This is what happens when an indie developer is given an unlimited budget and told, “Make our platform a success.” If there was ever a reason to buy a PlayStation 3, apart from God of War 3, a true Wipeout sequel (Wipeout HD is brilliant but still just a remix) or Uncharted 2, it’s beyond a doubt LittleBigPlanet.<\/p>\n
That is, if your superego can handle the cute handcraft look, bouncy sack poppits and the fact that the game is a platform game. Remember those? You run, jump and don’t kill any hookers whatsoever. No guns here, no open-world sandbox where
all you do is drive over pedestrians. Nope, LBP is about as pure a platform game as you can get, but set in the most creative and involved universe since a plumber ate some mushrooms.<\/p>\n
The main component of LBP is the campaign that takes place across a huge variety of levels. Up to four players can gallivant through interesting, exploding, shifting, changing, bouncing, rotating areas that push the boundaries on what we’ve come to expect from the genre.<\/p>\n
It helps that the levels themselves are full physics simulations, and as such, contain many unexpected surprises (or sometimes failures, as the thing you’re supposed to drag from A to B to open a door gets stuck in the physical world).Each level is very much an encapsulated experience with little repetition. Through clever use of design, there are puzzles, enemies to tackle, boss fights and often surprisingly creative contraptions to navigate.<\/p>\n
One could say that LBP’s campaign is a continual example of what a little ingenuity in the level editor can achieve, since each level was created using the same tools the player has at their disposal.<\/p>\n
Levels contain Gift Bubbles, which can have Objects, Stickers, Decorations or new Body Parts in them. The Body Parts are for customising your poppit, while the Objects you find are usually elements used in the level itself. To break the level up into manageable chunks, Gates act as spawn areas.<\/p>\n
Activating one makes it a checkpoint. Die and you pop out of the last gate you touched. Gates are also where friends appear if they decide to join in, and it’s in the two- to four-player co-op where LBP really shines. There is peril however. Gates have a limited amount of charges: die too many times, and you have to restart a level from scratch. The more players you have,the faster the charges run out.<\/p>\n
Certain levels have specially-marked co-op areas where you need two or four players to complete the ‘puzzles’ in such areas. It’s nice that these co-op challenges aren’t mandatory – you can enjoy LBP to its fullest by yourself. But to collect 100% of the Gifts in a level, you’ll have to make some friends or invite some people into your game online. You can have any mix of offl ine\/online players in your game.<\/p>\n
Branching off the main storyline levels are challenges that unlock if you find the keys hidden inside the level they are attached to. Most challenges have multiple difficulties, unlocked if you complete the lower difficulties with sufficient score.<\/p>\n
LittleBigPlanet has global-level high score tracking, so every level you play records your score, which you can compare to online high score charts. Self-published levels you create in the editor also track high scores, so the entire system just works. If you’re looking for something fresh to play, having completed the campaign or you want to take a break, there is a Cool Levels option on the main menu that serves up the more popular levels published online. You can download, play and then submit feedback on levels via a five-star ranking, pre-set tags and comment system.<\/p>\n
Custom levels may also contain Gift Bubbles if the author decided to place some in the level, which can reward players with complex Objects, Stickers or Decorations. It’s a fine thing when a level author decides to share one of their more complex creations with other players.<\/p>\n
The main campaign itself contains a lot of replay value in each stage. Collecting 100% of the Gifts in a stage can be tricky, especially since some Gifts are hidden behind Sticker Switches. These require you to find stickers in the level (or another level, so backtracking does happen after you’ve explored more of the campaign), which when placed on the Sticker Switch, will drop down some goodies.<\/p>\n
Because the action in LBP takes place on three planes, Media Molecule has opted for an auto-plane shifting mechanic while
you’re running around. You can manually move in and out across the three depths, but the game will also attempt to automatically divine which plane you’re supposed to be on if you’re jumping from platform to platform. Sometimes that works beautifully, and sometimes it fails epically.<\/p>\n
All said and done, LittleBigPlanet is a shining example of what a game can be. Beyond a doubt, this is a must-have for
PlayStation 3 owners.<\/p>\n\n\t\t