Star Wars: The Force Awakens is continuing to rake in box office dollars. The rebirth of the Star Wars franchise has provided a solid record-breaking start to what should promise to be a very profitable new trilogy of films for Disney and LucasFilm. We loved the film and couldn’t wait to get our next helping after our first screening. After the credits rolled (we’ve seen it 3 times now, #SorryNotSorry) we found ourselves wanting to go right back in to that world.
But how?
Star Wars Land at Disneyland is still a few years away from opening and so we’re left with little options for venturing back to the galaxy far, far away… Or at least, that was the case at least until we got our review copy of Star Wars: The Force Awakens Play Set for Disney Infinity 3.0.
After seeing the film, playing the new Disney Infinity 3.0 Play Set really helped us feel like we were revisiting the movie. It was so fresh in our minds that it felt like were there in the film helping shape the events.
I suppose that’s entirely the point of video games is that immersion and while the stylized world of Disney Infinity doesn’t exactly make it feel like you’re right there on the set, it does help create that surreal feeling of escapism. There’s something about running around the worlds–exploring at your own pace–that help transport you INTO the film.
This sort of escapist element of the game didn’t really come into full effect for me until I watched the film a second (and third) time. In the film, when we’re at Maz Kanata‘s castle and we see Rey running through the forest, I was totally thinking to myself: If she goes the other way she’ll run right into the Millennium Falcon! Or: If she goes the other way she can talk to some of those thieves to take on a mission at the lake behind the castle! I felt like I knew where I was going while watching the film because I’d already been there in the video game.
So all of that aside, there’s the game itself. By now, if you’ve been following Disney Infinity since its inception you get a good grip for gameplay. It’s a standard RPG where you can play as any of the characters accessible in the Play Set (Star Wars figures). Of course, you can’t use all figures until you unlock them throughout the game play.
What’s interesting about unlocking all the random Star Wars universe characters for play in the Play Set is that you can theoretically use your (young) Han Solo figure… which we did. Because… it’s Han. Han is always the right answer. It did create a funny anachronism, however, to be playing with young Han and then seeing the story portions in-between gameplay that feature “old Han.”
But the entire point of Disney Infinity is to feel like you’re playing in a toy box of your own imagination. So it totally works. For the purists, you can also obviously just stick to the relevant The Force Awakens figures. Bonus points for playing between Finn and Rey as appropriate in the various game segments.
All the expected play moments are included from space battles to take out Star Destroyers, Stormtrooper melee battles, various tasks and missions, and of course the finale battle with Kylo Ren himself. As to be expected, he’s a particularly tricky boss with whom to contend.
There’s no major shocking surprises as far as gameplay here. There’s a healthy dose of Stormtroopers to play against including the tricky buggers with the “riot gear” that included shields and the pesky electrostaffs. Those guys are a good bit tougher to take out.
The story itself is a loose retelling of the events in the film. The story has been simplified significantly (leaving out several key moments and even some characters) and gave smaller characters like Unkar a little more significant roles in the through-line. It’s not entirely off-putting but story purists may find themselves shaking their heads.
Overall, Star Wars: The Force Awakens Play Set is a solid addition to the Play Set collection. It offers a good amount of gameplay to really create that immersion into the film.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Play Set for Disney Infinity 3.0 is available now.
