Combat in Disney Infinity and its follow-up, 2.0, was simple by design. The game is, after all, geared towards younger players and their families. Avalanche didn’t want to use that as a crutch for boring combat, however, so it sought out Ninja Theory, a studio with a history of combat-heavy action games that recently saw a great deal of success with its Devil May Cry reboot. They were tasked to help improve Infinity across the board – not just for Star Wars.
From a distance, Ninja Theory being involved with Disney Infinity may seem like an odd pairing. Its games regularly explore mature themes and do not shy from violence, but it’s a team Lucas had been interested in for some a while. “[Lucas had] been wanting to work with these guys for a long time,” says John Vignocchi, vice president of production for Disney Infinity. “We immediately had signoff from Lucasfilm; they were excited that Ninja Theory was going to be working on lightsaber combat for us.”
Ninja Theory was on board for Disney Infinity’s Marvel playsets in 2.0 and helped develop and clean up the game’s combat. As early as six months before the completion of 2.0, Ninja Theory was working on lightsaber combat. And it goes much deeper than just crafting new animations and combos for Star Wars’ iconic weapon. “One of the first things we did was to look at what was creating the lag from a technical standpoint, and we had coders looking into it and trying to cut it where we could,” Ninja Theory tells us. “We made sure the animations start immediately, so when you press a button there is already movement and gives you that feeling of responsiveness.” Ninja Theory’s work is distributed throughout Disney Infinity 3.0, meaning those improvements help everybody’s combat. Even Disney Infinity 1.0 characters like Mr. Incredible will play better than they ever have thanks to Ninja Theory’s improvements when you bring them into 3.0.
The Combat
For younger players, mashing a single attack button will still get the job done, but Avalanche and Ninja Theory are hoping those seeking depth will be rewarded. We saw characters like Luke Skywalker (who can use both a blaster and a lightsaber) juggling enemies in the air like Dante. Pausing mid-combo and holding down buttons will also branch your attack off in different combo directions, and the characters with control over the Force can push and pull enemies in an impressive show of force.
A smart example of lessons learned form Devil May Cry comes from Anakin’s special attack, where he uses the force to craft a giant ball of loose trash in the air and brings it crashing down on his enemies. In the past, this would have been a passive attack with players waiting while Anakin gathered and released his attack watching a dedicated animation. Now, players are in full control and can release the attack early, even if the ball of Force-powered trash hasn’t reached its full potential. It’s a good example of how the action is always in the players’ control, even in the middle of special attacks.
Some of the more confusing aspects of combat from the first two Infinity games have also been addressed. In previous games, auto-lock forced you to move toward the enemies you were attacking if you were playing as a character that used guns or blasters – a counterintuitive approach to taking on your target Avalanche admitted. Now, firing on an enemy will lock you onto a target, and you can flick between targets. Alternatively, the option to enter manual targeting continues to exist as well.
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