If you asked me 1 year ago if we would ever see decent games timed with a movie release, my answer would have most likely have been a firm “no.” Recent releases have quickly changed my perspective and Toy Story 3 is no exception. Normally, our reviews of games that fall into the “family” sub-genre are written for….families, but my play through of Toy Story 3: The Video Game has compelled me to do otherwise. While it’s not necessarily a game-changing title by any means, it’s an outstanding title amongst many recent releases. Toy Story 3 contains a heck of a lot of content between its two modes, the average Story Mode and the amazing Toy Box mode. The main campaign is a short 4 hour excursion that leads Woody and friends through the events that occur in the Pixar hit. In a nutshell, our heroes are accidently abandoned at a daycare when their owner Andy ships off to college. The levels throughout the campaign flip back and forth between the real world and make believe situations such as Buzz’ plight at Emperor Zerg’s star base, all of which is fairly entertaining, but stumbles in a few places, especially if you fool around in the Toy Box mode prior.
Toy Box is the real star of the show, a GTA-infused sandbox world that allows you to complete missions for various TS3 stars, build towns and customize them, as well as plenty of stuff to collect throughout. Toy Box mode is jammed pack, with the initial hour or two filled with content in a small area and so many missions to do, I was compelled to continue playing considering the gameplay was actually enjoyable. As you complete more missions, you begin to unlock new areas to explore and build upon as well as funds to buy townspeople and vehicles to get you from A to B. When you enter Toy Box mode, you have the option to play as Woody, Jessie, or Buzz none of which appeared to have even the slightest difference between the other. It’s unfortunate that the character select has no impact other than visually which is not the case in the campaign, I would have loved to be able to use Buzz’s outside of the campaign, but instead you can only throw the signature Pixar bouncy ball. As you complete some of the main quests of Toy Box mode, you can unlock other means of attack, so not all is lost.
There is enough variance in the missions that will keep the game from becoming repetitive and you can wipe out most of Toy Box mode in 6 hours or so, collectibles aside. It’s a short endeavor, but that’s not to say there isn’t a ton of missions, each only taking around 5 or so minutes to complete. This makes the game extremely easy to play in short bursts. There is also strong cooperative play in the Toy Box mode that allows players to be doing completely different tasks or even be in separate areas at any given time something rarely seen in even AAA titles. Visually, the game carries over the look of the movies extremely well compared to other tie-ins especially with character design. The only real disappointment I had was the failure to secure Tom Hanks and Tim Allen for voice acting. The voice actors are ok at best, but it’s obviously not the people who have brought life to these characters over the last 10 years. The game also lacks any form of Xbox Live play which is expected with tie-ins, but with a game of TS3’s caliber, it would have been a welcome addition.
Toy Story 3 should be a reference for studios making movie tie-ins since it excels in creating fun gameplay that might have you coming back to it after the kids have gone to bed. Much like the movies Toy Story 3 works well with any demographic, bursting at the seams with content while being developed to be accessible for all ages. I’ve played a lot of games this year, some good, some not so much, but I can firmly say that Toy Story 3 falls within the spectrum of games that I have enjoyed and would highly recommend even as a guilty pleasure. Sure, the campaign doesn’t come anywhere close to the greatness achieved in the Toy Box mode, but it’s still an enjoyable journey through the plot of the film. Toy Story 3: The Video Game is great for adults, but phenomenal for kids. Holding off for a great game for the family? Get off the computer and go pick up a copy of Toy Story 3; it might be the finest family-oriented game released this year, as well as a shining example of how to do a movie tie-in with pizzazz.
