LittleBigPlanet

—Review Score: 9/10—

LittleBigPlanet is an unexpected hit, to be honest. The game studio who designed it, Media Molecule, is a small independent game studio. The game was originally intended to be PSN Store Download game. However, in an unexpected turn of event (a rather good one, that is) LittleBigPlanet started to get a publication as one of PlayStation 3 smashing hit game.

The core of the game itself is an action platformer. However, LittleBigPlanet is daring in the concept of relying on user-generated content. The game provides users with powerful level creator to make levels of the game and then share it with the community. This idea works greatly, especially with the nature of the game which requires a lot of multiplayer activity. The player can just hop in to another player’s game session seamlessly. With a lot of multiplayer-only accessible areas, it’s never tiring to find another game session and jump right in.

Storyline of the game is pretty short, but with a lot of replayablilty like collecting items previously inaccessible and finding other player to access multiplayer-only areas. And with so much support of the community, there is a lot of great user-created levels online. Being a platformer at heart, LittleBigPlanet utilizes great physics engine. Various materials in each level have their own properties and each movement of sackperson (your character in the game) creates a proper momentum. The latter creates some adjustment needed with the controls in the game, but once you get the hang of it, moving around LittleBigPlanet levels will be a breeze. However, there’s a slight problem in the gameplay. The “lane” design of the levels somehow make the level hard to navigate. But other than that, LittleBigPlanet is a very great action platformer.

Visually, LittleBigPlanet dazzles with its cute yet lovable character design. The characters (sackpersons) are dolls made from various fabric materials. These dolls are customizable with various cute accessories and doll features. Not to mention that you can change the expression of the sackpersons, from sad to happy and from shrewd to angry. The sound quality is mediocre at best, really depends on what level are you in… The background music are great on some of the levels, but the sound effects sometimes are not that fitting.

All in all, LittleBigPlanet is a great game with a lot of fun to play, especially if you play it with friends. A combination of fine gameplay basics and innovative way of relying on user-generated contents make LittleBigPlanet stand out compared to other games.

(Picture Credit: LittleBigPlanet Official US Site)