PlayExclusive: LittleBigPlanet review

Platform: PlayStation 3
Genre: Platformer/Side Scroller
Distribution: Blu-ray Disc
Online: Multiplayer and Content
Players: 1 - 4


INTRODUCTION

LittleBigPlanet is a simple platformer. Their motto, "Play. Create. Share", describes everything about it. As simple as that. The purpose of this game is to basically to get to the end of the level, dying as less as possible between checkpoints. Yes, it's back to old-school but with a little twist in depth.


The one attraction that this game focusses on is the last two parts of their motto, "Create" and "Share". You customize your character, called Sackboy, create a level and share it online with your friends or users around the world.


GAMEPLAY

LBP is a side scroller with 3D graphics, like most side scrollers these days, but its not just a simple side scroller. The levels are divided into 3 layers where players can jump away from the camera or towards to avoid obstacles or to reach certain platforms. Thus this gives a little bit of depth from your usual side scroller.


The controls are simple. You press X to jump and left analog to move your character left, right as well as up and down the three layers. LBP also introduces a grab button via R1. Being able to grab in a platformer like this is fun as you can use it to swing, hold on to something, switch a lever as well as push and pull objects. The square button is used to bring up your pop-pit, a menu you use to put stickers in the environment and to customize your Sackboy.

The buttons aren't perfect though. The jump button isn't as responsive as it should be in some cases. A number of times, you'll end up jumping too short when you thought you've press the X button long enough for a long jump. Extra care is needed in order to go through a level without dying when jumping.


The game comes with a Story mode, an online play as well as a level creator. The story mode doesn't have much of a story. You can just breeze through it without ever asking why you are doing such and such. On the other hand, the story mode acts somewhat like a tutorial, a place for you to find ideas and inspirations for when you create your own level (more on this later). Media Molecule gives users the tools they used to make their levels and when you try it, you'll be amazed at how brilliant some of the levels are. Besides that, the story mode is also where you get to unlock the tons of items and stickers you can use for the create mode.

The story mode doesn't really have a difficulty option so besides the problem with the jump button, finishing the story mode can be done within a few hours. When I played, it took be somewhere between 8 to 9 hours of gameplay.


In most cases, you won't be able to unlock the 100% for each level in one play through. Some parts of the level need two or four players to reach certain objects, making players come back with friends, either online or offline. This is what you'll learn from LBP. Having friends is important in order to achieve all the objectives. If you feel like you don't have friends offline, you can automatically join a game or invite your online buddies (who don't really know your true self) into one of your sessions.

The levels are brilliant. There are a variety of obstacles to overcome from jumping a pit filled with poisonous gas, avoiding spikes by grabbing a swinging object, running and jumping inside a rotating maze as well as avoiding flaming objects from burning your Sackboy alive. When you end up stuck in a pit or between fallen objects though, you can easily open your pop-pit and select a button that makes your Sackboy explode and re-spawn in the last checkpoint.

Speaking of checkpoints, there are plenty in the game, some quite close to each other, thus making this game a bit easy some times. Then again, you don't get a health bar. This is a one hit kill game, old-school style, but you do regain extra life everytime you pass a checkpoint.

In terms of points, you gain them by collecting points bubbles and unlocking items throughout the level. Obviously, the more you collect, the more points you get at the end. You even get extra points for not dying. Some of these bubbles though are hidden while others can only be reached through multiplayer. In some levels, you also get a short race, be it by running or by using wheels such as a huge skateboard. In these races, you are racing against time and the faster you get to the finishing line, the more points you get.


Then there's the level creation mode, where players can re-create their dream level or start from scratch. With the tools they offer, you can create simple levels like a stage from Donkey Kong all to way to complicated ones. One user created level even tried to mimic a level from Halo 3. Anyone can create a level as the tutorials offered are goes in-depht with every single tool. Even if you aren't interested or do not have time to create one, you can play tons of user-created levels online. One problem I see with this is the fact that you'll need to dedicate a lot of your time in order to create a really good level.


ONLINE

Online is the other place LBP is strong at. There is a huge library of levels already available since day one for players to try out, thanks to the Beta players who created some amazing levels before the game was released. The creativity is endless online. People have made levels inspired from God of War, Super Mario as well as Halo. There are also tons of original creations with some amazing use of the tools. Some levels are even relaxing. One level I played have you move a cart as you pass through some triggers to play a Final Fantasy song. And that's it. Of course, everybody gets 0 points since no actual points bubbles were collected.

You can also play multiplayer online with your friends or random players. LBP automatically tries to match you with other players depending on what levels you want to play online. Here, either you cooperate with others or race to the end to gain the most points.


Voice chat as well as speech is offered as communication. The amazing part about voice chat is the lipsync where you Sackboy's lips will move according to your words.

When viewing user-created levels, you can tag each level with a word that describes it the most such as "amazing", "fast", "brilliant", "slow" as well as leave comments for other users to read. It's a whole new way of socialising in online gaming.


GRAPHICS

This game isn't a 1080p nor is it a 60fps game, unlike a certain downloadable on the PS-Store. But, even so, at 720p the textures are amazing, especially when you do a lot of zooming in and out in this game. Clippings are rare and the physics are amazing. Objects drop believably according to the size. Fires look real and in a level you can get different kinds of textures loaded and still no lag is visible. The background scenes are also quite impressive as they show grass swaying, clouds moving, while interactions are going on in the foreground.

The art style might be cute in most cases but there are a bunch of textures offered which users can use to make dark levels. Don't let the cute little Sackboy fool you.


In level creation mode, you can increase the size of your stickers and unless you blow up the image really high, most of the time the images are sharp.

There are no HUDS on screen. Lives are shown on checkpoints via lit rings, each quarter representing one life. The only visible visual on screen is when you start a race where a counter appears, counting down your points as you try to reach the finishing line. Otherwise, every part of the level that fits in your screen is visible.


SOUNDS

One of the most impressive part of the game is the background music. The soundtrack fits the story mode perfectly. The fact that they were gambling with today's generation of songs is huge but in the end, it was worth it.

Sound effects are spot on from the sounds of electricity to fire and the cute exploding sound of the Sackboy when it dies. Fades can also be heard as sound gets louder as you approach some objects.


In the level creation mode, you are offered with a huge variety of sound effects which you can easily tweak, not just the distance of the sound being heard but also different parts of the song like the base, ambience, etc.


REPLAY VALUE

There are tons of replay value here. You can come back into the story mode with friends to collect items which are only available with 2 players or more. You can even use these levels to race with other players. As you go through the story mode, you'll encounter keys which unlocks short party levels. These levels you can play for highscores. They are simple levels from skateboard racing to avoiding poisonous gas while collecting points bubbles.

Not only that, the huge library of user-created levels online will make players keep coming back for more. And with users leaving comments in levels, you can see whether a level is worth checking out or if your level is any good. Who doesn't want to keep coming back for that? Feedbacks are always good for improvements.

But the best part about coming back to LBP is its downloadable contents. There are already tons of DLCs available on the PlayStation Store including varieties of costumes as well as contents such as the Metal Gear Solid Pack and God of War kit.


CONCLUSION

This game offers online community for gaming just like you get in your Facebook or Friendster pages, a level creation mode with easy to use tools where users can create simple to complex levels and then share it with everyone. Who doesn't want to create their dream level as a gamer? Besides the little problems with some button responses and laggy online start, this game is worth checking out, even if you are just borrowing it from your friend. Don't let the cute art-style fool you. This game has amazing depth. "Play. Create. Share" is exactly what it does.



Review by MrSyaf of BruGamers.
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Image source: Gamespot.