No Small Feat
LittleBigPlanet does the impossible: it lives up to the hype.
Published: October 27, 2008
Right now, though, it looks fantastic. The levels load up fairly quickly, restarting isn't a problem, and the diversity in environments, from the initial garden to frozen peaks to a tranquil Japanese garden all pop with tons of life. When making a level, you can swap out the backgrounds, and they'll be sent whooshing by in the background, stopping suddenly while all the physics-powered stuff like grass and trees take a few extra seconds to settle from all the momentum. Generating new textures with the PlayStation Eye is also a snap (har har), but the difference in detail is obviously means that finer points like hand-written text or wood grain doesn't quite come through. Interestingly enough, though, shooting something as basic as a piece of paper can actually mean an accidental texture, so it's not a complete loss. Still, importing actual images would have enabled enterprising individuals to create... well, just about anything so long as they had a copy of Photoshop or GIMP or something.
The audio is even more restricted, but what's in place here certainly isn't bad. Quite the opposite, in fact; the music in each of the levels borrows heavily from artists in each of the regions that you'll explore, ranging from tribal chants in Africa to a dreamy set of jazz horns in the Metropolis levels to the familiar, poppy tunes from The Go! Team seen in the first trailers of the game. It is, across the board, absolutely fantastic stuff, and absolutely begs to be cranked at times. In fact, I may have to jump back into the game just to hear some of it again, it really is that good.
All of LittleBigPlanet is that good, honestly. The game has its issues, certainly, but it's also the first game of its kind and only the second from Media Molecule. That they were able to get so much done and done right (no doubt with plenty of help from Pappa Sony in some areas) is beyond commendable. The single-player portions of the game are enough to justify the purchase price alone, but when combined with killer online options, a mind-boggling amount of different components to tweak, and reshape as the user sees fit, and then the means to share part or all of these creations with everyone else, there's really no other option than to hold this game up as the example of how this much-vaunted "Game 3.0" concept can actually work.
You did it, Media Molecule. Give yourselves a pat on the back, because above all else, you managed to live up to the biggest expectations I can think of: mine. If you own a PS3, this game should already be purchased (maybe from one of those places that gives out a cool, exclusive in-game character?). If you don't have a PS3 yet, this is unequivocally the reason to pick one up this year. You won't find an game with more depth, lasting appeal (or initial appeal for that matter) and genuine charm on the level of LittleBigPlanet anywhere else. Go get a copy. Now.
