The world in your hands
LittleBigPlanet is a revelation. It's fun, quirky, addictive and refreshing, mixing sensibilities and style from both older and newer videogames. And best of all, it does so in a way that's totally personal to you, the player.
On its surface, LBP is a platform adventure. You bound around a glorious array of attractively jumbled environments, collecting items, performing tasks and engaging in challenges involving races, skateboards, rocket packs, giant sports balls, vehicles, swings and more. The diversity of tasks you'll go through across the 20-plus levels is astonishing.
And this is just the multicoloured surface of LBP. Let's start with a look at its central character...
Introducing... Sackboy
Your guide to the world of LittleBigPlanet is the instantly and infinitely loveable Sackboy, who brings you into the charming platformer. In short, Sackboy is you. His appearance (including if you want to make a Sackgirl), dress sense, colour, and even the way he expresses his facial expressions, arms and head - the latter through clever use of motion control - are influenced by you.
Guiding your Sackperson around the environments, which include pirate infested bays, gardens, deserts and castles, is a joy from the start, and having him/her so personalised heightens this enjoyment and makes the multiplayer mode (for up to four players) all the more fun as your unique Sackpeople jump around together, helping and hindering each other. LittleBigPlanet's co-operative and competitive play is a lovely facet of a very large gem, shining through some superb level design and your hilariously customised Sackperson.
It's not an accident that the character you control in this title is such a great representation of yourself - because at its core, LittleBigPlanet is truly your game, in more ways than one.
Play, Create, Share
The ethos of LittleBigPlanet is Play, Create, Share. It's something that rests at the heart of the game and turns you into the star. As well as its platforming action, LBP invites you to make your own levels from scratch. With a massive range of tools available, you can cut, paste, draw, shape, mould, stick, decorate and more, and with all of this create your own LittleBigPlanet adventure.
The genius of this is due to the physics based gameplay of Media Molecule's title - glass, metal, felt, card and other resources all look and act like they would in the real world - sponge bounces like it should, ice is slippery, and so on. It's easily exploitable as well. Using an ingenious Pop-It menu, you have quick and simple access to start building with these materials.
Constructions can be made using of winches, bolts and springs and even buttons can be attached to operate your creation. There are a ton of prefabricated objects in there too, such as cars, and tanks where each player can operate the lights, cannon, movement and turret independently.
It's all about you
It doesn't take long to get into the sheer scope available to you in using LittleBigPlanet's Create mode and soon it's possible to make platform levels in your image, uniquely functional tools (a working calculator level has already been fashioned online), replications of your favourite games whether they're videogame based or not, or whatever you wish, complete with any music you want and even images taken with the PlayStation®Eye camera. LBP becomes an expression of you, in some ways quite literally.
Given that you can then take these creations and share them online with an ever growing and inventive community that rates, comments and plays with your very own brainchild darling, the range of entertainment offered by LBP is endless.
Accessible. Limitless. Fun. LittleBigPlanet demands you play it through a perfect and elegant blend of charm, intuitive design, measured thought, and good old fashioned gameplay which is complimented by High Definition visuals, and mature and modern dynamics to make it feel totally fresh. It encourages play with cheerful style and grace, brimming with the delight of pure amusement.
No matter what age you are or what your experience with videogames is, LittleBigPlanet is large, warm and friendly enough for everyone. So join in. LittleBigPlanet is your paintbrush and easel, the world is your inspiration. Make your mark on the ‘Planet... and share this game's beauty with a smile. |
