Toy Story 3

Lots of people hate going home to their parents' house. I am not one of them, I quite enjoy going home to see my family. Anyone that knows my mother will realise I have no reason to lie about this because she is 100% computer illiterate. This does have a point... honest. I went home to see my family the other day and did the usual catching up, seeing my younger brothers and sisters, eating all mum's food etc. However, another great thing about going home is rummaging through the game collection when everyone has gone to bed. My little brothers are quite fortunate in two ways: 1. They possess the love for games that I do. 2. They have the brains to ask for games on every gift-worthy occasion. Their game collection has contributed to the broadening of my virtual horizons quite a bit over the past few years. If it wasn't for them I might never have cast my beady eyes over Mini Ninjas, EyePet, The Lego games and ModNation Racers as well as others. This time it was the turn of Toy Story 3 and I have to say, I'm impressed.

The game kind of follows the story of the films.You visit the Sunnyside Daycare, Andy's House, Bonnie's House, The Junkyard and of course Al's Toy Barn. The great thing is that Andy's toys are telling the story in hindsight to Bonnie's toys, so often they embellish what happened and this allows for greater perils and more dramatic sequences which are always ridiculous and mostly great fun. The levels are quite short and the story mode is easily done in 4-8 hours. For me, this is a great thing. Often games are drawn out to lengthen them and give the illusion of more content, but this game delivers quality gameplay and scenery along with a charming and quite funny plot and dialogue.

There are essentially three playable characters: Woody, Jesse and Buzz. Each have their own unique abilities, but the player can switch between them with L1 at any time. Woody can swing from hooks with his pullstring, Jesse can balance on small platforms and Buzz is very strong, enabling him to throw the others across big gaps. The levels consist of different ways of applying these abilities, but it doesn't get tiresome and it never gets too challenging. For a child (it is a kid's game remember) the difficulty has a gradual steady increase, but the collectibles can be quite tricky to find. This adds an extra challenging element for any perfectionists out there, but you also get rewards in the 'Toy Box' mode for collecting certain things.

Finally there is 'Toy Box' mode. The premise behind this is similar to the scenario at the start of the movie: it's an imaginary world where you are the Sherriff of a town. The more quests you complete, the more you unlock. As you progress you will build a barbers, a school and gradually complete the town. I think that this mode is hyped up a bit too much and may just be a place where all the spare ideas from the game were thrown, but it is fun and it held my attention for a good few hours.

This game suggests to me that it is possible for a kid's game to be engaging annd cute without being mind-numbingly dull or flawed. This game has lots of elements such as teamwork, vehicles, puzzles and open world exploration, but all of these come together and actually work (the little cars are a bit annoying, but the horse, dragon and big car are ok). A movie tie-in game that works! Just stop for a second and appreciate that. You might think that Toy Story 3 is a bit childish or basic for you, but even if just to play a movie tie-in game without the gerbil turd disappointment of Avatar, have a go.

Terrible handling- bet the insurance is monstrous

DannyDarko