After shamelessly scooping up dozens of accolades and creating a bustling online community of would-be game designers, LittleBigPlanet has returned – was it worth the wait?
By Shane Willoughby of thegamingliberty.com
If ‘Play Create and Share’ was the first LittleBigPlanet’s inclusive mantra then surely ‘Play Create and Dare’ would be a more fitting and all-encompassing tact to underscore its sequel. LittleBigPlanet 2 literally dares to do things that no other video game has ever done before and it simultaneously delivers on every level. More than just a cutesy platformer with a wealth of creation tools, LBP 2 is a layered experience that refines what customisation, creativity and ingenuity means to gamers.
Reviewing a game like LBP 2 is actually pretty tough. The LBP universe is infinite. This isn’t Media Molecule’s game, this is our game, a universe that we ultimately shape, alter, amend, fashion, revise and modify in ways that only we can control and maintain. There’s a ‘personality’ to LBP that mightn’t immediately resonate on the surface but is embedded in every one of our own Sackboy pods.
LBP2’s strongest merit is its ability to make each and every one of us feels like we are contributing to the greater LBP universe and reaching out to the world with open arms. What other game lets you create your ‘own’ game for some kid on the other side of the world to instantly jump into to play ‘your’ game by ‘your’ rules? No game does it better than LBP2.
User-created levels vary a lot more from simple 2D platforming
LBP just wouldn’t be what it is without its iconic protagonist Sackboy. Your first job is to take Sackboy through some 30 odd story levels in order to rescue the universe from the planet-gobbling party pooper that is ‘Negativitron’. To this end, LBP2 retains the side scrolling 2D/3D platforming status of the original. Yes, the platforming, niggles and all, is as you were but since how creative the game’s levels are, this doesn’t represent any kind of a stumbling block for part 2.
Sackboy can run, jump, fly, shoot and negotiate levels by any means of creativity. Levels are brimful of luscious textures, kaleidoscopic colour palettes, engaging characters, clever challenging design and foot tapping tones. If it were a single player-only game then LBP2 would still be a great game by all accounts. But playing through the single player is only the tip of the creative energy iceberg that this product represents.
Media Molecule are also a generous bunch. In the original incarnation of LBP they gave you the tools to build levels in the same vein as the levels that shipped with the Blu-ray. Within months, LBP adopters had published hundreds, thousands and eventually millions of user-generated levels online. LBP2 on the other hand gives you the tools to basically do whatever you want. Think of yourself as something of a creative Sackgod.
As always, the only limit to your LittleBigPlanet adventure is your imagination
Create Mode is a robust beast that has yet to show us what it can really do. In 6 months time LBP 2 will be what Media Molecule want it to be, a trawling hub of creative energy and intuitive design, where levels and games created by some kid in his bedroom are arguably as good as many other full retail titles out there. And the great thing about LBP 2 is that people already have a good idea of what they can achieve in this world. In contrast, it took a while for the original LBP to really get going.
LBP2’s creators are already knee deep in snickers, tools and things that end with ‘inator’. LBP2 is far more accommodating than the first game and as such is far less intimidating. Anyone can create something. But the cream always rises to the top and those creators who embrace the endless creative ethos of LBP2 will see the biggest rewards.
Overall, Media Molecule has delivered a sublime game that really takes everything up a notch. Okay, sure, some of the annoying and cumbersome elements that could be found in the first game return. Camera angles can be a pain, not to mention actually getting around sometimes, but that’s all nit-picking. These little scratches don’t expose any scars. You’ll never be limited by anything I’ve mentioned here. As we speak the servers are being hit hard and loading times are pretty grim in places but this is a problem that MM will surely tackle in the immediate days that follow.
The only obvious limitation with LittleBigPlanet 2 is ‘you’ the player. What you get out of it is entirely up to you. There’s just so much in there and so much that you could actually introduce yourself to should you feel the creative urge. Playing levels online with friends or with other players is always a blast and the new versus levels are excellent fun.
There’s so much to be said for LBP2, so much to experience, so much to unearth and so much to unravel. There’s a confluence of creativity going on in the depths of LBP2 that no other game can come near at the moment. LittleBigPlanet’s sophomore effort is a triumph in every sense. Sony’s first party assault on 2011 has started with a bang.
Format: Playstation 3; Developer: Media Molecule
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