REVIEW - LittleBigPlanet 2 (PS3)

Despite giving the first LittleBigPlanet a rating of 10/10, and declaring one of the best games for the PS3 (as well as suitable for all the family), I was somewhat sceptical of LittleBigPlanet 2 (Media Molecule) as I approached this title for review.  One would think that I would be excited by a sequel to a title that I loved so much, and yet I found myself wary that this new release was anything more than a cash-in.  The previews had shown graphics with little improvement of the (admittedly beautiful) graphics of its predecessor, there seemed to be no major new gameplay features to report, and there was little excuse for a new level pack, as the online community ships out plenty of quality levels every month.

Little Big Surprise

Well I was completely wrong about LittleBigPlanet 2 - it is no mere cash-in, and it certainly does not lack in any originality whatsoever.  Just as the original LittleBigPlanet was one of the best titles on any console of 2008, LittleBigPlanet 2 is set to be one of the best games of 2011, and probably one of the top five games on the PlayStation 3.  Yes, it's that good.

Sack-Thing in his/her many different forms.

If you haven't encountered the LBP series before, LittleBigPlanet 2 is (for the most part) a 2.5D platformer that takes places in the super cutesy LittleBigPlanet - a world of ideas, dreams and fantasies where anything can happen; it's like Disney but sweeter!  You play Sack-Thing - a little cuddly...thing that can be dressed up however you like with various costumes that you will collect on your journey.

That journey is structured around your character's attempts to stop an evil machine (known as "The Negativatron") from destroying Craftworld.  The plot is a lot stronger than in the first game, with some excellent and funny cut scenes scattered around throughout the game.  Consequently the plot moves with a lot more pace, and keeps the player feeling like they are playing through a story, as opposed to a series of connected levels.  Although the cut scenes are very good, and the characters are inherently likeable and memorable, the plot really just serves as a device to take the player from world to world.  Although the single player on its own is not particularly long, the worlds are varied and original; from factories to forests to outer space, and each world has its own character and style of gameplay.  It means that just as the game is beginning to feel repetitive, the world changes and a whole new plethora of gadgets, novelties and scenery appear, making it feel like a whole new game.

Levels are not all platformers, and are packed with mini-games

Hamstertron Attack!

It is this variety that is probably one of the best things about LittleBigPlanet 2. It is not just the different worlds that are varied, but the levels within those worlds are only highly varied, with variety seamlessly integrated into those levels as well.  The player will be happily jumping through a level that feels like a standard platfomer, when suddenly the level will twist into a pinball machine, or a basketball court, or a space-invaders shooter.  It is tempting to list the many different gadgets that the game throws at the player (my favorite was the Hamstertron 2000!), but the game's charm comes from the surprise with which these novelties are introduced to the player, and the seamless, polished way in which it is done, so I won't pack this review with spoilers!

This polished presentation is a theme that runs throughout every aspect of the game.  The game's graphics have not been technically improved over its predecessor, but the better use of backgrounds, color schemes, and the decision by the design team to make the whole game feel much more epic and larger has contributed to a game that is even nicer to look at than the first instalment.  The music however, is much improved over the first LittleBigPlanet and offers a whole selection of stunning musical scores that fit in with the levels and really beef up the atmosphere of the game.  The use of licensed music such as Ferry Corsten's "Rock Your Body Rock" for some of the space shooter levels, and Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven" for a disco cut off in the Renaissance spices up the already excellent score designed for the game.  Wherever one looks in this game, one sees quality, originality and effort.

Little Sackbot companions assist you in your journey.

Even the excellent gameplay from the first game has been tweaked a little bit.  Minor complaints from the first game, such as the brutality of the pseudo lives system has been made a little bit easier, meaning that the player is less likely to hurl their controller across the room when the levels become a lot tougher later on.  The controls can still be a little bit sticky, but the 2.5D, 3 level environments work a lot better, meaning it is a lot easier to keep one's flow as the player is moving around obstacles, and there is a lot less plummeting off ledges because the game had shifted you back a bit when you weren't looking.

LittleBigCatholic?

In the original LittleBigPlanet review, I argued that it was one of the most pro-Catholic games on the market, and while the Catholic elements aren't as clear this time around, it is still a game that does not even come close to troubling Catholic morals.  This instalment chose to emphasise a message of teamwork, with "The Alliance" being less of a Star Wars reference, and more of a group of friends working together as a team in order to defeat the forces of negativity that threaten to destroy their home.  Although the ending is not quite as jaw-dropping as that of its predecessor (which must be in the running for the best video game ending of all time), Stephen Fry's final monologue of how our hopes and dreams are valuable things that can bring beauty and life into the world are messages that any Catholic can support, and one that Catholic parents will want their child to witness.  As with the first game, LittleBigPlanet 2 contains some very dramatic scenes involving destruction of machines and mild peril, so while the game's content is inoffensive, parents of young or very sensitive children may wish to preview certain levels before allowing their children to play.

If the game trips up at all, it is on the question of the length of the single-player.  The single player campaign is fairly short, and an experienced gamer will breeze through it in less than 10 hours; although it is worth noting that the campaign is highly replayable and most gamers will happily play through it a number of time to enjoy the levels and to collect all the goodies scattered around the various levels.  There are also a large number of additional side missions that often require a second player (or even a third and fourth) to play, which can add plenty of hours to the gameplay if a few players find some levels that they enjoy playing.  Yet the single player is not quite a full game on its own.

You guessed it - the rabbit is loads of fun!

Where the game's life expands significantly is the level design and the level design online community.  The game offers a re-envisioned level designer with which to create one's own levels, which can then be shared online.  The designer is easy to use and comes with no less than 50 tutorials from the magnificent Stephen Fry.  The moderation of the online community is very intense, meaning only the very best levels will be available.  This means that that for the player, one does not have to scour through poor levels in order to find the good ones.  Although still in its beginnings, the LittleBigPlanet community is already churning out many excellent levels, and they are easy to access.  The previous title added somewhere in the region of 2.5 million levels via the online community, so there is plenty to choose from!  If the reader is happy to go online and download new levels, they will find a great deal of quality there, and will be playing LittleBigPlanet for a very long time, and this game would therefore be recommended without hesitation.  However, if the reader has no interest whatsoever in doing this, then they may wish to think hard about buying this game at full price, as the single player campaign on its own may prove unsatisfying.

Conclusion


If, like me, you thought that LittleBigPlanet couldn't get any better, you are wrong - it just got a heck of a lot better with LittleBigPlanet 2.  A beautiful expansive world, loveable characters, varied and polished game design, oodles of replay value, and a thoroughly enjoyable soundtrack all contribute to an incredible little title.  The single player is a tad on the short side, yet if one is prepared to experiment with the many levels available on the online community, then this will expand the game enough to make it a title you will want to come back to time and time again.

From a Catholic perspective, LittleBigPlanet 2 gets a big thumbs up, just like its predecessor.  A positive message of teamwork, self-belief and friendship means that this is a game that affirms many Catholic values and is suitable for both Catholic adults and children.  The title contains mild cartoon peril and occasional explosions, and a final boss that some children may find frightening.

The technical rating for this title is 10/10

The Catholic rating for this title is A-I -- general patronage

FEATURE - The PlayStation Vita: Hit Or Miss?

With E3 over, it is time to begin to look at how the videogame landscape has changed, and how the post-E3 landscape looks now.

To go through everything would be too long for one article, so I wanted to carry on with my series of looking at individual consoles and their prospects for success.  In the last feature I wrote a few months ago, I looked at the release of the 3DS and how likely it was that it would succeed when compared to the NGP (which we have now discovered will be called the PlayStation Vita.)

At that point in time, the basis for the Nintendo 3DS looked a little shaky, as did the potential for the NGP/Vita.  The 3DS risked appearing like just another upgrade for the DS with a 3D gimmick tacked on, and also appeared to have very few desirable games in the starting line up.  The PlayStation Vita risked following in the failed footsteps of its predecessor (the PlayStation Portable), being too expensive and fading into the shadows behind the Nintendo handheld.

Since then the Nintendo 3DS has sold well, but the lack of decent games has led many commentators to state that the 3DS could potentially be a big flop for the company, especially with the many complaints about the 3D device that have become louder over the last few months.  Yet at E3, Nintendo announced a new line of titles coming out imminently, many of which are impressive.  Although nothing particularly original, many videogame fans were salivating at the prospects of a new Mario (which uses 3D in a unique way), a new Mario Kart, a new StarFox (that uses the built in cameras for multiplayer), a new Luigi's Mansion and a beautiful looking remake of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - one of the most successful games in history.  The big concern over lack of games for the new console have now been abandoned; the 3DS now has games that we all want.  Additionally, the showcase of these games proved that the 3DS is a significant graphical upgrade from its predecessor, with many of these new titles showing off graphics that wouldn't look out of place on a home console.  The 3DS has therefore dealt with the problems that videogame writers were concerned about, could the PlayStation Vita do the same?

The answer to this is "yes...maybe."  To look at where the PlayStation Vita could fail, we need to look at why the PSP failed.  It is fair to say that the PSP wasn't a flop (I personally love my PSP, as do many others) but it was nowhere near as successful as the DS, which clearly won that round of the handheld war.  I'd put this down to three reasons:

1) Too Expensive
2) Lack of Interest in UMD Movies
3) Lack of Decent Games

In order for the PlayStation Vita to succeed, it would need to address these three issues.  We know that it will be the most powerful handheld on the market, and yes the touchpad at the back is a nice feature, and it looks oh so pretty; but that is irrelevant if it then goes onto make the same mistakes as the PSP.  So will it make the same mistakes, or have Sony learnt?

Well, on the issues of expense, they seem to have taken the message on board.  Sony announced at E3 that when this system is released later this year, the unit will retail at $250 ($299 for the 3G version), which is the same price as the Nintendo 3DS is current retailing at now.  Whether or not Nintendo will try and counter this by slashing the price for Christmas remains to be seen, but selling it at a competitive price indicates Sony's desire to make sure that people don't choose Nintendo's handheld just because it is cheaper.  Although I don't know the specs, it seems likely that the Vita will be more powerful than the 3DS, leading to Sony being able to say "Our handheld is more powerful, and yet it is the same price as the 3DS" which is a pretty good sales pitch.  With rumors initially circulating that the basic Vita could be selling for well over $300, $250 a unit is a solid price.

As for the UMD movies debacle surrounding the PSP, that seems to have been scrapped entirely for the Vita, which is a good thing.  Instead of selling it as a jack of all trades, Sony are focusing on the Vita as a high powered games machine.  Instead of having a "games player/movie viewer/mp3 player in one" we have the more convincing "PS3 in your pocket" that is definitely going to appeal to the gamers a lot more.  It leads into the possibility that Sony will try and sell this as "the handheld for the hardcore" which if successful, could do them very well.

Finally, the games...hmm.  Ok, this one they have fallen down on so far.  Yes, we saw the demos of Uncharted and LittleBigPlanet at E3, and they looked lovely; but so what?  Most people have Uncharted and LittleBigPlanet on their PS3s.  Why would one spend $250 to play it on a smaller screen?  They're nice games, but they won't do on their own.  Maybe I'm being too harsh; the 3DS had a poor launch range as well, but then Nintendo have announced amazing games at this year's E3, meaning that going into this holiday season, Sony are releasing a nice console with no significant games (as yet) while Nintendo now have a nice console with lots of great games.  Maybe Sony are planning to announce more titles nearer release, but it seems strange that they didn't announce them at E3.  Also, if they decide to wait until next year's E3 to announce amazing games, the console's war could already have been lost by then, as consumers swarm towards the 3DS and its range of lovely, unique titles.

So to conclude, we still don't know who is likely to win out in the handheld console war.  I personally prefer the Vita's hardware to the 3DS (I don't really get the whole fuss over 3D) and the price gives them a strong advantage, but it is undeniable that at the moment the 3DS has a clear lead on the issue of games.  If Sony can announce good, unique games (not just PlayStation 3 remakes) then I truly believe that the Vita can come out strong and win this war, but if they don't then they may find themselves in firm second place by this time next year.