A Mind-Blowing Creation
From the very beginning Littlebigplanet 2 sets itself on a whole other plain then its predecessor. Offering a stunning atheistic, impeccable sound design and innovative, easy to operate creation tools that allow for an almost limitless stream of creative and slightly copyright infringing user generated content.
Littlebigplanet 2's single player, for the most part, remains largely unchanged. Sackboy still struts around a level with he same floaty run and jump physics seen from the first game. But it's the few changes to the single player experience that make for a much more enjoyable time. There almost isn't an obstetrical that Sac boy can't traverse with his grappling hook, Creatinator, power gloves or jump pads. Gone are the days of near-misses, short jumps and enemies that seem to be almost impossible to defeat.
The grappling hook does, well, what any grappling hook should. It allows Sackboy to grapple onto spongy material and swing from platform to platform. Not only making it easier to leap over gaps but also to defeat baddies before the even know where you are. Jump pads let Sack boy leap at almost any height and the power gloves let sackboy defend himself, by throwing material back at the aggressor. By far the most inventive invention is the Creatinator. The Creatinator can be a game changer once in the hands of a Sack boy. Able to launch anything from globs of water, to massive level changing explosives. The Creatinator really takes the cake (or launches it) for a great addition to the LBP2's arsenal. Opening up some interesting opportunities to shape how a level can be completed.
LittleBigPlanet 2 offers a greatly overhauled creation system. Media Molecule outdid themselves with both the changes to the tools and to what their community wanted. Previously, building anything more then a somewhat basic platforming level required an exorbitant amount of time and effort, with the end result being a mish-mash of wires, levers, screws and other assorted innards of the the level being jammed behind the scenery. LBP2 adds so much more to creating. Neon pack, steampuck, and retro 8-bit are just a few of the many additions to the ambiance and materials from the first game. The most notable, and probably best, additions are microchips and logic. Logic allows a creator to be able to handle AND, OR, XOR (exclusive or), switch and toggle. These tools, along with the controller allow for a limitless cacophony of games. Anything from platformers, true duel joystick shooters, RPG's, top down tanks playing soccer. You name it and a LBP2 creator has probably made it. Media Molecule has taken into account the increased difficulty of such creations tools. With this in mind they completely redid the tutorials for each tool. I'm not a level designer nor will I ever be, but the tutorials in LPB2 were laid out in such a way that almost anyone can pick up a controller and
(pending they can sit through 50+ tutorials) create something they can be proud of. My personal favorite addition to the creation tools was the sequencer, a pretty much full boar music creator. LBP2's sequencer allows for ground up music creation, and a total free range on what kind of music to make. The sequencer comes with enough instrument to easily create a piece of music for any sort level.
What really makes LittleBigPlanet 2 a game worthy of a 5 star rating is the way it handles multiplayer, both in game and out. Right out of the gate LBP2 multiplayer showed off how great it was. Having received the game 3 days after launch I had absolutely no problems with connecting and downloading player created levels from Media Molecules' servers. Once I uploaded one, poorly constructed platformer, I was introduced to LBP.me. Little Big Planet introduces one of the greatest community share and play systems I have ever laid eyes on. LBP.me makes it seamless and easy to upload levels, information about them, tags, and comments about levels. It makes the experience of queuing up levels to later play on the console ridiculously easy. The multiplayer tag system has also been augmented allowing levels to be much more easily tagged accurately and shared to people who want them.
All in all. LittleBigPlanet 2 is an incredible success. Having completely renovated what it needed to, added what the community wanted it to, and created one of the best platforming and creation experiences available right now.
