Toy Story 3

Load up Toy Story 3 and within moments you're barrelling on horseback through a hazardous canyon, dodging bright red projectiles fired by a pig in a pink spaceship. It's big and colourful fun that's hard to dislike.

Sadly, it's not long before the cartoony action is undermined by frustrating level design and dodgy controls. Jumping over large gaps or firing at enemies is impossible to judge accurately with the fixed camera angle offered. Finish the stage through a combination of persistence and luck and the only satisfaction you'll feel is that you'll never have to play through it again.

Thankfully this section is only a small part of a varied and commendably ambitious experience. A great deal of effort has been made to make it match up to the quality of its big-screen relation – with mixed results.

Befitting the franchise's first seventh-generation release, you can't help but be struck on first impressions by how close the characters are to those you've seen on the big screen, both cosmetically and in their voices and movements. It really feels like you're entering the Toy Story world – the use of licence here is exemplary.

Much critical attention has deservedly been paid to the game's open-world, Red Dead Redemption-like Toy Box mode. It's effectively Red Dead Junior, as your selected character wanders around an Old West-style toytown, helping out locals and unlocking new items and missions. This is a real departure from your standard licensed fare, and developers Avalanche deserve plaudits for trying something different.

It's probably here where most of the game's longevity lies, but, while it may be ambitious, it's a poor relation to the games it's trying to imitate. Missions invariably involve searching for things – with no map offered, infuriatingly – or simple repetitive tasks.

Meanwhile, as you progress through the story mode elements of the game, the control and camera problems persist – fundamentals for what is, for the most part, a 3D platformer. Regular checkpoints means you'll advance quickly, but not without dozens of deaths you'll blame on the programmer's shortcomings rather than your own.

Variety above all else is the focus here: there's a stealth section, flying sections, racing sections – but nothing rises above the level of mediocre pastiche. It flits nicely between set pieces from the film and character-specific stages (such as Buzz Lightyear battling Zurg), and the amount of collectable items and unlockable content means there is a surprising amount of depth – but only for those who can overlook the game's flaws.

Toy Story 3 is not without its charm and enjoyable moments, however, especially in multiplayer. Split-screen co-op is available throughout, and playing with a friend does make the aforementioned problems somewhat easier to swallow. It's aimed unapologetically at kids and fans of the series – so it's hard to criticise too harshly when it fails to match the Marios and Grand Theft Autos of this world.

Still, you can't help but feel frustrated with a game that has so many good ideas, but executes most of them so poorly. With a bit more thought it could have been much, much better.