LittleBigPlanet: the Next Big Thing?
LittleBigPlanet? Oh yes, DO WANT!
I recently was invited to join in on the LittleBigPlanet Beta, so that’s what I’ll be reviewing, not the full game (as it’s not out yet.)
Anyway, I’ve heard lots about LittleBigPlanet on the net, and all these people gushing about how awesome the game looks and the level creators, not to mention the levels people have made. It’s been a reviewers darling, even though it hasn’t really picked up steam with the mainstream yet.
I surely hope it does, because just from the beta, LittleBigPlanet is set to be arguably one of the best games on the PS3, maybe ever. Why? Infinite replay value and virtually limitless potential!
Upon booting the game up, you’re told how to move and control your character, which is pretty simple and intuitive. After that, it takes you to the planet screen, where you can either play the story mode, make your own levels, or check out what levels your friends are making. I recommend you try out the story mode first, as it’ll acclimate you to your controls and what to do.
The game starts out simply enough, you learn what to do, and as you progress, you unlock new features and items for level creation, such as skateboards, wheels, trees, ect. This is, as far as I can tell, what the story mode entails, a platformer with unlockable items for the real game: the level creator!
As for the actual gameplay, I could complain about it’s simplicity, but that’s something I’ve wanted in a game for a very long time….simple, effective gameplay. The game does in fact play simply, it’s 2D, but also 3D in a way, in that the three layers interact with each other, even though you generally play in 2D (and can effectively make all your levels 2D.) you can run, jump, grab, activate switches, you name it.
Once you’ve played a few levels, the game will scoot you over to the level-create feature, where it continues to give you tutorials on how to create platforms, how to make things move, give enemies brains, you name it! It’s fairly complicated, but also painfully simple, depending on how indepth you want to go.
If such an award still existed, this game would earn the “easiest to learn, toughest to master’ award, as it can be as simple or as challenging as you want it to be.
Anyway, something I noticed was that when there’s a tutorial or explanation scene, there’s this wonderful English gentleman explaining everything, and the humour and heart displayed in these scenes is memorable, to say the least. This continues right into the tutorials in the level builder. It’s really quite charming!
So onto the main draw of the game: The Level builder, which I, sadly, am still an amateur at.
Well, the levels I made were strikingly simple, but incorporated some awesome platforming elements. I purposely made it simple as my first level, and I published it, then went to see some of the levels others have made…and you know something? I learned that the gamers imagination has NO limits! My god, some of the things I saw were not only imaginative, but incorporated things I didn’t even think of! There was this God of War based level that someone made that not only had fiery death and skulls, but also had switches and chests that actually activated like in the real game!
I only played the beta, which had a measley 4 levels from the story mode, as well as some simple, basic building blocks for level creation, but seeing what you can do with just that, I’d say it’d be worth the full price already! This is going to be a great game, as long as you can avoid the crappy levels that people will inevitably create.