Two years and over three million levels later, LittleBigPlanet returns on the Playstation 3 in the form of a cleverly named sequel titled ‘LittleBigPlanet 2’. The focus of LBP has been user generated content, and boy, did players go mental on the packaged level editor or what! Now if you didn’t get the chance to play the first game or experience the huge amount of user-designed levels, you can simply import them into LBP2 to play and edit these levels. That’s right, you can actually edit them, which means that you can use all the new and nifty tools, items and objects that Media Molecule have added to the new and
improved creation tools. Also in the way of new additions are a fresh single player ‘story’ mode and Playstation Move support. But does LittleBigPlanet 2 have enough content to keep us interested? Read on to find out.
The story mode is where you will start your journey into the world of LBP2. Continuing Sackboy’s (or Sackperson, if you want to be politically correct) journey after the events of LBP and its PSP counterpart, you find yourself in the middle of an intergalactic/dimensional battle for survival. A giant vacuum cleaner appears over Craftworld and starts consuming its inhabitants, including aforementioned Sackboy. Fortunately for Sackboy, an organisation known as ‘The Alliance’, a group that is aimed at defending Craftworld from ‘The Negativitron’, comes to his rescue. A great setup is complemented by a fantastic set of levels that aren’t simply restricted to platforming any more — there’s racing, arcade-style shooting and even RPG-type levels, all of which can also be created using the game’s creation tools. The gameplay has a lot of variety this time around, doing a lot more than simply serving as a tech demo of what can be done with the creation tools. Boss fights break the monotony of platforming, which itself feels a lot more dynamic this time around thanks to special items such as the grappling hook, ‘grabinator’ and ‘creatinator’. Programmable robots called ‘Sackbots’ are an awesome addition as well, aiding Sackboy in platforming and more during his journey. The story mode in LBP2 remains interesting throughout with lots of new, different elements thrown into the mix, but the level of detail on-screen can be quite overwhelming at times — not sure if it will necessarily go down well with the casual audience. Fortunately, you have Stephen Fry’s soothing voice to calm down enraged players on the brink of mental breakdown.
A large portion of your time will be spent in the game’s story mode collecting items that you could use to create and share levels. However, creating anything other than the platforming levels can prove to be quite a task. While the creation tools themselves are robust, the design process can be tiresome thanks to the limitations of the PS3 controller and its analogue sticks. Mouse and keyboard support would have been a welcome addition considering the PS3 supports them for Internet browsing and navigating the XMB. But if you are willing to put up with it, there’s an insane number of things that you can do with the creation tools. LBP2 now features a functional music sequencer that lets you create original music to complement your levels. Created levels can now be ‘linked’ as well, which means that you can create your own games by linking one level to
another — this basically means that once a player finishes a level, he is immediately taken to the next in the sequence. Expanded community features mean that you can now link your PSN ID to a created profile on the lbp.me website, allowing players to search for and queue up levels on the site and play them as soon as their PS3 is switched on and connected to the Playstation Network. There clearly has been a lot of thought put into making LBP2 a community driven game, and it looks like Sony and Media Molecule have got it right.
In terms of visual appeal, there’s a lot more detailing this time around, but the game still looks identical to its predecessor. However there are tons of new objects, effects and animations this time around that add to the overall visual appeal. In-game music really stands out once again, managing to add more atmosphere this time around. Unique level and situation-specific tunes are a great addition to the story mode and can be imitated using the level editor as well.
Verdict 8/10
LittleBigPlanet 2 offers an overwhelming number of varied levels to play in while sporting robust creation tools that are greatly complemented by superb community features, but the platforming feels a little wobbly at times.
— videep@gmail.com