A few days ago Disney's UK marketing manager set a pretty high bar by saying that he thought Toy Story 3 would be "an absolute smash hit in the UK". I think he was absolutely right, this game by far surpasses any previous experience I had with movie based games.

When I thought of reviewing this game I genuinely believed it may be one of those mind numbing games which often separates us hard working adults with our hard earned cash and youngsters with their youthful optimism - and let's face it, previous Toy Story tie-in games have been offenders of this in the past and I was wrong. I believe this title can stand tall and proud, setting an example for all other games in it's genre as a model for child friendly games. Not only is the game fun to play, but you get more than what you pay for, and in my opinion; you get two games for the price of one.First off, you have the Story mode in which you play through scenes of the Toys Story 3 movie with all your favorite characters and more. The only downside to this was that I have not seen the movie yet as it was only released in the UK today. The second part of the game which is my favorite part is the Toy Box mode, and it seems to have found a place in the hearts of many other game reviewers who have played it.  In my opinion, this was the part of the game which made it special, and worth every penny.

When you are in Toy Box mode, the town is themed like Woody's round-up, but you can customise the town and people in it, unlock new places and faces, and you can even play with a friend in co-op mode through the many universes such as Sid's Haunted House, Zurgs' Fortress, Lots-O's Enchanted Forest, etc. Hours and hours later, I still find myself fully absorbed in this game and not at all bored, even in Story Mode I was enticed in every mission, in fact, it reminded me a lot of the Lego series. Every mission I was looking around curious of what characters and places I could unlock as I went along in the main story.

There are lots of cool unlockables such as vehicles (Woody's faithful steed included) that you can use in Toy Box mode, and for us lucky PS3 owners there are some awesome little bonuses. For example, You can play as Zurg and use his car to drive around in Toy Box mode. I just can't tell you enough how cool Toy Box mode is. Anyway, I'm sure you'd like to hear more about the story mode too, it's good fun as you will find yourself swinging from various objects in Andy's room, and trying to escape from the evil clutches of Lot's-O. There's even a mode themed after Buzz Lightyear's scene from the beginning of Toy Story 2 where you will find yourself battling Zurg Bots.

A lot of love, effort, and money has be put into this game, which is a little bit of a shock after years of low budget shovelware. Although the graphics aren't film-like, the opening cut-scenes genuinely do bear comparison with the visuals of the film, as Woody and the gang are rendered in very high detail. It's a great little game to play for both adults and kids alike, however it's still just a bit of fun; so not something I think the more hardcore gamers will fall head over heels for. I'd still recommend it to audiences of all ages for a bit of good clean imaginative fun.