Review

Little Big Planet
Playstation 3
by Coxster

For the last week, all I have done is play Little Big Planet. Even though I soon had to part ways with it to review other games, I often find that I start taking frequent breaks from them so I can go back to playing more LBP. The reason why I can’t stop playing it is because I’m trying to make a silly version of Shadow of the Colossus. Ambitious I know, but totally achievable if you have the creativity and the time to pull it off. Never before have I been given so many options or the freedom to put together something that I can later play and share with anyone online who likes the sound of my idea. While I am a long way from finishing my own LBP game, and I estimate it will take me a month or two to complete before I share it with anyone, words don’t convey how satisfying and downright fun it is to play and participate in this game. I’ve never seen anything like it and chances are neither has anyone else.

If you aren’t inclined to read this review and opt to head straight down to the score, let me put it in plain English, this is probably the best game I’ve played all year. That is if you can call it a game, because as we’ll discover, LBP seems to be so much more.

From the very first moment that you get to control Sackboy, you know that the adventure ahead is going to be first class. He totally adorable and since there seems to be an endless array of highly original and hilarious clothing and accessories he can wear on the fly, you will never fall out of love with the little guy.   Remember back in the day when all you needed in life was a copy of Mario or Sonic? Even if you had no other games you could usually get by on these titles alone for months on end. Well LBP shares these same qualities because at its heart it is a platformer and doesn’t pretend to be anything more. Fortunately for gamers it ends up being much much more.

Sometimes Sackboy’s jumping can feel a little bit on the loose side, forcing the player to retrace back to a nearby checkpoint because it’s quite easy to misjudge a jump.  It’s a minor niggle because more often than not you don’t really have to cover much ground if you do happen to fail.  It can be a little bit more frustrating if you keep messing up (like me) and will have to start the level all over again, but it doesn’t happen very often as each checkpoint tops up your life count.  Of course LBP is more than just a simple side scrolling platformer; it comes with a complete set of tools that allow any budding game designer to do their thing.  It’s amazing to think that everything that appears in the single player game was made using these same tools.  Even if you have zero confidence with anything remotely creative, you’ll still want to try this out to see what you can come up with.  On the downside it’s pretty tricky to get used to all the tools and their functions, but that comes from the fact that there is just so much to choose from and so many variables to take into consideration.  From a design point of view it couldn’t be easier to put together a little stage, you click a button which pulls up a menu and then you choose what object you want to put down.  Once you’ve chosen an object and placed it down there are all sorts of extra tweaks you can apply, from music triggers to physic based animations, the amount of things you can achieve is almost mind blowing.  Luckily Media Molecule has struck the perfect equilibrium for those that are new to game design and those that like to delve a bit deeper into the complexities that LBP has to offer.  LBP is as complicated or as undemanding as you want it to be.  What game has ever given you such a enormous playground to lose yourself in and armed you with such functional and amusing tools?

Binding it all together is the warm-hearted and charismatic voice of Stephen Fry.  Not only is his voice perfectly suited to this project but the writing and acting is hilarious.  It’s the only time I can remember where I actually wanted to do tutorials just to hear what he had to say next.  The visuals in Little Big Planet are a joy to watch.  Screenshots really don’t do this game justice as there are so many wonderful textures, animations and objects that all look like they have a life of their own while still retaining an almost toy-like appearance that is both comical and picturesque at the same time.  The graphics are probably the best that has appeared on the Playstation 3, they may seem simple but when you consider the excellent art design and the sheer amount of moving parts, you really can’t help but be impressed.  The art design kind of reminded me of Grim Fandango or the film clip for Starlight by the Superman Lovers.  It’s a devilish mix of weird yet cute characters that is offset by the fact that the sizes and weird appearance all vary from one moment to the next.  I absolutely love the collage of different objects and groups of characters, if you have a soul or a beating heart I think it would be safe to say that you will probably feel the same way.

The main game is quite extensive and is going to take you quite a while to complete.  It also begs multiple play throughs because it’s almost impossible to collect every item first time around.  Littered throughout each level are a multitude of items such as stickers and objects for you to collect.   When you do locate one of the thousands of objects, it will then become available for you to use in your own creation.  So far I have gone through the main game twice and checking the percentage of things that I’ve found, most of the levels are at about 70%.  You’ll also unlock a whole swag of gear by completing the tutorials and since these are very entertaining as well as informative you’ll find yourself going through them to learn more.

If you don’t have your Playstation 3 hooked up to the internet you’re really not going to get the most of what LBP has to offer.  There is still plenty of game to play through but the real fun is going online and searching through hundreds of levels that have been uploaded by users.  Searching is a breeze and kind of works the same way that YouTube does.  You can search by key-words such as ‘cute’ or ‘horror’ and the results will show the most popular or highest rated efforts making sure that you get the best that the LBP community has to offer.  Once you have played a level, you can rate it and this will decide it’s longevity with the community.   The ideas that people have are so varied it’s not funny.  I had the pleasure of playing through a LBP version of Ghostbusters, Stay Puff Marshmallow Man included, all the way to standing on a cart that sped through a level while sweet child of mine was triggered from the individual speakers littered through the level.  Needless to say that I found these efforts to be hilarious and probably far better than anything I could’ve come up with…yet.  This is what takes LBP from a simple platformer to a stellar example of community based game design.  Anyone can do it and those that happen to be the most creative or clever will be rewarded by receiving high ratings and downloads from their LBP peers. It’s all very addictive, I love downloading the best efforts from fellow gamers on the PS Network, astounded by their levels of creativity.  This is why I play games and why I love LBP.

Overall:

How much you like LBP will depend on how much you’re willing to put in.  On hand you have a simplistic and slightly flawed platformer but on the other you have the deepest game creator that has appeared on any console.  While the single player game does eventually end you will have to go back not only for the unlockable items but also to get ideas for your own creations.  This is a game that keeps on giving and I can see myself playing LBP for many months to come.  The community is very active, outspoken and hilariously inventive.  If you don’t own a Playstation 3, this game should persuade you to do otherwise – it really is that good.  An almost perfect package that should stand proudly in the collection of any gamer, no matter what the age or gender might be. Well done SCE, this is what I pictured the whole ‘next gen’ thing would be all about.

Have you played this game? Why not submit your own review on Arcade Horror here?

Bookmark this page

Google BookmarksYahoo My WebDiggFacebook