The toys are back in town and on PlayStation 3. Take a sneak peek into Pixar’s most popular toy box and get the whole story…
"Toy Story 3 is not the game you're expecting it to be," smiles Avalanche Software's senior producer, Jonathan Warner. It's an infectious grin of someone who has proudly created an extremely well made toy and can't wait for you to play it. "When you buy it and take it home, this is going to be something which will make you say ‘wow, I did not expect this'".
This statement is backed up by a wonderful looking game which complements Disney and Pixar's equally wonderful looking film due in summer 2010. Whether you're a fan of the previous movies or not too familiar with the likes of Woody, Buzz Lightyear and their friends, there's plenty in Toy Story 3: The Videogame to appeal to toy lovers of all ages and types.
No toy gets left behind
True to Warner's words, the Avalanche Software developed Toy Story 3 goes down a different route to the typical game-to-movie tie-in. There are two main gameplay elements - the first is the story mode, which puts you in the colourful and well animated shapes of Woody, Buzz and Jessie across eight levels for adventures based on the film. Platforming, flying, riding and running are the order of the day, including a videogame version of Toy Story 2's opening so you can actually play the Buzz Lightyear videogame the toys played in the movie.
However, it's the second mode which stores the bulk of the game's toys, which promises a lengthy and lasting playtime. The Toy Box mode is an open world which invites you to create your own personal environment and play the way you want to.
Starting in a Wild West setting, you pick Woody, Buzz or Jessie (and later the unlockable Emperor Zurg, exclusive to the PlayStation 3 version) to be sheriff and take part in a variety of missions, collect items and accessories, jump into races, create customisable buildings, or just roam around the town for fun. It's a free-roaming land that perfectly mimics the wide and constantly changing imagination of a child's very own toy box.
A toy for all
"We wanted to cater to different play styles," explains Warner. "Some players want to accomplish missions, so we built in a robust mission system for structured play. Others are explorers who want to discover new things, so we have a play space which allows you to do that. And some players enjoy customising things, building, making and painting. So we have a system where all the toys you bring into the Toy Box mode can be customised.
"When new people come on to the set you can customise them too, with new hats, outfits and other stuff. We also wanted to take that experience where kids combine different sets of toys from their toy box but it totally makes sense to them, it all flows out of their imagination.
"So when you start out, things are what you would expect the style of a Western town to be, but soon you're able to start bringing in toys that make no sense to the Western setting and context, like a haunted house toy - and these change the way the town looks, the sort of enemies and toys it brings to the environment, pushing things in a completely different direction."
You've got a friend in me...
The range of ways you can alter your space is impressively wide. As you gain money by mining, tackling the mischievous Banditos who are causing havoc in the town and performing other duties, more characters, vehicles and buildings are available to buy. Fancy adding in Emperor Zurg's space fortress? Or throwing in some extras from other Pixar movies such as Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., and The Incredibles? You've got it.
The more you play, buy and customise, the more missions and goodies become available to you - and there are even more unlockables that become accessible to you from the story mode as well. It's a massive and well thought-out system which means your game will be different from your friend's. Your Toy Story 3 experience is a personal thing, which is exactly what Warner wanted to portray to give justice to the film.
"When we saw an early draft of the film in 2007 and got to the end, our eyes started to well up a little - and we looked around as the lights went up and noticed that everybody was choked up!" says Warner. "That's when we knew we wanted to do something really special with the property so it could be a worthwhile companion. Hopefully we've come up with something that's pretty different and surprising."
Expect more in-depth Toy Story 3: The Videogame coverage on eu.playstation.com soon.
The magic is building with LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4Jessica Alba Defends ‘Killer Inside Me’ Violence At NYC Premiere
