Toronto Thumbs

REVIEW
LittleBigPlanet

Play. Create. Share. A simple mantra the developer Media Molecule has preached to the gaming community during the many months leading up to the release of the blockbuster PS3 release. As with all games that get the hype and attention that games like LittleBigPlanet did, nobody could be sure that the game would meet the expectations set. I’m here to let you know that without a doubt Sackboy and company have not only managed to shatter all expectations, but managed to raise the bar by which future games in the platforming genre will be judged by.

A platformer at heart, LittleBigPlanet begins with a great introduction of the game by way of the opening credits which cover the basic premise and controls. From there, players are eased into the story mode which consists of different themed environments broken up into 4 levels each. I immediately noticed that although the levels of these themed areas were similar in look and feel, they were very very different in design, each one building upon the ideas of the last and offering a completely unique experience. This fact was the second of many “wow” moments I’ve had since putting the disc into my console.

The first of these pleasingly surprising moments, as you are no doubt wondering, was when I first took in how beautiful everything in LittleBigPlanet looks. The best way to get across just how amazing the visuals are, is to take the words of our lovable Editor-in-Chief Shaun: textures look so real that it looks like stop motion technology was used to create these beautiful visuals. These lifelike components sit in beautiful contrast to the bright, colourful, and surreal world of LittleBigPlanet.

These same descriptors could be used to describe the sounds found on each of these levels. Sounds effects are top-notch, but I really want to focus on just how great the soundtrack is. Music blends seamlessly from track to track throughout the levels, each song fitting perfectly with whatever my little Sackperson was up to on-screen. During one of the earlier levels, the LittleBigPlanet “theme” that was used in the trailers kicked in while I was swinging from windmill to windmill, and for some reason managed to put a ridiculous smile on my face. This is an often occurrence, just one of the many times that everything comes together so perfectly that you just can’t help but enjoy it way too much.

Controlling the action on screen couldn’t be easier, as only two buttons are used to navigate though the levels. Though the controls may be simple the story mode is by no means easy, offering up a decent challenge to even this hardened veteran of platforming. Your rewards for traversing the many treacherous obstacles set before you come in the form of bubbles containing new costumes, materials, decorations, and stickers to dress either your Sackperson or home base (called a pod) up in. This is where a lot of the addiction comes in for me at least, as the collector personality in me needs to have all the amazing little goodies to be able to show off to the online community.

That online community is also the reason that LittleBigPlanet will still be going strong years from now. Beyond the already excellent story mode, the big draw that will keep players coming back is the user-created content that will continue to be churned out. The developers have essentially given everyone the ability to create and share almost anything that can be imagined using the intuitive but extremely powerful creation tools. These tools are the very same ones that were used to create the story-mode levels, and make it easy to create complex objects and extremely large environments. I am already taken aback by some of the early levels that have surfaced online, and can’t wait to see just how creative members of the community will get.

I mentioned Play. Create. Share. at the beginning of this review, and that is something that LittleBigPlanet not only enables players to do, but it enables players to do so easily that the only limits are the creativity and imagination of the person holding the controller. Come for the extremely enjoyable and unique single-player experience, stay for the limitless amount of community created content. Simply put, LittleBigPlanet is an instant classic, one that should be enjoyed by everyone.

Posted in Awesome, PlayStation 3, Reviews |