Little Big Planet Review

Little Big Planet boasts a "if you can think of it, you can build it" sort of catchphrase that's been attempted before. But, wow, Little Big Planet delivers on that saying.

Gameplay: Little Big Planet is a side-scroller/platformer with a few different levels of depth (as in on the Z-axis) to create a more rich environment and varying gameplay. It features the ability to grab on to certain surfaces, which really expands the possibilities in terms of being flung around, using switches, swinging, etc. But, with as much as there is to do in this game, it's hard to conform this game to simply a "platformer".

The objective of the game is essentially to play it and have fun. Playing the story is both entertaining and rewarding, in the sense that all of the items you collect throughout the story mode can be used in your own custom levels.

This game is all about custom content, though. Upon examination, you can see that every level in the game was created with the same tools they give players, and every in-game level shows who created it, the same as if you explored online and could see levels made by any regular person. The amount of power they give you to create whatever you want is either the same as or greater than what they originally used to create the in-game levels (greater if you purchase some add-ons).

The very interesting part of Little Big Planet isn't as if you were creating a Mario-like platformer, it's that LBP features many mechanical objects like bolts, motors, switches, string, springs, lights, object emitters, rockets and tons of different surfaces (like rubber for tires, sponge for grabbing, etc). Making a bridge is as eloquent as creating the several tiles of the bridge and connecting them with bolts, so they behave the same way a real bridge does. Making a car or a rocket-fueled projectile that you hold on to is probably one of the first things everyone did when they went into the level designer, and then they realized what kind of potential this game had for making crazy contraptions of all sorts.

Presentation: Since literally everything in the game is created by different users, the sort of graphical style you'll see from one level to the next could be completely different. Most of the time it will settle on a sort of clip-art kind of style, that can look childish, but is actually pretty charming. A lot of the in-game levels feature obstacles that both look like something and behave in a unique way.

There's also the ability to trigger certain sounds and music depending on the situation, which really allows for a high level of control when you are wanting to create an atmosphere that fits your gameplay and art style.

Theatrics: The story-telling or dialogue portion of this game is pretty much non-existent. If you're playing Little Big Planet and looking for a great story or a great theatrical experience, you're simply playing the wrong game.

You can, however, add dialogue where needed (as they do in the in-game levels to create a pseudo story) in text only, and add objects and whatnot that can sort of make a story out of nothing, if you really wanted to.

Controls: The controls are very decent in Little Big Planet. They are very simple and straightforward, and work just as advertised. The only oddity that might take a little while to get used to is that sometimes the object collision isn't the greatest ever, so be careful when you're dealing with objects around you and a lot of speed, as you may get crushed or thrown around unexpectedly.

The gravity may also bother some users as it feels rather low. I think that's for the best, though.

Replay Value: Little Big Planet does what very few games do: gives you immense access to a huge variety of online content, allows you to directly download and play and has a reasonably good rating system to sort of classify what's good and what's not. If you enjoy this type of game and enjoy seeing what people can do, as well as encountering new challenges and seeing what other people have created, you could play this game non-stop, forever, and see unique things constantly.

It can be, however, an overly simple game which is why I didn't wind up playing it for very long. This is, again, one of those "try before you buy" kind of games, since it might turn out being one of your favorite games, or you might play it, like it and then get bored of it. But, the online community for this game is vast and is still very active. If you're into platformers whatsoever, you can't miss this game.

My Overall Rating: 9.2