Disney Infinity 2.0: Sam Flynn & Quorra
Developer: Disney
Publisher: Disney
Platform: iPad (Reviewed), PC
Release Date: Out Now (iPad), March 2015 (PC)
Price: $3.75 (In-App Purchase)
Back in 1982, Tron made waves with its epic story and (at the time) incredible use of CGI. In fact, when it was made, Tron was disallowed from the academy awards because the academy though that CGI was cheating when it came to special effects. Fast forward to 2010 and we finally got the highly anticipated sequel. Fast forward again to 2015 and Disney have released Sam Flynn and Quorra from the 2010 Tron Legacy as figures for Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes, albeit as iPad/PC exclusive characters that don’t have a physical figurine.
Sam’s ranged attack has him throwing his Identity Disc. Anybody who has played Disney Infinity 1.0 will be familiar with the disc and how it operates, but for those who haven’t; it is basically a boomerang… a really powerful boomerang. Quorra also has an Identity Disc but uses it in conjunction with her Light-Katana to deal rapid strikes to her enemies.
One of the coolest parts of the new characters is how they block and dodge oncoming moves. Sam and Quorra flip around like damn ninjas in the Toy Box, and as their flips and mid-air twists look awesome. Although both characters hide behind an identity disc to block, which seems like a big risk for the characters, considering the loss of an identity disc in the films means they cease to exist. However, I guess they needed to block attacks some way and it still looks badass.
Both Sam and Quorra look absolutely incredible in-game. Their dark suits that are highlighted by the bright blue/white outlining that fans of the Tron franchise will be immediately familiar with. Sam’s face is covered with a full mask so he has no expressions or dialogue, but Quorra’s face is free for the world to see, and you can definitely see Olivia Wilde’s features in her character model.
Ok, time to talk about the elephant into the room; the digital-only nature of these figures. Disney Infinity is more than just a video game, it is a collectible hobby, a cross-genre experience and the physical character figures and Power Discs make up a big part of that experience. By making the two Tron characters digital-exclusive, Disney have managed to both remain authentic to the movie and throw away the fundamentals of Disney Infinity.
Not only that, but limiting the characters to iPad and PC has ostracised the huge console player base and since Sam and Quorra have unique skills and abilities in contrast to the rest of the 1.0 and 2.0 characters, a huge chunk of the game’s audience will never be able to experience them in action.
Now we can sit here and lament the fact that console players wont get to play as Sam and Quorra in the near future, what is an even bigger mistake is the fact that the Light Jet and Light Cycle seem to (at least currently) be locked away in the iPad/PC exclusivity zone along with the two characters. This means that one of the most recognisable and famous vehicles in movie history is only available to players on iPad and PC.
I think that the rather vocal response has shown Disney and Avalanche Software that this kind of release is not what the fan base wants. I personally believe that this relagates new characters to nothing more than DLC or microtransactions, and if the game continues down that path then it wont be long before it loses followers. Lets just hope that this isn’t the start of a trend for the game and is a simple glitch in the system.
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