LittleBigPlanet

LittleBigPlanet is a game published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. The game was made by Media Molecule (MM), the game was released in November 2008. Media Molecule is a relatively new company formed by former employees of Lionhead Studios. The founders all worked on the game Rag Doll Kung Fu. LittleBigPlanet can best be described as puzzle platformer.

The storyline is pretty simple and not really that important, it's basically about a collector setting out traps and kidnapping some of the friends Sackboy meets when playing through levels. Your task is to make sure that the Collector doesn't keep everything for himself and let everyone play with the stuff he collects.

The central concept of this game is to be thrown into an empty level with a lot of tools and being able to create your own levels and share them with people, which leads to many great levels being published all across the globe. You have a singleplayer mode which is nothing more than a bunch of levels stringed together by a vague storyline, but that's okay since it's primary function is to show the players examples of what they could do in their levels, by showing certain objects and designs, most of which are collectable in so-called prize-bubbles, giving the player objects to use in their own levels. On top of that, the players have the ability to make their own objects and hand them out in the form of prize-bubbles as well. The game in essence is nothing more than a toolbox handed out to players, and they themselves add a lot of value to this game, you can spend literally years on playing all the levels that are currently online.

As I mentioned before, the singleplayer is nothing more than a bunch of levels stringed together by a vague storyline, and that it's function is to show all these things that can be done. In the levels you play, you can see a lot of great and fun examples. The mini-levels which feature different mini-games are incredibly fun. For example, there's a minigame which challenges you to stay on a bull for as long as you can, whilst the hazards thrown at you are getting bigger and bigger. The singleplayer exists of several regions, all of which are linked to a geographical spot on the map on which they are based on. The singleplayer can become quite challenging, especially when trying to complete certain levels without dying in order to gain more objects, but the game never becomes impossible and it maintains a balance between difficulty and fun.

The graphics in this game are very fitting and the visual style is good. You'll see many materials and patterns being used in this game, such as several types of wood, metal, sponge and many more. There are also backgrounds based on the geographical position on the map(in singleplayer that is, you're able to pick your own backgrounds in the editor), which are greatly detailed and quite large when compared to Sackboy(the character), which gives you the idea that you're a tiny ragdoll facing all kinds of obstacles, a bit like a rat in scientific environment. But it's quite hard judging the game by it's graphics since it's true value comes from user-made levels, which are dependant on the amount of effort, time and skill that were used in the process.

The sound in this game is good, although it can get quite annoying at times, especially the voices. The people at MM decided it would be better to use bullshit voices in order to avoid bouncing of people that have no understanding of the English language(the game also has been localised in many countries, just like in my country). The music in this game is diverse, seeing as that there are a few famous songs in it, such as the Skipping Syrtaki, but it also features less-known songs. Some songs do tend to become repetitive and annoying over time.

The single most important aspect of this game is multiplayer, since it's a goldmine of great levels to play. However, not all of us are so inventive so it might take a few levels before finding a good one, although this has been made easy with the rating system. But the rating system doesn't help with new levels, that's why it might take a few tries. Another great thing about this game is that it features the ability to play with four players at once, both online and offline, both by using four controllers on one console or by connecting with internet, making this game a good party game, which is rare nowadays seeing as most new games don't have offline multiplayer. And with vast amount of levels to choose from you'll probably spent quite some time on this game, both making your own levels and playing other levels made by users. There are quite some amazing levels to be found, since there are quite a few excellent level-designers.

So, to conclude this review, LittleBigPlanet is an excellent game, but it has a few problems. It isn't as appealing to hardcore gamers as it is to casual gamers, who are more drawn to the cuteness factor. Another thing that might keep somebody from buying is that not everyone has a lot of creativity, meaning that they'll get bored of it quite soon. The fact that the game can become quite annoying might be a turn-off. But besides these problems I would certainly give the game a chance, because chances are that you're going to get more value and playing time out of it than most other games, if it's your cup of tea.