LittleBigPlanet Review

Who thought that a 28 year old guy, playing with dolls, building play areas out of cardboard and other materials would not only be perfectly fine, but fun as well?! Of course I am not sitting in a closed room playing with Barbies, I am talking about Little Big Planet for the PS3.

Created by Media Molecule, Little Big Planet is a big step forward in the side scrolling platformer. LBP is Media Molecules first major release, and what a release it is!

You are Sackboy, a small stuffed animal, if you will, that is on an adventure through a world that appears to be completely self-created by using many household items. Everything from the ground you walk on to the baddies, platforms hanging from little ropes, the NPC’s, and even clouds and other inanimate objects, this game has all the cuteness without being to coodie-filled.

The environments that you adventure through are absolutely amazing. The level of detail that is used will have you stopping to just check out the scenery. The kooky characters that you meet up with just add to the entertainment.

So Cute

Multiplayer is not only offered, but necessary if you plan on completing any level at 100% (collecting all collectables, getting high scores). This is great and all, but I am not a fan of feeling like I am being forced to play online to complete a game. The MP is fun to play, but there are some camera issues that can cause you to die, which can be frustrating after a couple of times.

The level creator is very deep. You can not only build entire levels with near endless possibilities, but you can upload your levels so that other people can play them online as well. This problem that I had with it was that every time I wanted to add a new part that I recently unlocked, I was forced to sit through a tutorial on how to use this particular part. Once again, being forced to do something mundane is not what I necessarily enjoy in gaming. I mean, figuring it all out on my own is part of the fun.

The more the better

One thing that I enjoyed the best was the sound and music. The music ties into what region you are playing in and it’s all great! My favorite was the South American music. The sound is just absolutely perfect!

Unfortunately, not everything is perfect. I felt that the story mode was a bit short. You could sit and play through it in about 5-6 hours without hunting all the items down. As I mentioned before, the camera can become very annoying in MP.

Other than these few minute problems, Little Big Planet is a great game for all ages, and should be owned by everyone that owns a PS3. Of course, non-PS3 owners can own it too, but that would not make it as fun to play….

Score: 9.0

-Sean Taylor