Until recently, we had trouble enjoying Sony's ambitious PlayStation 3 video game, LittleBigPlanet. Its mascot, the adorable Sackboy, was shoved down our throats, and the level editor failed to thrill. Paying a company AU$109.95 to design their game made no sense, and we'd much rather play God of War over a crude homage, at least until a casual play session turned into an all day's romp through colorful worlds teeming with cute animals, twisted creations and catchy music. Now our heads are full of grinning Sackboys, previously completed levels and our own designs. We're hooked.
LittleBigPlanet is fun for multiple reasons starting with Sackboy. Using the Popit, the game's customization menu, we had a blast trying on different outfits, altering his skin color and adding various accessories like glasses, hats and jackets. Much of this stuff is hidden within the game's Story mode, which brings us to another one of the game's best features, collecting. Pack rats will love searching the created levels for new stickers, parts and other goodies. It's this desire to grab everything that kept us playing, because we refused to proceed until we figured out how to nab that last sticker, even if it meant grabbing a friend to complete one of the game's co-op challenges. If we missed the tribal mask, well, our lives would never be the same.
Story mode is surprisingly good and an excellent look at the game's potential. As Sackboy, you explore various continents bursting with imagination and exquisite music. Europe, for example, challenges you to scale castles and dodge ghosts, while Africa has you avoiding crocodiles and bouncing off meerkats. You'll ride horses, use a rocket pack, complete simple but cool puzzles, avoid burning coals and visit a bizarre wedding, all the while scoring tons of points by collecting bubbles and goodies used for editing. Most of these levels are short, but the various mini challenges and hard to reach areas encourage multiple plays. We just wish developer Media Molecule spent more time on the actual story. Although we ran into numerous characters, they lack personality, which is in stark contrast to the level designs, which are full of it. It's a shame, because it makes Story Mode feel like a simple world tour instead of a Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog style adventure.
Although we dig Story mode, much of our time was spent in LittleBigPlanet's editor, which is simply phenomenal. With hundreds of parts, all accessible through the Popit, you're able to build entire levels from scratch, constructing castles, mountains and monsters; you can even take pictures and upload them using the PlayStation Eye. It's as simple as accessing the Popit, using the L1/R1 buttons to view different menus and placing stickers with the left analog stick, adjusting their position and size before stamping them with X. Media Molecule has various level templates in case you don't feel like starting with a blank canvas, but designing is easy once you go through the included tutorials. Keep in mind, however, that the game has an excessive amount of instructive videos.
Even with the tutorials, designing levels takes a lot of patience and a simple understanding of physics, especially if you intend to make something good. Figuring out how to make switches, trap doors and other complex devices takes lots of thought, thus pushing what should be a game for all ages into the teenage/adult category.
If you crave inspiration, you can always turn to LittleBigPlanet's online community, and it's here where the game really shines. Not only can you upload your designs for others to play, but also vice versa, so what we have is an infinite supply of content. Most of it sucks (sorry, it does), but already, we've seen nods to God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, WipEout and even Super Mario Bros. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of creative types hoping to unlock LittleBigPlanet's full potential, and the promise of new designs means there's always something new to check out. As for all that crap content, you have the option of "hearting" designs you love, so if you come across a stage with tons of hearts, it's probably not crap.
As much as we enjoy playing, Sony's game falls short of perfection, in large part because of imprecise controls. After making a jump, Sackboy slides just a bit, as if he were on ice. This makes platform jumping a pain in the butt because it's too easy falling off a ledge and into a hazard. Although LittleBigPlanet plays like a 2-D game, with Sackboy moving left and right, you can leap between three planes within the 3-D space. It works fine except when the game decides to shift you to another plane, which often kills Sackboy.
Momentum is another issue. Most stages feature spinning wheels and other objects that you must grab onto and then let go at just the right time, the goal to propel Sackboy to another pinwheel or ledge. Again, the physics don't feel right, so it takes more tries than necessary to complete the objective. It's a shame, because aside from these small issues, LittleBigPlanet features extraordinary physics.
It also has some of the best graphics and audio on PlayStation 3. All of the textures, from a sun drenched African landscape to Sackboy's realistic looking burlap skin look amazing, as do the various special effects. Wood looks like wood, feathers blow in the breeze, fire hypnotically dances in the air and spit-shined black boots gleam in the light. Now complimented with a catchy soundtrack (LittleBigPlanet's signature main theme will be in your head for a while), and there's no doubt that Sony and Media Molecule nailed this game's presentation.
In a sense, LittleBigPlanet is only as good as we make it, and with the promise of downloadable content (including a Metal Gear pack, complete with Solid Snake Sackboy), there should always be some new world to explore or sticker to collect. Even if you have no desire to make anything, there will be a never-ending stream of content. Who knows, perhaps seeing other people's designs will inspire you, and if that happens, there's no telling how many doors you'll open. With that, we strongly encourage you to purchase this marvelous game and unleash those creative juices.
Our Final Review: 9/10
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