When Disney launched its toy-filled Infinity series as a rival to Skylanders in 2013, it seemed only a matter of time before it expanded its scope to cover the wide catalogue of properties outside of its animated canon. In fact, it happened almost straight away, with play sets themed on live action fare such as Pirates of the Caribbean and The Lone Ranger. After Marvel Super Heroes took the spotlight last year, it's now time for the Mouse House's other big purchase -- it snapped up Lucasfilm and with it Star Wars in 2012 -- to take centre stage.
The starter kit for the third Infinity centres on the Clone Wars era – The animated Clone Wars, that is, the designs and art style of the CGI series meshing brilliantly with Disney Infinity's own cartoonish aesthetic. The mission pack sees you controlling young, impetuous, not-yet-Vader Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, through a planet-hopping adventure that starts with the mysterious reactivation of a droid factory on Geonosis and expands into a conspiracy spanning across the galaxy.
Unfortunately, the gameplay doesn't feel evolved at all from its predecessors. Force powers, earned by leveling up each toy through combat, differ between Ahsoka and Anakin (and any of the other compatible figures, sold separately), and add some cool flourishes to play, but aren't intrinsically different to using most of Marvel's gang last year. Most moves are pulled off by hammering the same attack button, with special moves occasionally unleashed through a tap or hold of shoulder triggers. It gets samey, fast.
The Toy Box -- the core of Infinity, part hub area, part minigame collection, part soft game engine for creating your own playable worlds -- is as great as ever though, with a wealth of content to unlock and hundreds of components to experiment with in building your own games. But here too, there are few surprises. There's more of everything, but nothing feels hugely new or exciting.
New expansions for the Toy Box add some variety though. The story-driven Toy Box Takeover is a lot of fun, with Syndrome conquering the crossover world, requiring you to take toys from any Disney property through multiple movie-themed levels to defeat him. A forthcoming Toy Box Speedway set promises Mario Kart style fun too, which seems promising.
Hardcore Star Wars fans and those who get deep into the content creation side -- either making and sharing your own worlds or just tapping into the endless supply of community content -- will undoubtedly get a huge amount of entertainment from Infinity 3.0. More casual players returning looking for something fresher may be left feeling deflated, though.