LittleBigPlanet - Impressions from the Beta

Hype is an interesting thing. In many cases it manages to get us excited for products that, when finally released, fail to live up to the colossal expecations the fanbase has set for them. I'd like to call this the "Too Human effect". Some titles, such as Kingdom Hearts 2, GTA4, and Halo 3 manage to overcome the problem to some degree and meet the expectations most players have set for them. Very few, however, manage to exceed those expectations - especially when sequels are concerned.

LittleBigPlanet is an interesting case because not only is it a brand new franchise, but it's a gargantuan-budget title that was created by a fairly unknown developer, but somehow managed to become the PS3's "next big thing" throughout its development cycle (at least since it was first revealed at GDC 07). And even more interesting - it manages to exceed every expectation set for it.

Not to say that it's a perfect game, but its powerful creation tools and easily understandable interface manage to make it the most "hardcore" "casual" game I've ever seen. This is probably the first game (aside from Rock Band) that I've been able to pull out at a mixed gathering of people from different gaming backgrounds and get a unanimously positive response. This is a very good thing for Sony.

Now, enough with the fluff...

Basically, LBP's story mode (where you unlock most of the objects for use in the create mode) has you progressing through a series of levels. X button jumps, R1 button grabs. That's all you need for level navigation. If you want to get fancy, you can open your "popit" (LBP's substitute for an options menu) and place stickers and other decorations around the environments at will. Occasionally you'll need to put a certain sticker on a specific background in order to progress. That's about as complicated as the mechanics get. However, the levels are designed to be gigantic physics-based playgrounds. You have different materials reacting as they should (stone vs sponge vs cardboard, for example), rockets, switches, springs, wheels, and more - all seamlessly integrated into the levels. The level design is impeccable (at least in the few maps the beta has given us to dink around with), and more importantly gives a lot of ideas

The game's main draw - and the feature that will keep LBP active for years past its launch day - is the much described level creator. This feature allows players to build their own levels from scratch. Many features of the level editor workon an event - trigger mechanism, that is -if the player does *a*, then make *b* happen. For those familiar with the structure of computer programs, it's very simplified, but everything makes sense. You hook a switch to an object, tweak the parameters, and test it out. A few times during level creation I got results I wasn't expecting from chaining events like this together -- either due to unexpected tool behavior or Newtonian flukes caused by the game's realistic physics...but interestingly enough, these "mistakes" actually open up more creative ideas more often than not.

The only real complaints I have about the level editor are rooted in the wonky undo system that rewinds your last few actions (especially when testing objects...sometimes you can screw yourself a bit too easily and accidentally destroy your level, but the undo system doesn't seem to have a very large cache of actions for these particular cases, leading to some problems) and the DualShock 3 controller itself... Although all the tools are easily accessible via the in-game Popit menu, creating land masses (even with the many shapes provided) is a chore. There have been many, many times where I kept wishing for access to a keyboard/mouse configuration. Also, the tutorials do a great job at explaining the tools individually, but really don't tell you much about how you can fit them together. Once you get the hang of it, though you can build an object like a rocket-powered car in under a minute, using just a couple of the many tools provided to you. For the less daring , you can also unlock many story-based objects in the story mode to use in your levels. Beta-specific complaints include game freezes during online play, problems publishing levels, and a save data corruption that caused me to lose a few hours of work and forced me to replay all the tutorials I'd already gotten through. Considering this is a BETA, not a DEMO, this is more than forgivable. I do wish there was a centralized place to report issues, though (rather than forums, which are fairly obnoxious).

Sharing levels is as simple as selecting "Publish" from the pod screen and selecting a location on the "LittleBigPlanet" where your level icon will be shown. Other players can then enter it, try it out, and rate it. If you're feeling particularly generous, you can reward players with "prize bubbles" in your levels that will give them access to the objects you create. This is the feature that will extend the life of LBP far beyond the "first month high" most big-budget games receive.

In conclusion, I'm thoroughly impressed with this game. I think this is probably the first PS3 exclusive to really show promise as to what the PS3 provides over competing consoles. This is a game that could have (and should have) gone to the Wii, if the Wii hardware was current-gen rather than last-gen. It's the most hardcore casual game out there (or casual hardcore game, if you prefer), and it's a blast to play.

Now please, Sony, don't ruin my experience with a bunch of pay-only DLC.