LBP2 leaps onto the scene

​The original LittleBigPlanet felt like a game that would not require a sequel for many, many years. While the campaign only lasted a handful of hours, the real meat (and magic) of the title lay in its user community; a group of people who, to date, have built hundreds of thousands of levels for their fellow players to try out and enjoy.

 

With its massive suite of creative tools and a steady stream of additional content being made available through the PlayStation Network, it appeared as though the original LBP would be around for quite some time. Now, just two years later, LittleBigPlanet 2 has arrived. But the question remains: Was it necessary?

 

After spending the past week with developer Media Molecule's latest offering, I see now that my doubts about a sequel to the original LittleBigPlanet were misplaced. There's more than enough content here to warrant a full retail price and, with even more ways to play, create and share content, LBP2 is likely to become one of the best bargains of the year.

 

Anyone who has played the original LBP will feel right at home once you boot up this sequel. Steven Fry is back to help navigate the opening tutorials, once again lending the perfect vocals to this light and energetic world. Players will move into their "Pod" rather quickly, which basically serves as the game's menu and chatroom for when playing with friends.

 

The first thing you'll want to do is check out the story mode. Featuring about 40 levels spread across six themed worlds, LittleBigPlanet 2 sees your Sackboy joining the Alliance of Creators in order to save Craftworld from the destructive Negativitron and his army of diabolical Meanies. It's not much of a story, but what is there is entertaining and features fully voiced cutscenes with clever writing. Sadly, the voice acting doesn't carry over into the actual levels and, while the mumbling dialogue from LBP has a certain charm to it, I don't see why Media Molecule didn't just provide vocals to the entire story this time around.

 

​Just about every level in the campaign has something new to offer. If you're not running and jumping through the well-designed maps, you'll be using one of the many new gameplay enhancements to fight your way to the finish line. "Sackbots" and story characters with their own AI make for a more interesting world, bouncepads make traversal more entertaining and a whole slew of upgrades will now allow you to throw, swing and shoot your way to victory. (While the swinging controls can be temperamental at times, the levels designed around the mechanic are a real treat that give the classic Bionic Commando a run for its money.)

 

Each level is filled with dozens of items to unlock for use in your own creations and, thanks to some pretty devious hiding spots and areas only accessible with two, three and four players, you're going to visit most multiple times if you aim to collect everything the game has to offer. Along with trophies, you can also unlock dozens of "pins" for achieving in-game feats like playing multiple community levels, destroying Meanies and overusing bouncepads.

 

What this all boils down to is "new." If you're flying a bumblebee and shooting down Meanies in one level, you'll be solving puzzles underwater, creating cupcake platforms our dousing forest fires the next. I was eager to check out each new level just to see what clever new idea would be thrown at me next. The whole affair sparks with imagination and a love for creativity that any gamer should be able to appreciate. But, most importantly, it's all a lot of fun to play.

 

Mini-levels make a reappearance as well, featuring high-score-fests and battle arenas that are far more engaging than anything made available with the first game's set of tools. You can play a LBP version of basketball, bumpercars, pool, racing and Pong this time around, leaving me wondering what, if any, limits there are to the types of genres that can be created.

 

While the original LBP was lovely to look at and listen to, LBP2 improves on these areas as well. Textures, materials, lighting and effects are greatly enhanced and I'd happily buy a standalone soundtrack to this game just to listen to the catchy tunes over and over again.

 

Thanks to the ability to insert cutscenes and increased camera capabilities, it was also pretty cool to see some big set pieces and cinematic moments that were impossible to create in the first game.