay on a normal run.
The next-gen consoles have definitely made all the characters and worlds in Disney Infinity 2.0 a lot more crisp and clean than the original game. It's still not the core focus for this title, but it's definitely an improvement.
First Impressions
Although the visuals aren't a stark improvement over the original, Disney Infinity 2.0 certainly adds some much needed polish. Disney has struck on a great idea with Infinity and although some may dismiss it as a Skylanders knock off, it's proving exceedingly popular with children thanks to its well-known characters.
The new wave of Disney Infinity 2.0 toys will appeal to those keen on the Marvel superheroes and the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie. But there's still the classic collection to keep older users content.
It will be interesting to see how Skylanders Trap Team and Disney Infinity 2.0 compete later this year.
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