Little Big Planet is back and re-tooled to please all fans of the first. While Little Big Planet (1) was tooled to be a platformer with only slight room to move into new genres or expand upon gameplay ideas, Little Big Planet 2 totally changes those capabilities to create basically any 2-plane game you can think of.
Gameplay: 10.0
Unique gameplay concepts - What drives the game, and what is it similar to?
Little Big Planet 2 is a platformer, but ventures into other genres like overhead shooters, action/adventure, or as far as RPGs. It is limited essentially to 2-plane play, but the reason this works is due to the new gadgets they have introduced - namely the controllinator. When building a controllinator device, you can attach it to any object and tell it to move a certain direction, shoot things, explode.. whatever you feel like doing.
As a platformer, it's already one of the best ever created. The developers have a great imagination when it comes to inventing new ways to use/abuse/control scenery around the map, and make mini-games within the game itself. Other new additions to the pool of gadgets are items like the grabinator (allows you to pick up heavy, grabbable objects, or other players, and lift them over your head, and throw them around), the grappling hook and the creatinator (allows you to create any type of object you'd like via a gun strapped to your head). Each campaign level has a unique challenge which is much more diverse than a typical platformer, that would usually pit you against the same or similar enemies over and over with very little unique mechanics as the game progressed.
Like the first Little Big Planet, the entire game was built around the game's map editor. The campaign is made with the same tools as what is available to any player, so you can create whatever you want, and make nearly any kind of map or game you want. The amount of content is endless, and considering connecting to PSN is free, you can't ask for more diverse, free, user-made content.
While exploring the user-made content over the internet you'll come across classic games like Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda and many others, re-created entirely within Little Big Planet 2. I've even made my own basketball court with really fun interactions between players, environment, etc, which often result in epic back-and-forth battles.
There are also ways a user can create their own cut-scenes or even movies in Little Big Planet 2, with actual voice-acting (via a microphone) that can actually be rather impressive. One of the more famous movies done in Little Big Planet 2 is a re-creation of the climactic scene in Back to the Future, where Doc is trying to connect the power lines while Marty races up the street in the Delorean.
While sounding complicated as ever, this game should attract a wide range of players. Some players will love the game because they can get into the nitty-gritty technical aspects of making/programming a map, while others will enjoy picking up a controller, playing the game and/or exploring the community for new and cool stuff.
Presentation: 10.0
Graphical and audio presentation (animation, texturing, overall look & artistic style)
Like the first, this game has an excellent atmosphere, wonderful music, sound effects, graphics, etc. It's very much a clipart-styled game, wherein in-game objects are also artwork or parts of other objects. It lives up to it's name as you feel like a tiny person among a huge world, but it's a living, breathing world on a level that you can enjoy.
Theatrics: 5.0
Story, Dialogue, Cut-Scenes and Artistic Use of Camera
Little Big Planet 2 has a silly story that doesn't make much sense (and how much can you really do with a game like this?), but the way they present the story is entertaining, at least. They are very creative when building scenes and making the entire thing work with in-game effects and mechanics. Still, though, it's nothing impressive and can easily be overlooked.
Controls: 10.0
Ease of Use and Smoothness of Controls
There really aren't any complaints I can make regarding the controls in this game, and pretty much anybody can get a quick explanation and pick it up right away without trouble.
Replay Value: 9.0
Total Gameplay Time versus Expected
Like the first Little Big Planet, it sounds awesome and is awesome for the first little while. But the novelty wears off kind of quickly, even though it is a great game.
Finding good content online can be challenging, and even if you find it, those games will hold your interest for just a little while.
Although, I might be unfairly judging it considering I did play the first one, and this one is similar, although better. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and say that it's a game that has endless possibilities, and somebody could theoretically play it for a really long time and never play the same thing twice. However, take that with a grain of salt because it is a simple game and other things will likely demand more of your attention.
Fun: 9.0
What were the most and least fun parts of the game? Overall, how much fun is the game?
Most of the fun in Little Big Planet, at least in terms of platforming, is the realistic physics (at least compared to other platformers) and ability to play around with many different mechanisms, gadgets and come up with creative ways to play the game. I love creating levels, and try not to get too down because of the lack of players playing them. Any other, bigger game (like a shooter) with this kind of flexibility would be the de facto title within it's genre... perhaps regarded as one of the best games of all-time.
The fact that it's a platformer is probably the reason why it's not the most fun game I've ever played. I've been playing platformers for over 20 years now, and another one, while fun, just doesn't last or have the same appeal as more advanced games nowadays.
My Overall Rating: 9.3
Complexity Level: Diverse and crowd-pleasing. Like I had mentioned, you can be a total newbie or a seasoned vet and get what you want out of this game. It's both simple, yet, at times, unusually complex depending on what you want to accomplish.
Gameplay: 10.0
Unique gameplay concepts - What drives the game, and what is it similar to?
Little Big Planet 2 is a platformer, but ventures into other genres like overhead shooters, action/adventure, or as far as RPGs. It is limited essentially to 2-plane play, but the reason this works is due to the new gadgets they have introduced - namely the controllinator. When building a controllinator device, you can attach it to any object and tell it to move a certain direction, shoot things, explode.. whatever you feel like doing.
As a platformer, it's already one of the best ever created. The developers have a great imagination when it comes to inventing new ways to use/abuse/control scenery around the map, and make mini-games within the game itself. Other new additions to the pool of gadgets are items like the grabinator (allows you to pick up heavy, grabbable objects, or other players, and lift them over your head, and throw them around), the grappling hook and the creatinator (allows you to create any type of object you'd like via a gun strapped to your head). Each campaign level has a unique challenge which is much more diverse than a typical platformer, that would usually pit you against the same or similar enemies over and over with very little unique mechanics as the game progressed.
Like the first Little Big Planet, the entire game was built around the game's map editor. The campaign is made with the same tools as what is available to any player, so you can create whatever you want, and make nearly any kind of map or game you want. The amount of content is endless, and considering connecting to PSN is free, you can't ask for more diverse, free, user-made content.
While exploring the user-made content over the internet you'll come across classic games like Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda and many others, re-created entirely within Little Big Planet 2. I've even made my own basketball court with really fun interactions between players, environment, etc, which often result in epic back-and-forth battles.
There are also ways a user can create their own cut-scenes or even movies in Little Big Planet 2, with actual voice-acting (via a microphone) that can actually be rather impressive. One of the more famous movies done in Little Big Planet 2 is a re-creation of the climactic scene in Back to the Future, where Doc is trying to connect the power lines while Marty races up the street in the Delorean.
While sounding complicated as ever, this game should attract a wide range of players. Some players will love the game because they can get into the nitty-gritty technical aspects of making/programming a map, while others will enjoy picking up a controller, playing the game and/or exploring the community for new and cool stuff.
Presentation: 10.0
Graphical and audio presentation (animation, texturing, overall look & artistic style)
Like the first, this game has an excellent atmosphere, wonderful music, sound effects, graphics, etc. It's very much a clipart-styled game, wherein in-game objects are also artwork or parts of other objects. It lives up to it's name as you feel like a tiny person among a huge world, but it's a living, breathing world on a level that you can enjoy.
Theatrics: 5.0
Story, Dialogue, Cut-Scenes and Artistic Use of Camera
Little Big Planet 2 has a silly story that doesn't make much sense (and how much can you really do with a game like this?), but the way they present the story is entertaining, at least. They are very creative when building scenes and making the entire thing work with in-game effects and mechanics. Still, though, it's nothing impressive and can easily be overlooked.
Controls: 10.0
Ease of Use and Smoothness of Controls
There really aren't any complaints I can make regarding the controls in this game, and pretty much anybody can get a quick explanation and pick it up right away without trouble.
Replay Value: 9.0
Total Gameplay Time versus Expected
Like the first Little Big Planet, it sounds awesome and is awesome for the first little while. But the novelty wears off kind of quickly, even though it is a great game.
Finding good content online can be challenging, and even if you find it, those games will hold your interest for just a little while.
Although, I might be unfairly judging it considering I did play the first one, and this one is similar, although better. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and say that it's a game that has endless possibilities, and somebody could theoretically play it for a really long time and never play the same thing twice. However, take that with a grain of salt because it is a simple game and other things will likely demand more of your attention.
Fun: 9.0
What were the most and least fun parts of the game? Overall, how much fun is the game?
Most of the fun in Little Big Planet, at least in terms of platforming, is the realistic physics (at least compared to other platformers) and ability to play around with many different mechanisms, gadgets and come up with creative ways to play the game. I love creating levels, and try not to get too down because of the lack of players playing them. Any other, bigger game (like a shooter) with this kind of flexibility would be the de facto title within it's genre... perhaps regarded as one of the best games of all-time.
The fact that it's a platformer is probably the reason why it's not the most fun game I've ever played. I've been playing platformers for over 20 years now, and another one, while fun, just doesn't last or have the same appeal as more advanced games nowadays.
My Overall Rating: 9.3
Complexity Level: Diverse and crowd-pleasing. Like I had mentioned, you can be a total newbie or a seasoned vet and get what you want out of this game. It's both simple, yet, at times, unusually complex depending on what you want to accomplish.
No comments:
Post a Comment