LittleBigPlanet 2 Review

By Simon Parkin Published 4 January, 2011

Intelligent design.

Version tested: PlayStation 3

Few games leave no room for a sequel. It makes for poor business and, let's not forget, while the intended destination for most videogame makers is fun, the fuel that gets them there is potential profit. These days, if you want to make money from a blockbuster, the sequel is part of the business plan. But at the beautiful, altruistic core of LittleBigPlanet was the dream of a world that could not only nurture and grow life, but also sustain it. And nearly two years since its debut, this patchwork dimension is still achieving just that.

This simple little platform game and its idea lifted from PC game development – that giving your players the tools to make their own stuff after they've finished with your levels will not only maintain the life of your creation, but will enrich it and increase its value – has succeeded in building a community of amateur game designers. They deliver fresh content on a weekly basis, over three million levels to date. Not all of it is very good or interesting content, but enough of it is worthy of attention to keep LittleBigPlanet a perennially habitable planet.

So why the need for LittleBigPlanet 2, then? If the only type of content that could be generated by makers using the first title had been yet more woolly platformers, then it would make sense to create a spin-off, focusing on different styles of game. But the original game offered just enough flexibility to allow a creative designer to cajole its virtual ropes and pulleys into making a shoot-'em-up, or a giant calculator. On this basis, LittleBigPlanet's original dizzying potential precluded a sequel. No?

The first hour or so spent with that sequel will do little to convince you otherwise. Visually, this sequel maintains its predecessor's crafty, design-savvy aesthetic; as though Hartbeat were remade by Taschen. It's achingly pretty and art magazine-ish, not very much like how videogames usually look at all and all the better for it.

Structurally too, LBP2 is identical to its predecessor. Stephen Fry's warm, reassuring tones narrates the menu screens, which direct you one of three ways: into the six themed worlds that comprise the single-player campaign, towards the workbench where you can start work on your own level, or online, where you can sample those created by others. But before you can do anything else, you must complete the seven main stages that comprise the first world, thereby learning the basics of play.

The platforming mechanics have been left untouched since the previous game – presumably to allow for compatibility with all of the user-created worlds born in the past 24 months. Sackboy still has a jump that lacks the nippy, digital precision of Mario's by some margin, yet can grab and pull certain obstacles for added flexibility, allowing developer Media Molecule to insert the cross-stitcher's equivalent of crate puzzles into the game's levels. Each side-scrolling stage exists on three planes: fore, middle and far, which can be hopped between in order to move behind or in front of obstacles. Jumping between planes is quick and seamless, but, as a feature rarely seen since the SEGA Saturn's Guardian Heroes, it still feels curiously anachronistic.

The level design is never anything short of robust, and, while this is still nowhere near as tight a platform game as Nintendo's strongest output, at its best it's really good. The palette of objects and ideas is richer than in the first game, and you'll encounter a greater range of environmental hazards than before. The palette of tools with which you can interact with the game is also richer, each world you work through pushing more makeshift gadgetry into your paws, from the delicious Sniper Trifle, to a grappling hook, used creatively throughout the campaign to swing and rope climb, to a trio of pilotable mecha-style soft toys, unveiled late in the game. These tools add much-needed diversity to the core stages, which happily improve in quality over the course of the experience on this account.

The weakest aspect to the game remains enemy design. This is a toolkit perfect for building rich, complex, textured levels. But when it comes to creating moving enemies, the DIY tools on offer to designers have seemingly stunted their imaginations. Enemies move like awkward clockwork toys, rarely following Sackboy's movements, instead simply patrolling lone set paths, exposing a weak spot when their back is turned. Few of the end-of-world bosses stick in the mind, their attack patterns rote and unimaginative, repeating the same moves till their weak spot is assaulted. As a result, LBP2's strongest obstacles remain those built into the worlds you navigate, rather than the creatures that patrol them.

On the other hand, the levels in which you are asked to shepherd or lead friendly Sackbot charges are exceptional. With eyes for hearts, these knitted robots follow your Sackboy slavishly around a giant, clanging factory, being whisked into air tubes and thrown around as you desperately try to lead them in the right direction and keep each one alive. The custodian mechanic adds a new flavour to the somewhat simplistic platforming, because the number of Sackbots you manage to save at the level's conclusion increases the rewards in kind. Of course, each of these fresh design ideas has the added benefit of showing you what is possible with the toolkit when you get your hands on it.

And it is only when you finally decide to look at the level-creation side of the package that this sequel begins to justify itself fully. Building a LittleBigPlanet level previously required players to have the inventiveness of Heath Robinson and the graft of the Egyptian slaves that built the pyramids. But for LBP2, the toolset has been expanded and at the same time somehow simplified. The key here is flexibility. The boundaries of game creation have been significantly widened in the sequel, so that creating a side-scrolling shoot-'em-up or a top-down twin-stick shooter, or even building a makeshift musical instrument is less a case of working around the toolset than working with it. For budding game designers, the overhaul is invaluable.

The introduction of the microchip is particularly significant. Now bosses, vehicles, puzzles and machines can be controlled by circuit boards that you resize, add switches and logic to, and then wire up. It uses far less 'thermometer' space (LBP's metaphor for system memory) while simultaneously allowing for far more complex behaviours. Media Molecule claims that the famous Little Big Computer logic can be condensed and shrunk onto a single microchip in LBP2, the significance of which will be directly in step with your own imagination.

LittleBigPlanet 2's first 15 minutes.

The developer's motto for the LBP2 toolkit is "A Handmade Arcade", the attract mode video showing some approximations of popular games such as Geometry Wars that have been created using it. This will no doubt be prophetic as we can expect to see a hundred thousand amateurish knock-offs of PSN and XBLA titles in the months following release. But when the wheat is separated from the chaff, there is little doubt that LBP2's online servers will play host to some extraordinary content.

The hope seems to be that entire small games will be crafted using the toolset, rather than mere curio levels that are good for a single playthrough and little more afterwards. Counter-Strike was created by amateurs using the Half-Life toolkit, and while it seems unlikely that anything as significant or enduring as that will be born from LBP2, there's a better chance than ever that a console game could, through the creativity and industry of its players, sprout something substantial rather than merely distracting.

Even if you have no interest in creating levels yourself, LittleBigPlanet 2 merits its existence, not only because of the potential novelties its users will create with the vastly improved toolset, but also for the stronger, more refined single-player campaign. Strip away the relentless good looks and the generous open-source playpen, and the bare, underlying platformer's shortcomings may hold it back from classic status. But as a package, as a concept, as an unfinished story, LittleBigPlanet 2 is a world apart.

9 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Simon.

About Simon Parkin

Simon Parkin is an author and journalist on video games. A core contributor to Eurogamer since 2005, he is also a critic and columnist on games for The Guardian.

Read more articles from Simon by visiting the Simon Parkin archive page.

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Comments (95) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • efebayor #1 1 year ago

    Cannot wait for this.

  • Peew971 #2 1 year ago

    2011 starting as strongly as 2010 :)

  • Eraysor #3 1 year ago

    Now I just have to wait two and a half weeks to play it. Curse you EG!

  • Hei #4 1 year ago

    I think it was too early for a review

  • Collymilad #5 1 year ago

    Argh I need to get another PS3 (had to sell it :p)
    Edited by Collymilad at 04/01/11 @ 14:07

  • mfnick #6 1 year ago

    "The platforming mechanics have been left untouched since the previous game "

    :(

    The platforming mechanics completely ruined the original for me. I just couldnt get past how crappy Sackboy felt to control. Shame they've not tweaked that at all, although I understand why.

  • muscleblade #7 1 year ago

    "I think it was too early for a review"

    There is never too early for a review only too late.

  • Beano #8 1 year ago

    As a beta tester, I'm surprised this didn't get a perfect 10 from EG based on the improvements made to the core gameplay features, community, etc. But still a great score and can't wait to play the full game :D
    Edited by Beano at 04/01/11 @ 14:12

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #9 1 year ago

    Been on pre-order for over a year and getting platinum on the first was a great feeling!

  • bad09 #10 1 year ago

    I think Mrs bad09 needs a nudge on what her next PS3 game should be.

  • richarddavies #11 1 year ago

    Just noticed the Zavvi advert in the top right corner of the page sellin LBP2 at £54.99!! What's that about?

  • nazzyq #12 1 year ago

    I'm gonna have to agree with mfnick. I found the controls to be sluggish and unresponsive in LBP1, and it's a shame that MM hasn't tweaked them at all. On the plus side, however, you can create your own control scheme, so I strongly believe that some bright community members will come up with more responsive and snappier controls.

  • Antaios #13 1 year ago

    I love the first LBP, I loved the demo of this sequel, but I'm still not sure about whether to get it or not when it releases. I mean, we also have Mass Effect 2 and Dead Space coming to PS3 this month and from what I've seen and heard and played it's a bit more of the same (which isn't a bad thing per se). I mean, there's still so much left to do in the first! I haven't even made a level yet.

  • Afrix #14 1 year ago

    Counter-Strike was created by amateurs using the Half-Life 1 SDK. Counter-Strike: Source is a remake created by Valve Corporation and Hidden Path Entertainment using the source engine which is also the same engine used by Half-Life 2.

  • aidey6 #15 1 year ago

    Will wait until payday for this, I loved the first one even though I didn't get that far into it!!

    too busy playing NFS:HP that autolog where you see friends beating your time and vice versa is too tempting

  • karooo #16 1 year ago

    Great score, good to know MM delivered.

  • jag10 #17 1 year ago

    lol.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQxngCm5BtU

  • chargen #18 1 year ago

    "Open-source" playpen?

  • dadrester #19 1 year ago

    I don't usually get all "this is an outrage"-y, but in this instance, the score is at least 3 points too low! Having been on the beta for a while now I can safely say this is without a doubt *my GOTY if not of the decade (and we have at least another console cycle to go before the end of the decade)!!!!

    10/10

    [edit] ;D
    [edit2] *
    Edited by dadrester at 04/01/11 @ 15:32

  • GitSomE_UK #20 1 year ago

    Ooohh didn't expect to see this review or the score.

    Not sure whether to buy though, as much as I enjoyed the first it all started to get a bit repetitive as I found the innovation of the single player campaign started to fade the more I played it.... or maybe the novelty wore off?

    Still, I love the characters, I love the design maybe I'll wait for it to reduce in price before buying.

  • Dave52 #21 1 year ago

    Still playing LBP1 on a regular basis - it's just great, great fun.

    Can't wait for LBP2..!

  • cianchristopher #22 1 year ago

    Game of the Decade, dadrester?

    While I'm sure it's very good, PC games have been doing all this for the better part of two decades now (as alluded to by Simon in the review re: Counter-Strike).

    So no, your opinion is inaccurate. It's not game of the decade at all (especially since, the decade just started).

  • andywilkie35 #23 1 year ago

    Still not played the first one, had it on the shelf for a while...might have to make it my next game

  • BOFH_UK #24 1 year ago

    "The platforming mechanics have been left untouched since the previous game " - Well that's taken this off my 'buy' list straight away. Loved the idea, look and general execution of the first game but the actual mechanics of the gameplay were so poor compared to most top platform games I lost interest very quickly. The 2.5d stuff and the really flaky switching between layers in particular were real game breakers to me. Shame really.

  • Mkwone #25 1 year ago

    wasn't expecting to see reviews for this yet seeing as the game is still ovedr two weeks away, so that makes a refreshing change.

    Can't wait till get my hands on it as i loved this first one.

    I don't see why people should complain about the score, 9/10 is fantastic, it's not as if they've shot MM's baby.

  • IronGiant #26 1 year ago

    MattDamon should stick to movies as he hasn't got a clue about games ;)

  • r4z0rbl4d3 #27 1 year ago

    You had me at 9/10

  • jonsaan #28 1 year ago

    I can't wait to get stuck into this beauty!

  • billy-beauts #29 1 year ago

    "Structurally too, LBP2 is identical to its predecessor. Stephen Fry's warm, reassuring tones narrates the menu screens"

    I actually hoped they would ditch Stephen Fy for LBP2, he really rubbed me up the wrong way in the first one.

  • Slikz #30 1 year ago

    /Presses up on d-pad three times!

    Can't wait!

  • drumbaby #31 1 year ago

    Only a few days to go and then my oldest son can stop going on at me!

  • JohnnyWashnGo #32 1 year ago

    Good score... had to cancel my pre-order when I remember Dead Space 2 this month which I imagine will have a far more interesting single player story mode. Plus, given that I only played the first game for a short amount of time and have no interest in creating my own stuff with LBP2, I think it would be prudent tol wait until it hits the cheapo section ;)

  • Mkwone #33 1 year ago

    @billy-beauts

    Obviously a bot, it's impossible for a human being not to love stephen fry. ;P

  • grayn #34 1 year ago

    Stoked for this. Who's selling the Collector's Edition?

  • dadrester #35 1 year ago

    While I'm sure it's very good, PC games have been doing all this for the better part of two decades now (as alluded to by Simon in the review re: Counter-Strike).

    I'll remove my tongue from my cheek for a sec, with regards to the score and the start of the decade thing ;)

    Yes it's true that the PC mod scene has been around for years, and even before that there were things like sensible software's "SUECK" or niche titles like "click 'n' play", but there hasn't really been anything that's quite as intentionally accessible or focussed directly on making the creation side of things the star of the show. Especially not as an 'image title' on a console (not my word's, sony's).

    I think it's for these reasons it's such an important game. I've been using unreal editor for a while now and am pretty handy with kismet. It's very versatile, but without at least some code knowledge or support it's pretty difficult to deviate from a certain type of game. It's also a got a pretty steep learning curve and isn't something you could expect a complete amateur to pick up and start using within the space of an hour or two. That's not a criticism of unreal ed (though the lack of documentation is...grrr). It's never supposed to have been designed to be picked up and used like that.

    LBP2's editor and tools on the other hand has been so refined, simplified and well thought out that within a few hours you could conceivably expect someone that's never created any type of game to be getting into the swing of creating something half decent. The mammoth difference the (surprisingly few) new tools added to LBP2 over it's predecessor, makes, is just staggering. It's the ease with which you can create something so vastly different from the LBP single player experience, which still feels part of a coherent universe, and is supremely approachable that really sets it apart from other in game editors.

    hell. as an experiment the other day I set myself an alarm to go off after an hour. The idea was to create some sort of twin stick shooter/moonlander thing from scratch, to see how quickly I could do it. I managed it, though it played crap, but if you can create a whole game in under an hour, then think what you can do with a couple of days of polish and a really good idea.

    re-reading my previous post i actually meant

    12/10

  • slickster #36 1 year ago

    day one buy for me loved the first one. but might be abit bizzy on DC universe to play it straight away. :o)

  • billy-beauts #37 1 year ago

    @Mkwone I just don't think he fits the game. Creating levels is difficult enough, without being patronised at the same time by some know-it-all boffin!
    Edited by billy-beauts at 04/01/11 @ 15:28

  • FogHeart #38 1 year ago

    Well! It seems as far as tweaking the controls Media Molecule were damned if they did and damned if they didn't. Having given level designers the choice of adjusting the control scheme themselves, we'll see plenty of levels that will 'feel' a lot better than anything so far. Just have to be patient.

    I would really like to read about the experience of designing levels using the Move controller, if there's anything about it out there.

  • UncleLou #39 1 year ago

    I absolutely adored the artstyle and the idea of the first one, I just didn't think it was all that much fun to play. It's a game I tried hard to love, but never quite managed. I am actually a little envious of those of you got along better with it than I did.

  • iago71 #40 1 year ago

    Said this before but I'll say it again. I really want to love LBP but alas that is not the case. I just cant get on with the fuzzy control of Mr Sackboy and as such I doubt I'll get the sequel. Having said that I did have a lot of fun faffing about on the first with friends.

    I guess Im too much of a conventional platform person. That's not the entire point of LBP I know but for me I get irritable with the game when the controls do it (IMO) an injustice as a stand alone platformer..... For those of you that love it though .... Enjoy. Congrats MM on the great score. :)

  • DoctorFraud #41 1 year ago

    It has awful controls and rubbish AI. Not a good platformer at all.

    For those not using the create tools its a 5/10.

  • lagoonalight #42 1 year ago

    Oh god, seriously, some of you people whining about the controls have to be xbots without a ps3 or simply people unable to comprehend how to play a game. This isn't yoshi's island. It's really not that complicated to beat the game. If you are going for levels without dying there are certain ones that can be a problem but then again there are those tenfold in other platformers. There is no reason to be acting like a bunch of girls about the floaty controls. They are the controls for this game. Deal with it. Not every game should control exactly like every other game. Seriously, this was the same **** with Sonic 4. DEAL WITH IT.

    Most people are here for the inventive gameplay and the user created content which is a blast to sift through. There are some great levels. Is it worth 60 bucks? Not in my opinion as I don't make levels but then again I don't buy hardly any games for 60 bucks. Is it worth 30. Hell yes. But just because you are not building levels does not make this game a 5/10 good lord. There will be endless stuff to do after a year or so of this being out. The whole dynamic of the creation set has been changed. You WILL find new things to do every month. Wait or get it now but you would be doing a huge disservice to your PS3 IF YOU HAVE ONE to not pick it up at some point. The graphic upgrades are not too few either. Game looks great.

    And no **** about the AI. Go back to your xbox you flipping idiot. This game was and will never be about AI. And you haven't even played this game!
    Edited by lagoonalight at 04/01/11 @ 15:44

  • UncleLou #43 1 year ago

    I am not quite sure where "AI" is a factor in platform games.

  • Widge #44 1 year ago

    Well feel free to take it up in DoctorFraud's "I hate the PS3 because" series here http://gamers.eurogamer.net/user_profile...

  • Vanmunt #45 1 year ago

    I enjoyed reading that, very good review.

  • dadrester #46 1 year ago

    lol, Widge! good spot :D

  • RodHull #47 1 year ago

    If only this had come out before Xmas I wouldn't be aching all over from Kinect related overexertion. Seems odd too, as this to me would have been a strong Xmas seller.

  • HisDudness #48 1 year ago

    Well the AI in Mario Galaxy was genius. The goombas reacted so realistically to my every strategy, no two playthroughs were the same...

  • DoctorFraud #49 1 year ago

    I dont hate my PS3. Its a rubbish games machine but a decent Bluray player.

  • Fab4 #50 1 year ago

    Bring it on!!!!!

  • man.the.king #51 1 year ago

    @mfnick

    I think the Reviewer may have missed some things - in earlier EG articles, I think it was mentioned that Sackboy control could be tweaked - the default was still LBP1 responsiveness, but this could be changed through the settings as far as I know.

    From the review, it seemed Simon Parkin did not try the settings.
    Edited by man.the.king at 04/01/11 @ 16:36

  • Luos_83 #52 1 year ago

    Seems the reviewer did not do his homework:

    "But the original game offered just enough flexibility to allow a creative designer to cajole its virtual ropes and pulleys into making a shoot-'em-up, or a giant calculator. On this basis, LittleBigPlanet's original dizzying potential precluded a sequel. No?"

    You havent played lbp a lot recently, have you?


    "has succeeded in building a community of amateur game designers."

    Not all of them are amateurs, some of them have worked or are working for various game-companies,
    Most of the better creators are far superior in talent than the level/concept-designers MM themselves have.


    "The weakest aspect to the game remains enemy design. This is a toolkit perfect for building rich, complex, textured levels. But when it comes to creating moving enemies, the DIY tools on offer to designers have seemingly stunted their imaginations. "

    The reviewer should have seen what i.e. me (Luos_83) and others has been making, a giant ant with 6 actual moving limbs, fully working and animated like a real ant, a spider that actually moves like a real spider and so on.


    "Sackboy still has a jump that lacks the nippy, digital precision of Mario's by some margin,"

    Imho this is more a sentimental opinion than an actual test, sackboy is just as precise as i.e. mario, but needs a little practice to get a hang of.


    "it still feels curiously anachronistic. "

    Or, the reviewer just did not spend enough time to get the hang of it,
    The majority of the lbp community would dissagree.


    "The level design is never anything short of robust, and, while this is still nowhere near as tight a platform game as Nintendo's strongest output, at its best it's really good.

    You should play some levels from the "elite" creators in the lbp community, there are levels that make the average nintendo game look like a simple 8-piece puzzle.


    "Building a LittleBigPlanet level previously required players to have the inventiveness of Heath Robinson and the graft of the Egyptian slaves that built the pyramids."

    So not true, besides maybe the N+ and HD-Trials editor, the LBP editor is one of the easiest and at the same time most complex editors available for games, sure it is not as powerfull as the last generation of fps editors like Unreal editor but with some creativity and efford you can almost create anything you want.


    "there's a better chance than ever that a console game could, through the creativity and industry of its players, sprout something substantial rather than merely distracting. "

    Very well said!

  • Golgo #53 1 year ago

    + 1 gazillion to billy-beauts and his snub of rent-a-quote 'national treasure' Stephen Fry. But I won't say any more in case Fry reads this and tries to top himself again.

  • Golgo #54 1 year ago

    Oh, and @ Luos_83: "You should play some levels from the 'elite' creators in the lbp community, there are levels that make the average nintendo game look like a simple 8-piece puzzle."

    Would you be offended if I cracked out my first 'lol' of 2011 at that?

  • wobbly_Bob #55 1 year ago

    @Luos_83 - agree with your points, totally!

    I'm really looking forward to this! I'm a really creative person so am looking forward to the creation side of things :-) I'm also excited about the main game tho, and have no problem with the controls which I think perfectly suits LBP. If this had a Mario style control system it wouldn't work, I think.

  • GamesConnoisseur #56 1 year ago

    I m keen on LBP2, but then reflecting my desires for the enhancements over the original to finally GET me playing properly, but will it?

    After all despite having both PS3 and PSP, I still hardly got far into the game, I did downloads quite a few levels but seem that the game was wasted on the idiotic likes of me. I may be so jaded or simply not so hot on the platforming genre? As I got bored so quickly. Felt like all I did was jumping with different backgrounds/themes.

    Neg me if it's make you feel better, fire away. I still hope that the sequel will be able to motivate me more and recent demo did give me good impressions but then it's perhaps its all me rather than 'you' Sackboys, if again I eventually get distracted away by the other sexy games..

  • iago71 #57 1 year ago

    "If this had a Mario style control system it wouldn't work, I think."

    I would have to agree with you there. That was my point entirely and also why Im not so keen on LBP. As I mentioned in my comment I want to like the game but for me I enjoy the precision platforming of Mario and thus get frustrated with Sackboys controls.

    I should point out that I think its a great game in terms of its scope and I dont doubt some peoples comments on this thread as far as the quality of the user created content goes but sorry - its not a great platformer conventionally speaking.

    I dont see anything wrong with my point of view and Im not disrespecting the game as a whole yet I get negged for it. Still courses for horses and all that.

    Having watched some video reviews of it since my previous post I must say it certainly looks more exciting than its predecessor - If other friends of mine rave about it I would probably give it a whirl and play with them. Though I imagine that it would be more of a case of romping about on other peoples creations for a laugh than feeling I had achieved something by nailing a level. I for one would be more than happy if I was proved wrong. :)

  • marco1303 #58 1 year ago

    I just want to add something: My dad is not a gamer, he never play games, he only play Mario Bros and Prince of persia Nes, and since he take a look of LBP, he said to me: THIS IS THE BEST I PLAYED SINCE MARIO BROS. So? This is a robust and great plattaform and i don't know why eurogamer says: is not as robust as nintendo plattaform?

  • JediMasterMalik #59 1 year ago

    Can't wait for this, should be fantastic. Especially eager to see what the community does with it.

  • SvennoJ #60 1 year ago

    LBP puts all Nintendo's co-op platformer attempts to shame. With mario galaxy 2, nsmb and dkcr co-op is mostly boring or frustrating. LBPs co-op is the most fun I've had in any platformer.
    Sackboy has a bit of momentum when he lands, but that doesn't take long to get used to. Better then pointing at stars, screwing up your timing when a player dies or bumps in to you or tagging along on donkeys back for half the game.
    Looking forward to more 4 player fun.

    Any news if the net code has been improved?
    LBP now and then had some horrible lagging when playing with friends overseas.

  • menage #61 1 year ago

    SOLD!

    Loved the demo, looked awesome, can't wait till I get online. And the controls were improved quite a bit imo. But I never felt they sucked in the first place, just different.
    Edited by menage at 04/01/11 @ 18:07

  • boyakoosha #62 1 year ago

    CAN'T WAIT! Have fired up LBP this weekend after almost 18 months of not touching it and fell in love with it again. The overhaul has been superb to the search features and I cannot wait for LBP2.

  • Beano #63 1 year ago

    I'm always amazed that people are dissing LBP for not being Mario and have a different physics model instead of enjoying the game for what it is : a brilliant and fun platformer with endless possibilities. I'm a huge Mario fan but glad some developers are trying to innovate instead of releasing FPS no. 27531.

    LBP controls are floaty (by design) but not imprecise - just takes a bit of practice :)
    Edited by Beano at 04/01/11 @ 18:54

  • Slipstream #64 1 year ago

    If you dedicate any sort of time to Little Big Planet the controls became a second nature, and thus were never really a problem to begin with.
    It's a shame that people are complaining about the controls yet the ENTIRE GAME/TOOL KIT is built around sack boy and his physics.

  • super_monty #65 1 year ago

    I was hoping that they would fix the controls, I will wait for it to drop to about £15 then.

  • Chufty #66 1 year ago

    Counter-Strike was totally made with the Half Life ONE toolkit.

    Good review, looking forward to falling out with the missus over this one.

  • Arwin #67 1 year ago

    Some of the biggest things about this game seem to be missing from the review, like lbp.me which should greatly enhance the way you can find new levels to play. You can post and follow anywhere on the net and queue up levels for the next time you boot up the game. And the game still has excellent four player online or offline multiplayer too.

    As for the jumping, I hate Mario's unforgiving jumping personally. It was sweet 30 years ago, and I suppose it will be an evergreen for new young audiences and nostalgics.

    I pose instead that any problems with the jumping in the original had more to do with the level designers not having adjusted to it fully yet. Stuff like the Pirates expansion pack or the PSP levels were already much smoother. And there were definitely better user-generated levels also (try Jaeyden for instance) - they were just too hard to find. LBP.me should help a lot but I also wouldn't mind having an LBP version of Autolog in this game, for competitive score chasing on any level, story or custom. Would be perfect for any game tbh, but should be particularly easy and useful fir this one.

    I personally can't wait for this. Micro Machines v3 LBP looked awesome. ;) Also look forward to Move support for Angry Birds clones. ;)

  • Retro_ #68 1 year ago

    The Beta was great so I want, but not on day one.

    LBP1 was selling for around a Tenner in some places only a few weeks after release so I'll probably wait for the price drop.

  • bladdard #69 1 year ago

    I'm on the fence, I liked LBP when playing co-op with my daughter but I only fired it up a dozen if so times but this does look good, time to pick up the demo methinks.

    How the hell is Scotty269 still allowed to post his hateful shit. I know he got banned when he was scottydog but his viles insults have got worse. His contributions are pretty much slagging off people in sony threads and making the vilest of insults and insinuations, isn't it about time someone booted him and his IP permanately?

  • mika1h #70 1 year ago

    Does the game still have limited lives in the single player?

  • HASJ #71 1 year ago

    Ok. Not in my interests.

  • Lawlost #72 1 year ago

    tempted to buy a ps3 my wife would go nuts ;-)

  • man.the.king #73 1 year ago

    @mika1h

    "Does the game still have limited lives in the single player? "

    Based on the demo, I would think so - although it seemed as if the number of lives had been increased from the 3-per-checkpoint of the last game.

  • trugs26 #74 1 year ago

    @muscleblade

    And if someone reviews Zelda: Skyward Sword based on the E3 demo? Or if someone is the first to get a review copy, and publishes their review after the first level because they want their review to be first out? Ofcourse there can be a too early.

    As for this review, good read, looks like an interesting game.

  • grayn #75 1 year ago

    It's because you didn't list a handy website where we could buy fashion shoes or other famale goods from.

  • Fyzzu #76 1 year ago

    @marco1303: Because according to you your Dad's only played Super Mario Bros and Prince of Persia, so him saying that it better than two games he played 20 years ago doesn't mean much?

    About as expected. Looks like a treat in terms of what the community'll come out with, but I'm still a little saddened by floaty Sackboy. I understand why that had to be kept, but it was the one thing that kept pushing me away from LBP. Might leave this a few weeks, at least, and see what the community has for me before I pick it up.

  • fluff_the_tiger #77 1 year ago

    No change to the controls? not for me then, and I suspect when the real reviews come out you will see a lot of complaints.

    Oh well! Life goes on...

  • BOFH_UK #78 1 year ago

    *sigh* why do some gamers get so darn defensive about ANY criticism about exclusive games for their chosen platform? In this particular case, and speaking only for myself here, I don't necessarily want Sackboy to play like Mario but I DO want a control scheme tight enough to avoid feeling like it's the game's fault rather than mine when I don't make a jump. As this doesn't seem to have been changed I won't be buying the game but I can understand why others would. Not that difficult to understand surely?

    Actually, there is one other reason I wouldn't buy this at launch... price. No, wait, hear me out. The original LBP didn't do particularly well and dropped like a stone in a very short time. I don't remember the exact figure but six months from launch it went for RRP down to about £10 in some places. While I hope the sequel does better I certainly wouldn't be in a rush to grab it as history suggests it's worth waiting a bit with this game more than other AAA titles.

  • levitate #79 1 year ago

    Another strong reason to invest in a PS3!

  • bobmar360 #80 1 year ago

    The Move won't be added to around March time (middle of), I think it'll be able to be used in tons of ways, pretty sure it'll be able to function with the Navi too, could make for some fun hybrid lightgun platformers!

    I have already some funky ideas

  • Widge #81 1 year ago

    Considering your entire history is bitching about "SONY FANBOYS", the machine, the software and absolutely nothing else, I'll put about 0% faith in you actually speaking any truth.

  • ChuckNorris #82 1 year ago

    @bladdard

    Scotty is the Fox News of gaming threads. I also can't believe that somebody who only slags people off is allowed to continue to defile this site. He's not witty, has no self-awareness and is profane. All of his posts consist of hateful, childish and clichéd abuse of other EG-members and Sony. I'm disappointed that the mods allow such behaviour.

    Also @scotty

    Your mental condition is deteriorating. I feel sorry for your children.

    On topic: Puzzled by the statement that the controls have not been improved. I for one found the demo gameplay to be more precise and sturdy, less jerky albeit floaty as before.

  • 00.00.01 #83 1 year ago

    @Bobby_Kotick 04/01/11@21:13
    .
    Ghehe I lolled so +1 from me. Most pos(t)ers here seem to think you're not the real BK. As if anyone would (ab)use your name in that way. Surely not :)

  • bladdard #84 1 year ago

    @Bobby_Kotick

    I think the more cynical (or discerning) forumites will take your post as a veiled attempt at claiming the PS3 isn't worth buying due to lack of quality games which of course is bullshit hence the negs.

  • Syrok Verified Community Coordinator, Tarsier Studios #85 1 year ago

    @Chuck Norris: They have apparently made tiny changes to the jumping behaviour. I haven't really noticed it but there were a bunch of people in the beta who complained about because the levels they built in LBP1 are unfinishable, because they required super precise jumping.

  • Gormless #86 1 year ago

    After paying 40 quid for the first one only for the price to drop to 15 quid within a month i think ill pass till it hits the bargain buckets.

  • CraigMcG #87 1 year ago

    @Bobby_Kotick

    I get negged to -5 because I posted this:

    "Good grief, looks like 2011 shall be the year I finally get a PS3"

    I'd just like to ask what the FUCK is wrong with that?

    nothing was wrong with it, you got negged for who you are bobby, oh and for overcharging for cod map packs
    Edited by CraigMcG at 05/01/11 @ 20:39

  • CraigMcG #88 1 year ago

    *sigh* why do some gamers get so darn defensive about ANY criticism about exclusive games for their chosen platform? In this particular case, and speaking only for myself here, I don't necessarily want Sackboy to play like Mario but I DO want a control scheme tight enough to avoid feeling like it's the game's fault rather than mine when I don't make a jump. As this doesn't seem to have been changed I won't be buying the game but I can understand why others would. Not that difficult to understand surely?

    agree 100% the controls were poor, i do understand people disagreeing with that, i just don't understand the vitriol from some people. i was one of those who had no issue with the killzone 2 controls after about 10 minutes but i sympathised with people who did and i didn't just scream at them that they were wrong and were idiots for not liking a control system that i did

  • man.the.king #89 1 year ago

    @ChuckNorris

    "Your mental condition is deteriorating. I feel sorry for your children. "

    Hopefully Scotty269's "little tadpoles" will realize that the DNA they carry are not worth propagating, and will stop then and there :)

    Or maybe Onanism is as far as his personality will take the teenaged twat.
    Edited by man.the.king at 06/01/11 @ 20:27

  • bladdard #90 1 year ago

    @Bobby_Kotick

    I was just explaining why I thought you were negged, I didn't neg you I only neg trolls like Scotty269 and coolbrittania.

  • Widge #91 1 year ago

    As someone who exclusively sifts through the PS3 news items to say how shit it is, do you consider yourself a tool fanboy?

  • dadrester #92 1 year ago

    to all the naysayers who dislike the floaty controls...

    I've never really got on with them either, for me the problem seems to be grip, once he's landed. His (or her) feet just don't seem to grip well or something. it's like his feet are so wide apart that he kind of leans over the edges of stuff. Thankfully there's a lot of stuff users can do to tweak material friction values, stickiness and gravity.

    the thing is, a lot of the best and most creative levels in the beta barely resemble platform games. I spent a good 45 minutes on a tower defence level, that was supremely well balanced and forgot altogether that I was playing LBP.

    it's a fair complaint if you're just intending to get LBP2 as a non-online, single player platform game, but you'd be kind of missing the point entirely if you were intending on playing the user generated levels (a lot of which, to be fair are as good, if not better than MM's own content) and decided not to get it because of the controls.

  • man.the.king #93 1 year ago

    Looks like Scotty269 finally got the boot - seems like only a temporary warning ban though, if his forum activity is anything to go by.

    I hope it turns permanent, and we can finally say "Good riddance!" to old maggots-for-brains.
    Edited by man.the.king at 06/01/11 @ 20:29

  • vmanb #94 1 year ago

    TSB - 1 + ignore poster eveytime for me, that seems to work

  • man.the.king #95 1 year ago

    TSB is as intelligent and mature as Scotty269