	LittleBigPlanet
	Developer: Media Molecule Publisher: Sony Entertainment Europe Release Date: Out Now Players: 1-2	Words By:
LittleBigPlanet is a lot like Barack Obama. No, really! Don’t believe me? Let’s consider the evidence: • Barack Obama was recently elected US president to an expectant nation. • Little Big Planet was recently released on PS3 to an expectant public. • Barack Obama has the hopes of an entire nation resting on his shoulders. • Little Big Planet has the hopes of an entire corporation resting on its shoulders. • Barack Obama has wowed the public with his proposed policies. • LBP has wowed the public with its beta. • Barack Obama is the 21st century mascot of a new generation of Americans. • LBP’s Sackboy is the 21st century mascot of a new generation of PlayStation owner. See, it’s almost like they were separated at birth. Time will tell if Obama lives up to the hype, but having spent time in the company of LBP, it’s my duty to tell you that the game unfortunately falls short of the hoped-for greatness. In many ways, LBP was never going to live up to expectations. Held aloft by Sony from incredibly early in its development as ‘something special’, anticipation had reached fever pitch through in-depth previews and one of the most popular beta tests in recent memory. Sony should actually be applauded for the way in which it has generated interest in Media Molecule’s title, because it’s actually a very difficult game to describe or classify, but I’ll try my best. The game starts with an impressive introduction narrated by Stephen Fry. He explains in his own inimitable way how everyone’s daydreams drift upwards to create little planets of ideas. You’re then transported to a basic cardboard box with windows, that overlooks these planets. From here you’ll gain access to all aspects of the game. There are three planets containing the single player mode, game options and finally the level creation mode of which we’ll cover later. At face value, LBP is a next-generation 2D platformer with an incredibly inventive and imaginative selection of levels. Forget your standard fire, ice and underwater levels; here you’re presented with locations like African savannah, American ghetto and Mexican wedding. You negotiate your way around by using your very own Sackboy. Sackboy is exactly as he sounds when you start the game, a basic character made of cloth. Uniquely though, you get to collect a variety of costumes and disguises as you progress until you have literally thousands of design combinations at your disposal. At the start of each new zone, you’re usually given a complete outfit to help you blend in. So for Africa you get a natty lion outfit, a pimp outfit for the ghetto (complete with afro), and a sombrero and handlebar moustache for Mexico. Not only is Sackboy fully customizable but he’s also fully poseable. Use the direction buttons to create smiles and frowns or tip the Sixaxis to make him look up and down. He’ll even wave at you, very Obama-like. Each level is beautifully constructed from the type of materials you might expect to find knocking around the stationary cupboard. Textures are incredibly rich and when viewed through an HD TV almost tangible. Aligned with a great physics engine, the game really comes alive and looks spectacular. I’d go as far and say that visually this is the PS3’s current tour-de-force. Levels are fairly generic left to right affairs with a couple of major exceptions. Firstly developers Media Molecule decided to build their levels in three ‘planes’. This means your Sackboy can move further back or forward into the screen. This initially feels counter-intuitive and many a life will be lost trying to shift planes only to find Sackboy impaled on spikes or burned to a crisp. Eventually though it becomes clear this design decision was a brave idea. Having three planes adds a level of complexity to the single-player mode and encourages you to think about the way you approach each scenario. Many of the hidden areas (and there are hundreds) can only be found if you think laterally about your position in the screen. The use of physics is another way this platformer helps distinguish itself from the pack. Sackboy can pull and push almost every object found in the game world, and he’ll usually need to if he’s to overcome many of the obstacles blocking his path. Two player co-op is also possible at any time, and a great deal of fun can be had tackling the levels with a friend in tow. A mine-cart level is particularly memorable, requiring you to pull the cart along the track and then jump in as it starts its descent downwards. Initially you enjoy the speed and the fact that your sackboy is struggling to sit still (with an enormous grin on his face), that is until you glimpse the end of the track leading into a fiery pit. With split-second precision you leap out of the cart and grab a handily placed rope before swinging and landing in another cart to continue your journey... There are many moments like this to be found in the single player mode. You’re always given the impressions that an incredible amount of care and attention has been given to the look, design and flow of the levels. That’s not to say you’ll breeze through the single player mode without a care. The levels are hugely challenging with a stiff learning curve that’ll test the most hardened Mario fan. Sometimes however you feel as though the challenge is a little unfair, mainly because Sackboy just isn’t as responsive as you’d like. Jumping especially feels too spongy when you’re asked to make pixel-perfect leaps. So LBP is a good solid 2D platformer with a few twists. But that’s not why you’ll buy it, or indeed why Sony has been proclaiming it as the Second-coming for videogames. Little Big Planet is also a game creation tool. As you make your way through the single player mode, you start to collect all manner of objects, sounds and tools that will eventually let you design and build your own levels. Gradually you begin to realize that Media Molecule has built their own levels using exactly the same tools and materials you’re busy collecting. The further you progress through the campaign mode, the more objects become available. Everything from stickers, pulleys, costumes, raw materials, rockets, dynamite and the best looking trees I’ve ever seen in a videogame. Many are easily attainable, but Media Molecule really wants you to work hard to gather them all, and I found this approach much too restrictive. After all, it’s my game, why shouldn’t I be able to start building great levels from the first time I pop the disk in my PS3? The significant challenge of the campaign also means that some might never unlock the full catalogue of tools, and I find this an odd design decision. But let’s for the sake of the review assume you’ve completed the campaign mode and unlocked 100% of the objects. A quick trip to your own little big planet is the order of the day and there you’ll once again be greeted by Stephen Fry who talks you through an ultra comprehensive tutorial on how to build your own levels. Initially this is helpful in getting you started, but after the fourth tutorial my patience began wearing thin and the task ahead in building my own game seemed a little more daunting than I’d imagined. You use Sackboy to build your levels via a ‘Pop-it’ menu that houses all the objects you’ve gathered. You then need to pick your background and off you go. Initially levels are created using a cut and paste system in an environment that totally lacks gravity. You can grow, shrink and rotate every object to your heart’s desire and then plaster them in a variety of colourful stickers. Once you’ve manoeuvred your basic level into place you’ll need to factor in the gears, pulleys and swings that make up the challenging aspects. Once everything is in place (and we’re probably talking hours here) you’ll need to switch on the gravity to see if everything works. Trust me when I say that it frequently doesn’t… And this is my biggest issue with the game. Building great looking, challenging levels is time consuming, often difficult and (whisper it) a little boring. There’s no doubting that Media Molecule have given us access to all the toys, but it’s hard to believe that many will have the commitment to see it through. Certainly not the type of gamer who wants everything laid on a plate for them. Those who do build levels can upload them for public use. Theoretically, this should ensure the game never grows old, furnishing the LBP community with a constant stream of new levels to try. Once you’ve played one, you’re asked to give feedback in the form of hearts and pick a word that best describes what you’ve just experienced. It’s obviously early days, but of the thousand of levels available to download, far too many have low scores and are described as ‘frustrating, short, and confusing’. I suspect this is a trend set to continue, with players desperately seeking out a handful of well designed levels from those dedicated enough to invest the necessary hours. So how best to sum up this title? Well it’s good looking, has a fresh approach, but is unlikely to convince non-believers it’s something worth having. Just like the President elect then…

Best Bits
- It looks incredible
- Sackboy is fully customisable
- Stephen Fry’s narration
- Some genius level design
- Playing a good level designed by another player
- Two player co-op is fun

Worst Bits
- Campaign mode can be frustrating
- It’ll take a lot of time to collect all the available tools
- Creating levels is time consuming
- Not enough quality from the community yet
- Death by tutorial!
- Not very accessible to kids or the more casual gamers out there


by: Blakey