Do Woody and Buzz still have a friend in me?
Another year and another game based on a movie. This usually means bad news for gamers, but not so with Toy Story 3. I know, shock horror! They actually made a decent movie-based game, one that feels true to the franchise, perfect for kids and doesn’t give anything away about the film itself.
The main game takes you across areas of the story but keeps it mostly spoiler free. These are levels that are broken down and are quite easy, plus the game will give you a helping hand if you start to struggle on some sections by making it easier, giving you hints or telling you what you have to do. The story mode, although gimmicky at times…is fun and enjoyable from start to finish. The big surprise though is Toy Box Mode…
This is essentially the open world aspect of the game and sees you choose from either Woody, Buzz, Jessie (and Zurg for PS3 players) in a small cowboy town. In it you can build banks, schools and all the other parts of a town to attract townsfolk. You can also customise the way they look, there are also a huge number of missions to accept in the town which reward you with gold to spend on more buildings and characters. Toy Story 3 has a horde of collectables scattered around both the main game and Toy Box Mode. Trophy hunters will need to collect all of them, so be prepared!
Each character has a unique move. Woody can use his whip to cross gaps, Buzz has his laser and jetpack while Jessie can spin and land with ease. During the story mode you can sometimes switch between them, as you’ll need to use each character to get through the game. During Toy Box Mode though, these moves are all gone and instead of Buzz blasting the townsfolk with his laser, he and the others throw foam balls at them and targets.
Visually, Toy Story 3 isn’t the greatest looking game…but it does have its charms. Characters look like their film counterparts and voice-acting matches the quality of the films. The framerate is consistent for the most part and load times are mixed in length.
The Verdict
Before I popped Toy Story 3 in my PS3, I was sceptical. I thought “Oh, here we go again…”, but I’m glad to be proven wrong. It’s a good game that younger and maybe even older gamers will enjoy as a guilty pleasure. It has a few issues with plat forming and the camera can be a little awkward at times, but these niggles aside, Toy Story 3 is the best game based on a film for a LONG time.
