LittleBigPlanet 2 review: It’s a whole lotta fun

Well, here I am, finally writing the review of LittleBigPlanet 2. And the delay in my writing is actually attributed to having so much fun in playing the game, that there just aren’t enough hours in the day. ANYWAY, I have to admit that I wasn’t as jazzed about what I saw at the media launch party on the tester screens. I played a top-down view rodent racing derby type level and then got physically stuck before passing the controller to someone else.

Oh … but then to have the game at home, playing from start to finish … is marvellous.

In fact, LittleBigPlanet 2 is so much fun that I’m now grinding for stickers I missed, and absolutely delighting in finding new ones when exploring the hidden areas of LittleBigPlanet. It’s like… digital treasure hunting.

LBP 2 comes with more of a story than the first, which really doesn’t serve much of a purpose. The writing is good for what it is, but the overall arc has too many chatty and unlikeable characters. Basically, you’re trying to defeat the evil Negativitron through seven levels of the game: Da Vinci’s Hideout, Victoria’s Laboratory, The Factory of a Better Tomorrow, Avalonia, Eve’s Asylum, and The Cosmos. Each level pertains to a character that has some crisis caused by the Negativitron, and it’s up to you to fix the mayhem. Sometimes your Sackthing (your customizable avatar) will encounter Sackbots who need to be put somewhere to achieve some function. And that’s all you need to know while sitting through extraordinarily long cinematics with characters babbling on for eons. Then they babble on some more in the levels (which sometimes breaks up gameplay), and incomprehensibly so Media Molecule/Sony could cut down on the number of things to localize. Obvious much?

The levels are just as vibrant as before and perhaps moreso, with charming designs to boot. Victoria’s Laboratory is full of baked goods embedded into the design, with bread ovens and lethal icing. In Avalonia, Sackthings can ride larger animals like bumblebees, cats and camels.

Stickers continue to award oh-so-cute outfits with which to personalize your Sackthing, and even the most fashion unconscious can’t resist changing up the costume. After all, who could resist trying on a cupcake hat, paired with items carried over from the first game and DLC? This time around, stickers aren’t as big a deal for secret hideaways and triggers as in the first version. But, when used, they open up a new look to a level, or give you … wait for it … one of the awesome shooter-type helmets! Called Splash Cannons, Creatinators, and Cakeinators in various forms, you can use your right trigger to perform one of several functions. You can shoot cakes for your Sackthing to stand on to reach things, fire bombs, fire out bouncy pads, or shoot out water to put out fires. It’s a pretty rad new feature, to say the least. Sackthings are also given grappling hooks, so you can grab on to stuff and swing, or grab stuff and toss it. Stuff … which includes other Sackthings. That one is a double-edged sword, and only when playing LittleBigPlanet 2 does one yell at a spouse: “Let go! Your Sackboy weight is too cumbersome!”

One of the neat (and all-ages appealing) things about LittleBigPlanet 2 is that it goes a little retro in certain places. There are fun arcade-style levels with throwbacks to Bouncing Babies, Pac-man, pool, and Arkanoid. The game also boasts an awesome soundtrack, which only adds to amazing visuals. And with a package like that, it’s easy to attract a wide audience, provided that they have the motor control skills and big enough hands to manage a PS3 controller.

LittleBigPlanet 2 is definitely more fun to play with someone else. Levels often have cooperative challenges that earn you extra stickers (just as in the first version). But let me qualify that: LittleBigPlanet 2 is more fun to play with someone else … who’s actually in the room, or can be heard verbally. Texting with your Sackthing is slow and inconvenient, so connecting online with players who just drag each other around or make you all collectively lose lives is kind of a letdown. Getting four players together to nail a cooperative challenge is hugely satisfying. The same can be said of completing all seven levels of the game. And then while you’re supposed to move on to creating your own levels, sometimes that’s just better left to the professionals.

I can’t wait until LittleBigPlanet 3.