I'm definitely getting this game!
Trailers:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=KW1mC6prhDE - Japenese trailer
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=dekooiuC5J0&feature=related - E3 footage
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=MaQPyl0WXFg - Content creation (MUST SEE!)
----------------------------------------
LittleBigPlanet UK Review
Media Molecule in the greatest rags to riches story ever told.
UK, October 14, 2008 - Planet Earth. Or as the rest of the ominverse call it, The Orb of Dreams; the occupants of which spend so much time asleep and dreaming, their vast imaginations humming away, charged with creative energy. Where does it all go? Up through a cerebral umbilical chord where it collects and melds with all the other dreamers' energy. And something wonderful happens. It forms a world, an ethereal dreamscape of adventure and possibility. An abstract plane of beautiful wonderment, just waiting to be explored. And you can go there now...
And so begins LittleBigPlanet. It's an opening than perfectly encapsulates Media Molecule's vision of chaos, creativity and community; way more so than any bemused preview or developer insight ever could. As Stephen Fry's perfectly intoned whimsy builds, it's hard not to fall instantly for the game's charms. It's affectionate, fantastical and utterly irresistible -- if you ever wanted a hug from a videogame, now's your chance.
On the surface, LittleBigPlanet's a game of mismatched, madcap conceits -- yet, as haphazardly stacked as the whole thing seems, underneath it's all so deftly integrated that it somehow manages to stay aloft. Part community network, part creation tool, it's all held together by its central platform premise. However, while other recent side-scrollers revel in regurgatitive nostalgia, Media Molecule has exploited the genre's straightforward mechanics to introduce its own innovations, creating a game that's immediately accessible, if initially misleading.
At the very core of LittleBigPlanet is its amazingly robust physics engine -- a concept so deeply embedded within the game's various elements that its importance is easy to overlook at first. For a generation raised on pixel-perfect platform action, LittleBigPlanet's free-wheeling lack of precision is quite a shock to the system. Jumps are wide and loose, platforms slide and flip with reckless abandon and ropes skip and twist with disarming unpredictability. At first it's jarring but, as you delve deeper into LittleBigPlanet, its fluid, organic approach becomes more appreciable, accentuating the hilarious chaos that runs throughout the game.
Still, LittleBigPlanet undoubtedly borrows plenty of design cues from the platform genre. From its succession of themed levels, covering virtually all traditional platforming tropes, to its mini-game challenges and boss fights, it's all reassuringly familiar. That's not to make light of the sheer creativity on display across LittleBigPlanet's pre-built worlds -- levels are constantly inventive, surprising and delightfully madcap. For the most part too, Media Molecule has wisely shifted its focus away from linear, precision-based obstacles, downplaying the importance of skill and opening up levels to bring experimentation, exploration and co-operation to the forefront.
Surprisingly though, cooperative play perhaps isn't as significant a focus as you might expect. While there's the occasional nod to objective-based co-op, with certain levels featuring puzzles requiring a specific number of players to complete, it's an underutilised element of the game and rewards are generally slight. LittleBigPlanet's multiplayer appeal lies in the community experience itself, relying heavily on the game's innately hilarious mayhem as players thrust, dance, collect, accessorise or ricochet to their goal. Despite a host of additional competitive challenges though, multiplayer is perhaps too reliant on its ultimately shallow, superficial elements to be a lasting proposition in its current state. It's also not the totally inclusive option it wants to be either -- for all LittleBigPlanet's charms, it's still a game in the purest sense, lacking the kind of broad appeal that made the likes of SingStar and Guitar Hero breakout favourites.
There are other issues, too. It's a rare occurrence but LittleBigPlanet's loose controls can't always keep up with occasional examples of overzealous level design, precision-dependant segments utterly at odds with the game's physics engine. Additionally, with three planes of depth on the side-scrolling screen, the game does a mostly excellent job of figuring out where you should end up next. However, it's not perfect and the somewhat imprecise manual controls frustrate as you inadvertently bound to your doom. That frustration is further compounded by the often unpredictable nature of the world, particularly alongside the game's unusual checkpoint system. Re-tries are extremely limited at each checkpoint gate and, when rare difficulty spikes arise, one too many missteps can catapult you right back to the beginning of a level.
It's somewhat at odds with the breezy, carefree and otherwise accessible presentation and can make for a surprisingly punishing experience. In other words, for all its pastel hues and inarguable charm, LittleBigPlanet isn't quite the demographic catch-'em-all that Sony might have wanted. In the grand scheme of things though, that's a minor complaint -- particularly when Media Molecule's organic approach feels so irresistibly fresh, fluid and inextricably integrated.
Repeated exploration, for instance, is initially encouraged through character customisation. As you progress, you'll increase your capacity for personalisation, whether through clothing or stickers. Return visits to levels reward with new items, with stickers from later levels used to unlock collectibles in earlier stages. It's not until you dive into the game's level editor though that the true genius of LittleBigPlanet's multi-purpose assets is revealed. Beyond basic character customisation, items you gather can be used to decorate your own stages and, as you're sucked deeper into that aspect of the package, you'll find your kleptomaniac urges growing exponentially.
It might look like an added bonus at first, but the stage builder is integral to the LittleBigPlanet experience. As daunting as its vast expanse of emptiness and bewildering toolset might initially be, it's no less enthralling than the main game. What's most impressive is that, for all the editor's versatility, constructing your own stage is an incredibly straightforward business, largely thanks to the game's comprehensive objective-based tutorial which guides you through the system's intricacies in a concise, logical manner.
Abandoning frustrating programmer-minded contrivances, LittleBigPlanet couples real-world metaphors with real-world physics -- with only minor variable tweaking -- to accomplish every conceivable task. It's an incredibly pragmatic approach that's grounded enough for anyone to understand the basics -- rubber bounces, pistons punch, bolts swivel and wires connect objects that interact together. Pushing the game's overarching emphasis on experimentation even further, LittleBigPlanet's level editor is one giant Meccano set to use and abuse -- and it's rarely frustrating and always entertaining as a result.
If you want proof of its flexibility, just go back to the main game -- as each level is designed solely using the same stage builder at your disposal, there's plenty of incentive to revisit previous haunts. With the game's innards effectively on permanent display, each switch and piston provides an incredibly revealing insight into advanced level creation. True, there are minor niggles associated with construction -- most notably the occasionally cumbersome Pop-It interface -- but they're easily overlooked considering the phenomenal level of accessibility and power on offer.
Based on the beta alone, LittleBigPlanet's community is already embracing its massive user-generated potential, an absolutely riotous degree of imagination and skill already apparent in the game's downloadable content. From Space Invaders remake to discotheque light show, fan content is already hugely diverse, wholly bonkers and utterly, utterly exciting. Obviously, given the time investment required, it's unlikely every player will embrace LittleBigPlanet's creation elements but that doesn't really matter -- as long as there's a dedicated fan base wringing the level editor for all it's worth, the content will come and the game's potential remains limitless for everyone.
Closing Comments
Despite some minor missteps, LittleBigPlanet is an absolute triumph of imagination and creativity. Its core conceits of accessibility and social play make its already ample charms even more endearing, producing a game that's at once familiar and quite unlike anything that's come before. It's a celebration of inspiration and human interaction and a hugely welcome, utterly invigorating experience among usual roster of nihilistic shooters jostling for shelf space this Christmas. It's like Bagpuss and LEGO and nostalgia met at the pub and invited everyone along -- and if the big grins and warm fuzzy feelings around the office are anything to go by every time we turn it on, LittleBigPlanet deserves all the recognition it can get.
----------------------------------------
More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_big_planet
Trailers:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=KW1mC6prhDE - Japenese trailer
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=dekooiuC5J0&feature=related - E3 footage
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=MaQPyl0WXFg - Content creation (MUST SEE!)
----------------------------------------
LittleBigPlanet UK Review
Media Molecule in the greatest rags to riches story ever told.
UK, October 14, 2008 - Planet Earth. Or as the rest of the ominverse call it, The Orb of Dreams; the occupants of which spend so much time asleep and dreaming, their vast imaginations humming away, charged with creative energy. Where does it all go? Up through a cerebral umbilical chord where it collects and melds with all the other dreamers' energy. And something wonderful happens. It forms a world, an ethereal dreamscape of adventure and possibility. An abstract plane of beautiful wonderment, just waiting to be explored. And you can go there now...
And so begins LittleBigPlanet. It's an opening than perfectly encapsulates Media Molecule's vision of chaos, creativity and community; way more so than any bemused preview or developer insight ever could. As Stephen Fry's perfectly intoned whimsy builds, it's hard not to fall instantly for the game's charms. It's affectionate, fantastical and utterly irresistible -- if you ever wanted a hug from a videogame, now's your chance.
On the surface, LittleBigPlanet's a game of mismatched, madcap conceits -- yet, as haphazardly stacked as the whole thing seems, underneath it's all so deftly integrated that it somehow manages to stay aloft. Part community network, part creation tool, it's all held together by its central platform premise. However, while other recent side-scrollers revel in regurgatitive nostalgia, Media Molecule has exploited the genre's straightforward mechanics to introduce its own innovations, creating a game that's immediately accessible, if initially misleading.
At the very core of LittleBigPlanet is its amazingly robust physics engine -- a concept so deeply embedded within the game's various elements that its importance is easy to overlook at first. For a generation raised on pixel-perfect platform action, LittleBigPlanet's free-wheeling lack of precision is quite a shock to the system. Jumps are wide and loose, platforms slide and flip with reckless abandon and ropes skip and twist with disarming unpredictability. At first it's jarring but, as you delve deeper into LittleBigPlanet, its fluid, organic approach becomes more appreciable, accentuating the hilarious chaos that runs throughout the game.
Still, LittleBigPlanet undoubtedly borrows plenty of design cues from the platform genre. From its succession of themed levels, covering virtually all traditional platforming tropes, to its mini-game challenges and boss fights, it's all reassuringly familiar. That's not to make light of the sheer creativity on display across LittleBigPlanet's pre-built worlds -- levels are constantly inventive, surprising and delightfully madcap. For the most part too, Media Molecule has wisely shifted its focus away from linear, precision-based obstacles, downplaying the importance of skill and opening up levels to bring experimentation, exploration and co-operation to the forefront.
Surprisingly though, cooperative play perhaps isn't as significant a focus as you might expect. While there's the occasional nod to objective-based co-op, with certain levels featuring puzzles requiring a specific number of players to complete, it's an underutilised element of the game and rewards are generally slight. LittleBigPlanet's multiplayer appeal lies in the community experience itself, relying heavily on the game's innately hilarious mayhem as players thrust, dance, collect, accessorise or ricochet to their goal. Despite a host of additional competitive challenges though, multiplayer is perhaps too reliant on its ultimately shallow, superficial elements to be a lasting proposition in its current state. It's also not the totally inclusive option it wants to be either -- for all LittleBigPlanet's charms, it's still a game in the purest sense, lacking the kind of broad appeal that made the likes of SingStar and Guitar Hero breakout favourites.
There are other issues, too. It's a rare occurrence but LittleBigPlanet's loose controls can't always keep up with occasional examples of overzealous level design, precision-dependant segments utterly at odds with the game's physics engine. Additionally, with three planes of depth on the side-scrolling screen, the game does a mostly excellent job of figuring out where you should end up next. However, it's not perfect and the somewhat imprecise manual controls frustrate as you inadvertently bound to your doom. That frustration is further compounded by the often unpredictable nature of the world, particularly alongside the game's unusual checkpoint system. Re-tries are extremely limited at each checkpoint gate and, when rare difficulty spikes arise, one too many missteps can catapult you right back to the beginning of a level.
It's somewhat at odds with the breezy, carefree and otherwise accessible presentation and can make for a surprisingly punishing experience. In other words, for all its pastel hues and inarguable charm, LittleBigPlanet isn't quite the demographic catch-'em-all that Sony might have wanted. In the grand scheme of things though, that's a minor complaint -- particularly when Media Molecule's organic approach feels so irresistibly fresh, fluid and inextricably integrated.
Repeated exploration, for instance, is initially encouraged through character customisation. As you progress, you'll increase your capacity for personalisation, whether through clothing or stickers. Return visits to levels reward with new items, with stickers from later levels used to unlock collectibles in earlier stages. It's not until you dive into the game's level editor though that the true genius of LittleBigPlanet's multi-purpose assets is revealed. Beyond basic character customisation, items you gather can be used to decorate your own stages and, as you're sucked deeper into that aspect of the package, you'll find your kleptomaniac urges growing exponentially.
It might look like an added bonus at first, but the stage builder is integral to the LittleBigPlanet experience. As daunting as its vast expanse of emptiness and bewildering toolset might initially be, it's no less enthralling than the main game. What's most impressive is that, for all the editor's versatility, constructing your own stage is an incredibly straightforward business, largely thanks to the game's comprehensive objective-based tutorial which guides you through the system's intricacies in a concise, logical manner.
Abandoning frustrating programmer-minded contrivances, LittleBigPlanet couples real-world metaphors with real-world physics -- with only minor variable tweaking -- to accomplish every conceivable task. It's an incredibly pragmatic approach that's grounded enough for anyone to understand the basics -- rubber bounces, pistons punch, bolts swivel and wires connect objects that interact together. Pushing the game's overarching emphasis on experimentation even further, LittleBigPlanet's level editor is one giant Meccano set to use and abuse -- and it's rarely frustrating and always entertaining as a result.
If you want proof of its flexibility, just go back to the main game -- as each level is designed solely using the same stage builder at your disposal, there's plenty of incentive to revisit previous haunts. With the game's innards effectively on permanent display, each switch and piston provides an incredibly revealing insight into advanced level creation. True, there are minor niggles associated with construction -- most notably the occasionally cumbersome Pop-It interface -- but they're easily overlooked considering the phenomenal level of accessibility and power on offer.
Based on the beta alone, LittleBigPlanet's community is already embracing its massive user-generated potential, an absolutely riotous degree of imagination and skill already apparent in the game's downloadable content. From Space Invaders remake to discotheque light show, fan content is already hugely diverse, wholly bonkers and utterly, utterly exciting. Obviously, given the time investment required, it's unlikely every player will embrace LittleBigPlanet's creation elements but that doesn't really matter -- as long as there's a dedicated fan base wringing the level editor for all it's worth, the content will come and the game's potential remains limitless for everyone.
Closing Comments
Despite some minor missteps, LittleBigPlanet is an absolute triumph of imagination and creativity. Its core conceits of accessibility and social play make its already ample charms even more endearing, producing a game that's at once familiar and quite unlike anything that's come before. It's a celebration of inspiration and human interaction and a hugely welcome, utterly invigorating experience among usual roster of nihilistic shooters jostling for shelf space this Christmas. It's like Bagpuss and LEGO and nostalgia met at the pub and invited everyone along -- and if the big grins and warm fuzzy feelings around the office are anything to go by every time we turn it on, LittleBigPlanet deserves all the recognition it can get.
----------------------------------------
More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_big_planet
Buy on AliExpress.com
