- Drew Beausoleil

 Disney Infinity 2.0 isn't an upgrade, its Avalanche Software bringing Disney Infinity to Infinity and Beyond.

I played the Disney Infinity Marvel Super Heroes starter pack.  The starter pack places us in the role of three super heroes, Ironman, Thor and Black Widow as we try and stop Loki from the deep freeze he has placed the city under. As we play through the story we get to meet new super heroes, along the way that help progress the story along making it easy to follow for kids and still keeps things interesting enough for adults to play along as well. The game opens up to an open world sandbox style of gameplay with Super Heroes asking for you to aid them as they are scattered throughout the city. The story is definitely aimed at a younger audience with keeping the dialogue simple and the context of the game not overly complicated. This is not to say the game hasn't improved in 2.0, in fact this is hardly the case as everything is bigger over its predecessor 1.0.

Disney Infinity 2.0 is the next big step in which Avalanche Software has taken to bring the kid out in all of us. Not only were we flying throughout the city, something that is a first for the series but we were upgrading our heroes as well. The landscapes are much bigger than the 1.0 version as we fly about the city in the Avenger story line saving citizens from the Frost monsters and other villains. The city and overall story may be bigger, but last-gen (PS3-Xbox360) to next-gen (PS4-Xbox One) never made the graphically leap that most games have recently. The game looks good with sharper textures and shading but wasn't the wow factory I had hoped for. The voice over work on each of our heroes is great, Ironman gives you the sense of tininess you would expect from him being behind his metal suit of armor, Thor has that masculine sultry voice and Black Window has the confidence in her voice that makes her empowering.

For the first time we are able to upgrade our characters abilities and supercharge our super hero moves. These moves and upgrades are done by smashing items and villains throughout the game as they will drop little orbs, blue to level up your character, green to fill up your health and purple that fills up your super power meter that can be unleashed on groups of villains or just to show off your super cool moves. I really like the implementation of this skill tree. Needing these orbs now gave me a sense of exploration to smash items and bad guys so I could level up my character and upgrade my abilities that was never really there in the last game. Leveling up Ironman or Thor to achieve stronger moves and clear out a group of enemies can be very rewarding not only as an adult but to watch my boys play along with me as they too pull off these over the top stylized animations that clear out the groups of villains are great.

Disney Infinity 2.0 is much larger than 1.0 not only in story but overall game design. With so much more to do this time around there is lots to keep you busy. Toy Box mode is back and has been revamped this time to be more accessible to all ages. With more items to place and create in your own Toy Box (the more story you play the more you will unlock) there is so much to create that the Toy Box almost becomes endless...if you have the time. A new feature that has been added this time is the help of minions! Drop in a minion and sit back and watch as they begin to help build your world before you. This is an excellent feature for the younger kids that want to build their own unique world but don't quite understand the fundamentals of editing in the Toy Box. Or if you don't know where to start yourself or just lack the time these little guys will begin to help. Everything can be finely tweaked to your liking once they are done building you a new massive tree house. Add another branch or take one away to add something else this is all easily accessible. Also let’s not forget the outstanding community that stands behind Disney Infinity that will have you playing some of the most creative levels and keep you playing long after you've completed the main story.

After creating your ultimate playground or race track, you can always go back home and chill out in the new My iNterior mode. A new mode that's been added to 2.0 that allows you to fully customize and build your very own home. Place furniture, paintings and decorate your walls with new paint or textures to house your trophies, it’s all up to you if you'd like a modern style home or something more a little more old fashioned with castle like walls. You'll be asked to help those that visit your home that will help unlock new items to place within your interior as well. Adding new rooms and more are all done in the same as Toy Box mode.

Disney Infinity can be a figurine collectors’ heaven and a parents nightmare! The stars of the game are those that we place on the Disney Infinity plate, and they look great. They are excellently crafted and very durable if someone little were to get their hands on them. I would have liked to been able to move their arms or legs perhaps as they come in a pre-set pose but this is very minor. Playing as your favorite hero is great...but if that particular hero doesn't come in the set then you are off to buy him or her and then more figures to unlock new hero's or villains to play as.

Finally to have a game that a parent such as myself, can play with their young ones and feel a sense of accomplishment when playing all the while being mostly aimed at a younger audience is a great balance in game design and mechanics. This is a great adventure any parent and kid should play.