Gamers Platform

Thanks to the fine folks over at PlayStation Underground, who were kind enough to include me in the latest round of beta keys, I was able to take a look at this peculiar little game.  I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this title as I really haven’t followed it much myself.  But after playing through the demo, I feel that there is no doubt that this will be a huge title for PS3.

LBP starts off teaching you the ins and outs of your character, Sackboy, including controls, costumes, stickers and more.  Throughout your first 4 levels you will learn advanced skills that teach you how to grab and move certain objects, swing from spongey ropes, and even pushing a wooden horse only to hop on for a ride.  Very basic controls in this game and sure to be one that anybody can learn very easily.

The graphics in the game are very well done.  Rich colors, textures and lighting are superb, even for the demo.  I was very impressed with just how realistic many things in the environment looked.  Some of the character put me in mind of things you would see in some of the Katamari games, but I won’t hold that against them.  I also felt the music was great also.  Nothing over the top, but the upbeat tempos really matched the game well.

Sackboy is a very fun character to play.  From costumes to movements, he is sure to be a big hit.  I found myself sitting for moments at a time just flicking his hands around and making him dance in place. The facial animations actually had me laughing out loud as you could make him appear sad, afraid, angry, or hugely happy, with different levels for each expression.

Speaking of the costumes, there are going to be so many customizable options for him, it’s unreal.  Just in the first few levels I picked up many costume pieces to alter his appearance.  There are even special pieces and costumes that are obtainable if you preorder at certain places (Gamestop has an exclusive Kratos costume from God of War if you preorder there).  There are sure to be some ingenious creations to come from folks once the full version is released.

Customization is going to be where this game shines.  Although I didn’t actually build anything myself, as I’m absolutely horrid at engineering, level creation for LBP is going to be amazing.  Just from the samples I’ve seen so far of people recreating classic levels of Mario, or actually building a level to make a functioning calculator, many many hours will be spent crafting levels that can be uploaded for others to play.  You also have the option of doing a collaborative creation in which multiple players can create on the same level.  This is sure to be a huge hit for a ton of people.

Overall, I really enjoyed playing through this demo.  I can honestly say I had a lot more fun than I expected with this one.  Hell, I spent 10 minutes just trying to put a broken egg-shaped character back together again after our skateboard ran in to a platform.  Little Big Planet is going to be a huge hit for the PS3 community.  From online play to being able to create and upload your own levels, this is shaping up to be a must have for PS3 owners.