‘Little Big Planet’ Review

Format: PS3
Age Rating: 7+
Developer: Media Molecule
Publisher: Sony
Local Multiplayer: Yes (2-4 players)
Online Multiplayer: Yes (2-4 players)
Genre: Platform/Side-Scrolling/Miscellaneous

Games have moved on massively since the days of pixelated, side-scrolling characters running and jumping across the screen. The PlayStation 3 in particular is capable of operating games with massive maps and incredible graphics due to its cell processor and Blu Ray drive. Yet ironically, one of the most popular and globally highest rated games on the PS3 goes back to the foundations of video games; side scrolling. This is, of course, the one and only, ‘Little Big Planet’.

From the moment you load up the game and hear the wonder that is Stephen Fry telling you all about the magic of the world of sack people while you take your first steps as a sack person, you will instantly be engrossed and itching to play and discover more. LBP gets you hooked right from the outset.

If you’re not already somewhat familiar with the game and how it’s played, allow me to fill you in. As you probably deduced from the previously mentioned, you play what is known as a sack person, a small, dainty character made out of fabric, who runs across the screen collecting score bubbles (to increase your score, surprisingly) and prize bubbles (which contain items and stickers to use in your own levels you can create), trying to reach the end of the level. Amazingly, there are essentially only two buttons you use (excluding the left analogue stick): x and R1, the former for jumping and the latter for grabbing onto objects. Although this initially seems like a potential limitation to the game, this simplicity actually works brilliantly and you never get the feeling that another button would be useful in any way; the two seem more than satisfactory.

Despite the fact that levels are all side-scrolling, LBP does allow you the liberty of moving backwards and forwards between three ‘depths’. This means that things are less linear and that levels can be constructed with more complexity.

This leads me on to the aspect of LBP that attracted so many people: being able to build and publish your own levels. The possibilities are almost endless; think of any level you want to become a reality, and simply build it. Well, I say simply…

It must be said that it does take a fair amount of time to get your head round the technicalities involved in building your own levels. It doesn’t come easy, and you’ll probably create a few levels that no-one seems to like when published online before beginning to make half-decent levels that get decent star ratings (you get a rating out of five stars for each level published online, which changes over time as more people rate your level). However once you take the time to get familiar with creating them, the satisfaction of people rating your levels highly and getting positive feedback on them is more than worth it.

Where LBP really shines is in multiplayer, be it local or online (both of which you can play with up to four people). Few other games are as suited to multiplayer as much as LBP is; it just makes sense to have more than one person playing. Funny moments are certainly not few and far between; there’s something distinctly amusing about the simple image of four little sack people running across the screen, but things get really funny when you’re trying to do something as a team, say, and you continuously fail, plummeting to your doom. Sure, you’ll get annoyed, but this continuous failure of all four players will also probably make you laugh, as strange as that sounds.
While LPB certainly won’t be winning any awards for best graphics, that’s not to say that they’re bad; far from it, in fact. Although not visually spectacular, LBP has exactly the right look to suit its cutesy nature, with bright and beautiful colours available as well as more dark and dingy ones for those more eerie levels. Not groundbreaking, but undoubtedly appropriate.

As for replay-ability…well, LBP scores near-on full marks. With people around the world constantly creating and publishing new levels for you to play, there literally is no end to the game; you’ll always have new levels to try out. That is, as long as you have a connection to the internet, which the majority of people do these days.

However, never fear if you’re still one of the ever-decreasing number of PS3 owners who don’t have a Broadband connection; there are still the levels that the developers have kindly put together available to you and, as I said before, you can always play the game multiplayer locally as opposed to online. You can also still create your own levels, albeit without the ability to show them off to the rest of the world on completion.

There really isn’t a lot more to be said about the wonderful world of ‘Little Big Planet’, apart from…if you own a PlayStation 3, you need this game. Although the side-scrolling does become slightly tedious from time to time, there is simply so much potential enjoyment to be had from it, and it would be a shame to miss out on what is arguably the freshest and most innovative game out there.

Verdict

Graphics: 86%
Gameplay: 94%
Lifespan: 98%

Overall Rating: 96%

Written by David Miles

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