Few games are as brilliantly messy as Avalanche Studios’ sequel to its surprise hit of 2013. Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes is an engaging oddball of a game that delights and frustrates in equal measure, but will ultimately reward those with fertile imaginations and plenty of spare time. Only one play set is included, instead of the three varied ones found in last year’s starter set. While all three characters are immediately playable in it (a big omission from the first Disney Infinity) what’s on offer just isn’t that good. The Avengers play set isa dull experience consisting of bland quests that almost solely involve hitting things. Every now and then you get to pick an object up, and occasionally you’ll have to rescue people or fend off an increasing horde of monsters, but mostly you’ll just be hitting things. This in itself would be fine if the core combat was sound, but it’sa pretty basic affair from developer Ninja Theory, who seems to have forgotten everything it learned while making DmC for Capcom.
There are some neat branching skill trees for each character, and the characters are also distinctly different as opposed to the vanilla clones found in the first game, but many of the various combos you can access leave you wide open to frustrating counter attacks, which is more than a little annoying. Things improve when playing with a child the audience the game is ultimately aimed at but you’ll finish the main mode in around five hours and then be left with a largely empty city to explore. Other play sets are available for an eye-watering £35, but they’re not part of the core set, so we’re not including them (they offer a similar amount of time for your cash).
It’s a pity the core game is so bland, because Marvel Super Heroes does doalot right. You can stack multiple Power Discs, it’s compatible with the Power Discs of the previous game, and you can revive your friend at the cost ofa little of your own life. Unfortunately, the included characters aren’t well balanced, meaning fewwill want to play Black Widowas, unlike Thor and Iron Man, she can’t fly. This means she has to walk around the city or rely on the various vehicles that have all the finesse of
an inebriated ice-skating hippo. The inability to use your non franchise related characters in anything other than the Toy Box is also galling. While you can at least add Rocket Raccoon and Nova if you find all the relevant tokens, it would be far more entertaining if you could simply use whoever you wanted.
every aspect of the world, letting you build houses, create weird mash-ups of popular Disney universes (providing you’ve unlocked them with the in-game currency first) and even create your own games. You’ll still need to potter about the main play sets to unlock specific items, but there’s plenty to start off with.
Tutorials are better structured this time around due to a number of characters who will explain the ropes and give you additional tasks to achieve, but creating your own games remains difficult. Fortunately templates have been included this time around and it’s possible to even drop characters into the world to slowly create stuff for you. Yes, the autonomy of it will grate for some as it stifles creativity, but it also allows those without imagination to concentrate on having fun. If you’re lost for ideas you can try the ready-made Toy Box Games, “Escape From The Kyln” and “Assault On Asgard”.
The former is a decent dungeon crawler, while the latter is an enjoyable twist on the tower assault genre that sees you facing off against Loki’s frost giants. Another fun new addition is My INteriors, which is effectively a giant doll’s house that you can fill with any items and characters you have unlocked while playing the game. Rooms can be continually connected or stacked on top of each other, providing a surprising amount of scope.
Marvel Super Heroes feels rushed and its engine is prone to crashes and performance issues, but its target audience won’t care as they’ll be too busy racing Mickey Mouse around the Arabian tree house they just made.
7/10
There are some neat branching skill trees for each character, and the characters are also distinctly different as opposed to the vanilla clones found in the first game, but many of the various combos you can access leave you wide open to frustrating counter attacks, which is more than a little annoying. Things improve when playing with a child the audience the game is ultimately aimed at but you’ll finish the main mode in around five hours and then be left with a largely empty city to explore. Other play sets are available for an eye-watering £35, but they’re not part of the core set, so we’re not including them (they offer a similar amount of time for your cash).
It’s a pity the core game is so bland, because Marvel Super Heroes does doalot right. You can stack multiple Power Discs, it’s compatible with the Power Discs of the previous game, and you can revive your friend at the cost ofa little of your own life. Unfortunately, the included characters aren’t well balanced, meaning fewwill want to play Black Widowas, unlike Thor and Iron Man, she can’t fly. This means she has to walk around the city or rely on the various vehicles that have all the finesse of
an inebriated ice-skating hippo. The inability to use your non franchise related characters in anything other than the Toy Box is also galling. While you can at least add Rocket Raccoon and Nova if you find all the relevant tokens, it would be far more entertaining if you could simply use whoever you wanted.
Thank goodness that the Toy Box remains a tantalising box of tricks that will delight younger gamersThank goodness, then, that the Toy Box remains a tantalising box of tricks that will delight younger gamers. Everything is more accessible this time around, and while building from complete scratch is still a chore the available tools are far more useful this time around. All the original Disney figures are available to use (each with their own skill trees) and you can also import your Power discs, meaning most will already have plenty to play with.A magic wand allows you to manipulate
every aspect of the world, letting you build houses, create weird mash-ups of popular Disney universes (providing you’ve unlocked them with the in-game currency first) and even create your own games. You’ll still need to potter about the main play sets to unlock specific items, but there’s plenty to start off with.
Tutorials are better structured this time around due to a number of characters who will explain the ropes and give you additional tasks to achieve, but creating your own games remains difficult. Fortunately templates have been included this time around and it’s possible to even drop characters into the world to slowly create stuff for you. Yes, the autonomy of it will grate for some as it stifles creativity, but it also allows those without imagination to concentrate on having fun. If you’re lost for ideas you can try the ready-made Toy Box Games, “Escape From The Kyln” and “Assault On Asgard”.
The former is a decent dungeon crawler, while the latter is an enjoyable twist on the tower assault genre that sees you facing off against Loki’s frost giants. Another fun new addition is My INteriors, which is effectively a giant doll’s house that you can fill with any items and characters you have unlocked while playing the game. Rooms can be continually connected or stacked on top of each other, providing a surprising amount of scope.
Marvel Super Heroes feels rushed and its engine is prone to crashes and performance issues, but its target audience won’t care as they’ll be too busy racing Mickey Mouse around the Arabian tree house they just made.
7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment