Review: LittleBigPlanet 2

The easiest thing to say about LittleBigPlanet 2 is that it definitely has a little something for every single type of gamer out there. With ingenious, innovative platforming that Mario himself would give a nod to (and could even learn from!), LittleBigPlanet 2 truly continues to break that fourth wall and bring something shiny and new to all PS3 owners.

What I’ve learned from LBP is you don’t HAVE to be creative to enjoy it. This was something I pegged the series with before I really ever dove into it. I don’t like to create my own maps or levels in any game. In fact, I hate it. And even though so many people willl tell you that “creating is where LBP shines” – I’m here to tell you that it’s fun for us non-creators, also.

The story mode is fantastic. The story is a bunch of garble that I only forced myself to pay attention to so I could mention it in the review. Some giant beast called the Negativitron is trying to destroy Craftworld, something something. That’s all you get. The story is just a mere distraction from the most fun platforming experience I’ve had on the PS3.

Sackboy (or Sackthing as referred to for gender neutrality) runs, Sackboy jumps, grabinates (using the grabinator, of course) onto swinging yoyos, shoots cakes from the cakeinator (we really need to get on this invention, CES 2012, please), races in ratmobiles, flies on bees, makes the adorable sackbot A.I. both love him and cower in fear, and plenty more. The levels are just so varied and you’re constantly on edge, unable to turn off your game just wanting to know what’s coming next from the creatives at Media Molecule. Unfortunately, there are only around 30 levels before the main story comes to an end; it felt pretty short.

Playing alone is still entertaining, but it’s just built for fun when playing with a friend. I played through the majority of the story doing two-player couch co-op, some of the levels I played by myself, and a few I joined in with some random users online. Whenever you start up a level, if other users online are in that level a prompt will come up asking if you’d like to join other users for that same level or continue alone. I saw hundreds and hundreds (even thousands) of people on each and every level at all hours of the day, but of course it’s still launch week.

One of the few issues with the multiplayer on occasion is the camera. When the two of you stray too far from one another, or if one player activates some kind of portal that takes them far from the other player(s), the camera pans out in an attempt to fit all players on the screen, but then just kills off whoever was left behind and they can’t return until the next checkpoint. This is a frequent occurrence, so work hard to stay tit for tat together –it’s not a race! (Except the race levels…)

I haven’t even gotten to the Community feature yet, but I think my favorite thing about LBP2 is the newly-included versus levels. There are probably around 10 versus mode levels: basketball, mind control puzzles, racing, pool, and even an arcade-y shooter. They’re SO addictive, fun, and competitive. There are a lot of co-op “versus” levels as well, which is even better because there are prizes to be had. And boy is there a lot of prizes in LittleBigPlanet. Luckily, any stickers or decorations you acquired in the first LBP will carry over into the new game.

One major issue that hasn’t really been improved much is the load times. They’re lengthy, even if you’re playing offline. The Community downloads I understand a bit more, because you have to download the actual level before diving in, but the story mode levels could definitely have stood to read and load much quicker than they do. This might be the selfish instantaneously desire in me and most of us, but I wish the servers were quicker for playing Community levels as well. Also, sometimes when I’d load in a user-created level, I’d be in level already and it’d start – but any other Sacks in my party would still be loading. This was a pain in the butt for levels that were timed.

The Community features are very organized. You can easily sift through user-generated levels by the latest uploads, by Media Molecule picks, or “Cool” (popular) levels. There’s also a nifty text search feature that will search through any levels on LBP2 – or LBP1! All the levels created by users in the first game are accessible to new players of LBP2, which is fantastic. There’s anything from Assassin’s Creed or Tron reboots (I am blown away by what people are able to create), or some users recreate musical tracks – just try searching Lady Gaga and you’ll see what I mean. After you play a user-created level, you can rate it with a Yay or a Nay face of your Sackthing, leave a review if you like, or favorite the level so you can revisit and play it again later. One thing I wish were included would be the ability to find and add players recently played with, but once you stop playing together, if you don’t remember their PSN ID, they more or less are untraceable.

The Create a level feature is what most people believe, like I mentioned earlier, will bring this game to life, but that’s kind of why I wanted to review this game. To play and find out if that’s the only way to enjoy it – and it’s most definitely not true. The level designing feature has a very steep learning curve to create a work of art that’s actually fun to play, even if there are 52 massive tutorials to point you in the right direction. I toyed with it briefly, and it’s most definitely not for me, but just makes me respect the work of the Community levels I’ve been jumping into like crazy all the more.

Even though I’m not a creator… I am very much a fan of character customization. I had a field day changing my Sackgirl after collecting a flock of new sack materials and accessories every other level. In the end though, I think I ended up sticking to my favorite design I like to call my Lady Gaga Sackgirl (above). That crazy headpiece and skin material actually changes color, too.

LittleBigPlanet 2 definitely is fun for all walks of gamers. I got friends playing this that would have never thought twice they’d play this game, and had them having a blast, addicted and all. The story mode is so much fun, even if isn’t a long-lasting experience. The levels are replayable to go back and hunt down any stickers you missed to achieve 100% if you’re a completionist, and there will always be tons of new and interesting user-created levels every single day. LBP has a very strong and thriving community, so if you’re looking for a game that’ll last you a bit, and that you can pop in randomly any time you want in the future and have it still be fresh – LittleBigPlanet 2 is a great fix.

LittleBigPlanet 2
Playstation 3
	Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Developer: Media Molecule Genre: Platformer Release Date: January 18, 2011 MSRP: $59.99 ESRB Rating: E for Everyone