14 DAY TRIAL // As Christmas approaches, many of us will have more time to play games. Yes, Christmas is all about going back home and hanging out with family and old friends, enjoying good meals and nice drinks. But between the meals and the presents and the, hopefully, snow, there’s certainly a bit of room that can be dedicated to gaming.
If you happen to own a PlayStation 3, the game to go for, taking into account the whole family oriented setting, is certainly LittleBigPlanet. The title, created by Media Molecule and published by Sony, combines a genuine platformer with a very powerful editor, allowing players to create a lot of varied and engaging content.
The platforming part itself is worth the price of the game. The title certainly isn’t Super Mario. You do not need jumping skills and extremely tight timing in order to go through the levels. The graphics are very well done, with a touch of realism mixed with magic, while the challenges offered to players become more and more interesting as they progress.
The real beauty of LittleBigPlanet does not reside in the single player but in getting lost in the levels which other players have created, based on their ideas and fantasies. The game had some launch issues related to the servers, but once they went live, a lot of people immediately uploaded levels. Of course, some of them were limited or designed specifically to farm Trophies, but some are great experiences. Unfortunately, Sony decided to crack down on all levels which had even the slightest change on infringing copyright, so no Mario and Space Invaders levels will be available. Maybe a more relaxed policy would have allowed players a chance to experience further variety.
Even with these caveats, LittleBigPlanet is a good example of how game designers have learned to harness player created content to make their games more attractive and increase their life spans. And Media Molecule has managed to create a title that will change how we look at the future of gaming.