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Disney Universe
Disney Universe ... 'a unique look at the different worlds of Disney'
Disney Universe ... 'a unique look at the different worlds of Disney'

Disney Universe – preview

This article is more than 12 years old
Cute, appealing and easy to play, this is a serious contender for the hearts and minds of anyone looking for decent family gaming

If first-rate family entertainment could be reduced to a scientific formula, you can bet that one of the first companies to crack it was Disney. From its earliest classic cartoons right up to the present where its intellectual property splinters into myriad formats, the house of Mickey Mouse has few equals when it comes to captivating the family unit.

Disney Universe is indicative of this. Disney Interactive's forthcoming title is designed to make an entire afternoon in front of the console a family event. It's aimed squarely at the type of gamer who sees their console as a family hub, and to whom the Lego titles are the nectar of the gods.

Disney Universe actually bears some passing resemblance to Travellers Tales' world-beating franchise. Like the Lego games it's wrapped in a cute, appealing and completely non-threatening veneer and it's incredibly easy to play. The controls are just three buttons and a stick and players can drop in and out of the action. The gameplay involves trundling around colourful environments, picking up shiny objects, solving puzzles and engaging in the odd punch-up. The two levels I was shown were split between brawling and platforming.

However, while it takes a couple of cues from the Lego games, Disney Universe obviously contains quite a few aspects which set it apart. First the game has a difficulty-level sweet-spot which intuitively adjusts based on how well the player is doing. The second major difference is its visuals; instead of having to settle for toy building-blocks, the developers have had Disney's formidable back-catalogue at their disposal.

At the preview I attended, I was informed that Disney Universe was intended to be "a unique look at the different worlds of Disney" and what this seems to mean is a fair bit of mixing and matching. Players control a blue, grinning humanoid avatar which they can dress up in outfits themed around Disney films such as Monsters Inc., Lilo and Stitch, Tron: Legacy and Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland.

The demo I was shown included areas which were based on the first and last of those films. The Alice in Wonderland level involved brawling with puzzle-solving in which players used the Mad Hatter's hat as a trampoline and the giant spoon to fire massive sugar lumps into oversized tea cups. The Monsters Inc. area mixed up fighting with platforming in the transport hub from the film, with doors on conveyer belts flying back and forth.

What became clear during the demo is that Disney Universe has the potential to be a source of conflict among players. The reason for this is that, while there are sections of the game that will require them to work together, for the most part players are in competition with each other. They also have the ability to latch onto one another's avatars, swing them in a whirling arch and toss them over the side of any platforms.

Disney Universe
Disney Universe

Add both of these factors together and you would accurately surmise I and the other people at the demo spent a fair bit of time dispatching each other so we could hoover up any shiny trinkets scattered around the screen. Still, there's a lot of rambunctious charm about the game and I can report that the gleeful way in which one can hurl both friend and foe to their doom is capable of reducing grown adults to giggling adolescents in no time. If you don't fancy playing with friends, the game supports single player mode with the co-op challenges removed.

Disney Universe looks set to contain a fair bit of content. Aside from the lengthy list of unlockables, the game, we were told, will contain six different worlds (all themed on various Disney films); each world contains three levels and each level contains three areas. It's unclear whether Disney Universe boasts the depth of content that the Lego games have (and even if you hate Travellers Tales' games, you have to admit they are the bane of achievement hounds everywhere) so whether it'll appeal to anyone outside its obvious target market remains to be seen.

But in the small glimpse I was allowed to have, I can confirm that Disney Universe looks like a serious contender for the hearts and minds of anyone looking for decent family fare on a console. On the evidence so far, it's so sweet that even your nan would like it.

Disney Universe will be released in autumn 2011 for PC/Mac, PS3 and Xbox 360

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