thePULSEYou Got a Friend in Me
By Tom Hodgson
With its recent release into theaters, it was only a matter of time before a Toy Story video game tie-in hit store shelves. We’ve seen it before: the terrible graphics, the useless controls, the shameless disgrace to the fans and franchise. Woody and Buzz won’t be having any of that here.
Toy Story 3: The Video Game looks phenomenal, in all of its Pixar glory. Characters are spot-on depictions of your favorite scene and the level design and environments would make Disney proud. The music, sound effects, and voice acting are all superbly done, and take the experience to new heights.
Producers of the game said they came at this project like it were “Seinfeld.” They managed to do just that: an open-world Toy Story game about nothing. It’s tough to even pin down this game to one genre. In its nothingness, it manages to grace every conceivably enjoyable type of video game that one would expect to find in an open-world title, and with incredible success.
Many of the missions, however, require trial and error to complete, an arduous process that may leave kids reeling in frustration. Retrying through is often bogged down by not being able to bypass the same pre-mission dialogue in the absence of a “repeat” or “skip” option.
Also, for being aimed at a children’s demographic, there is very little direction as to what you are actually supposed to accomplish. The game is comprised of a main plot, the center of a universe playing sun to hundreds of little satellite missions, sequenced apart by countless hours of exploration and discovering each level’s collectibles. It’s an ill-guided open-world experience; your next option is whatever side-mission prompt you manage to stumble into next.
The major problem with this game is the intended audience. Some of the missions take an extremely keen eye to spot the next move to get from top to bottom, while others are as simple as running around and collecting cowbells that are clumsily scattered across the map. It never really manages to reach some sort of common ground with gameplay, and there are some levels that would be damn near impossible to scale if I were prepubescent and in my Super Mario pajamas again.
The major success with this game is its cooperative mode. You can and will spend countless hours running around, completing useless nothings to unlock items of much the same, all while beaming bouncy balls off your partner’s head. There was never a dull moment.
Toy Story 3: The Video Game is like Grand Theft Auto for 10-year-olds. There is something for everyone in this game, much like the genius that is the Toy Story movies. It is an honest and successful attempt at a video game tie-in, made all the more rare by the sole fact it’s actually an enjoyable use of the franchise. This game has a friend in me.
Pros:
• Toy Story comes to life at your fingertips ~ who can argue with that?
• Split-screen play can entertain you for hours and never constricts your movement to being on the same screen
Cons:
• Some finicky controls and camera angles, especially in the horseracing missions
• Some missions seem too difficult for children
Rating: 86%
