Toy Story 3 Complete Edition Review – WGB

Toy Story 3 Full Version sounds just like the form of launch that has gone again into the toy field and gathered each model of the sport in a single place. That isn’t fairly what you’re getting. That is the 2010 console journey once more, with some beforehand restricted content material folded in and a easy graphical improve. In the event you’re anticipating a remake or a grand overhaul, this may look fairly modest. It’s an opportunity to play the sport extra conveniently on newer {hardware}, with a number of additional bits included. So the largest query is, does it maintain up?

REVIEW AT A GLANCE

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Developer Digital Eclipse

Writer Atari

Reviewed On PS5

Out there On PC, PlayStation, Xbox Collection, Change, Change 2

Launch Date 15 October, 2026

Worth (UK) £22.49

Style 3D Platformer

Assessment Code Equipped by the writer.

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Fast Take:

Toy Story 3 nonetheless has the attraction and enjoyable concepts that made it one of many higher film tie-ins, with Toy Field’s unlock loop doing many of the heavy lifting. The improved graphics and clean efficiency make it simpler to revisit, however the stiff controls, awkward digital camera and visibly aged property remind you this can be a 2010 recreation with a light-weight remaster.

So what does “Full” imply? Properly, this version brings again Emperor Zurg as a playable character in Toy Field Mode, the place he was beforehand unique to the PS3 model, and consists of 4 further Toy Field theme packs. It doesn’t mix each separate model of Toy Story 3 into one huge assortment. The hand held and older-console releases have been totally different variations, and that is greatest understood as the principle console recreation with some beforehand restricted content material added. Which means the Full Version moniker might be responsible of creating the entire thing really feel greater than it truly is, nevertheless it’s additionally pretty correct, I suppose.

It’s additionally price figuring out the place this model matches. On PlayStation, it’s now potential to play the complete console recreation natively on PS4 and PS5; the sooner Toy Story 3 out there on these methods was the separate PSP model, and it may solely be performed through streaming. Xbox gamers already had the Xbox 360 recreation by way of backwards compatibility, so Full Version is extra of an improve for them: up to date presentation and restored content material, reasonably than the primary probability to revisit the sport on a contemporary console. It’s additionally bought by itself or as a part of Toy Story: Retro Roundup! which collects collectively a number of different traditional Toy Story video games.

I’ve performed by way of the entire Story Mode on PS5, and I nonetheless had fun with it. The sport follows the broad form of the movie whereas taking a number of detours of its personal. One of many higher ones has Buzz flying by way of a canyon earlier than a meteor bathe begins smashing up the atmosphere round him. One other has Woody platforming by way of Bonnie’s room as an evil witch makes the espresso rise round him. They’re daft concepts, however they provide the degrees some character, and the Buzz part particularly makes for a enjoyable set piece that I keep in mind as feeling fairly cool again within the day.

The degrees additionally do greater than merely recreate scenes from the movie. They develop on them, typically by turning a second right into a platforming problem or giving the toys a brand new downside to unravel. The sport switches between totally different types as you go, with platforming on the centre and occasional stealth, motion and capturing sections combined in. Not each degree is a winner, however there’s sufficient selection to cease the marketing campaign feeling like the identical sequence of jumps repeated again and again.

The character-specific skills assist with that selection. Woody can swing from his pull string, Jessie can land on sharp objects, and Buzz can throw the others to achieve locations they will’t get to by themselves. The sport typically permits you to select the way to sort out a piece: swing over with Woody, for instance, or get Buzz to launch Jessie throughout. It’s a pleasant little bit of flexibility, even when the skills don’t at all times get as a lot room to shine as they may. That is nonetheless a reasonably simple film tie-in, not a platformer constructed round an enormous variety of branching decisions or elaborate puzzles.

There are, after all, indicators of the sport’s age. The controls can really feel stiff, and the digital camera sometimes makes a easy little bit of platforming extra awkward than it must be. In a single stealth part, I jumped down right into a patrolling enemy’s line of sight as a result of I couldn’t transfer the digital camera to examine the place I used to be touchdown. He noticed me, and that was the try over. Aiming skills can really feel sluggish in an identical approach: quick-firing is okay, however holding a set off to purpose slows your character down a lot {that a} simple motion begins to really feel clunky. The controls often do what I count on, and I can see why somebody may describe them as exact, however to me they’ve that barely stiff really feel you get from older video games that would do with performing some warmup stretches.

General, the story mode is okay. First rate voice performing, strong ranges and pleasant gameplay. Does the job.

Toy Field is the opposite massive a part of the sport, and it’s the place I’ve had a few of my greatest enjoyable. It is a separate Wild West playground the place you possibly can wander round as Woody, Buzz or Jessie, tackle missions for the townsfolk and customise the city as you go. You earn cash by doing actions, finishing missions and mining gold, then spend them on toys and buildings so as to add to the world. Some purchases open up extra of the map or offer you new actions to attempt, which suggests there’s often another excuse to save lots of up and see what you possibly can unlock.

That straightforward loop is the factor I hold coming again to: earn cash, purchase one thing new, discover extra issues to do, then earn more cash. Zurg’s house tower, the aliens, Lotso’s oddly cheerful nook of city and demolishing a dam to develop the city are the sorts of issues you should buy or do by performing missions. You can too customise buildings and townsfolk, so a few of your purchases change how the city appears to be like in addition to what you are able to do in it. It’s not difficult, nevertheless it’s satisfying to look at the place develop when you play.

Toy Field feels distinct from the marketing campaign, with its personal missions and its personal cause to maintain coming again: this isn’t a small bonus tacked onto the story. It’s the center of the sport for anybody who enjoys incomes cash, unlocking new toys and seeing what these toys allow them to do subsequent. The story marketing campaign is perhaps what will get you began, however Toy Field is what offers Toy Story 3 its additional character.

The visible replace is noticeable, even when it doesn’t rework the sport. The picture appears to be like cleaner and sharper than I’d count on from the unique launch, and I think some textures have had a gentle touch-up as properly. However this isn’t a ground-up remake of the property: the underlying fashions and textures nonetheless have that 2010 look, and a few areas are rougher than others. On PS5, it seems to run at 60 frames per second, and efficiency has felt clean in my time with it. Atari advertises as much as 4K and 60fps relying on platform, although that doesn’t verify the precise decision on PS5. It appears to be like like 4K, however I’m not precisely counting the pixels on my TV to verify it. The improve helps the sport look higher, however it might probably solely achieve this a lot with the fabric it began with.

Years later, I nonetheless actually take pleasure in Toy Story 3. It has a country attraction, some pleasant platforming and a Toy Field mode that offers you a enjoyable cause to maintain enjoying after the story. You do have to simply accept that this can be a 16-year-old recreation, and the stiff controls and digital camera are extra apparent now than they could have been on the time. Full Version makes it simpler to play on newer {hardware} and brings in some helpful additional content material, nevertheless it doesn’t rebuild the sport from the bottom up. Go in anticipating a flippantly upgraded return to an older recreation, and there’s nonetheless so much right here to take pleasure in. Go in with nostalgia powering your coronary heart, and also you’ll most likely find yourself feeling like a child once more. Or crying within the nook since you realised you’re previous now.