The sequel to my favorite game of 2008 has at long last arrived. Sackboy is back and this time he’s got some new tricks up his sleeve. Now with whole set of new features for you to tinker with to bring the level of your dreams to life. The question begs though is there enough to warrant yet another $60 price tag like you paid two years before for this platformer toolbox or are they going to well too soon with not nearly enough new features.

One the things that I loved about the first game was it’s amazingly crafted campaign mode. While the story never amounted to much besides some forced wackiness but the level design was always top notch I can say the LittleBigPlanet 2 story mode is even better this time around but with a few caveats. I’ll start off by talking about the good; the levels might even be more creative than the ones found in the first game. The levels have a lot more toys instead of being limited to the jetpack now you’ve got from water cannons to riding different animals like a hamster with a dash attack or a puppy with an ultrasonic attack. The game keeps adding more and more things making worlds feel unique and a lot more distinguished from what you had in the last game. There are even a couple of SHUMP levels where you’re piloting a ship fighting your way through waves of enemies. The levels work really well and brings me to one flaw of the mode, and that it’s really short. The campaign took me around 5 hours to beat and was shorter than the first game’s equivalent mode. Another problem I also noticed was the levels seemed to be designed on the easier side and there far fewer points where I had to redo a level because I died and went through all my continue which didn’t help with the length. All in all though you’ll probably get some extra play through trying to collect all the items with your friends, which might add another few more hours to your playtime.

The campaign is even more fun when you’ve got a couple of people to play it with. Like the original you’ve got optional puzzles that can only be do them when you’ve got 4 people with you. Also it’s fun just to mess around and slap your friends around with your Sackboy or customize it so all your different Sackboys looks different. While it’s nice to have 3 people with you, there’s also online support that has some major issues as of this writing. Right now you get this constant loading issues that is widespread right now and no patches have come out since last week when the game was released. Right now you’ve got to use a wonky workaround when playing online of going into your PS menu turning off the controller and reconnecting. While I’m sure this issue is being worked on but right now it’s major issue and it’s shocking it made it into the final game.

As far as the visual and audio department the game is quite impressive. LittleBigPlanet 2 definitely looks better than the first where they spent some time upgrading the visuals of the first game. The lightning is more impressive this time with it’s effects seeming a lot more realistic and the explosions are also more impressive and detailed. The soundtrack is excellent with a selection of licensed music including a personal favorite on mine being a remix of the theme from 2001 : A Space Odyssey. There a definitely a couple that I’ll be looking to add to my MP3 player so on that level the audio succeeds for me.

The meat of the game is the community levels and while I can’t really talk about what there’s going to be six months from when this review is published; I can talk about what it’s like at this moment. First of all as advertised all the levels from the original game has transferred over so you’ve already got a lot of maps to go through if you haven’t been keeping up with levels. You’ve already got a selection created from the LittleBigPlanet 2 engine. Some of the better maps I’ve noticed are a creative recreation of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood with exploding guards and ledges to jump onto. Another commendable level was a perfect recreation of Zelda right down to the sword and using bombs controlling Link from a top down view, it’s really a sight to see and play. There is definitely a variety levels to choose from right now and I can only imagine it’ll be even better a few months from now.

The power of the community levels is brought to you by the extensive level creator, which allows you to venture far from the source material. The game let’s you craft your own midi style soundtracks, use your Playstation Eye to import whatever image you can point to your camera. The game now includes Sackbots, which you can program with different AI from puzzle elements to enemies. The power of the creator mode seems to at least rival that is found in the Starcraft 2 map editor from last year except now on a console game. Like the trailer for the game said it isn’t just a platformer but a platform for games from the variety stuff you can make. Though while I’m selling this level editor I should say it’s not exactly easy to make anything of note. I’ve spent 2 hours just playing with it and I didn’t create anything of note. For me to make anything worthwhile I would have to go through the 40+ part tutorial that explains each aspect of the mode for me to stand a chance make something decent which would take hours. You truly have to dedicate yourself to learning to make good level and it’s a large time investment on your part.

LittleBigPlanet 2 is fantastic game and is definitely worth your time. While I can’t give it the same 10/10 as the original game since it’s not quite as fresh as it was two years ago and it’s marked with a few flaws. That said the game is rejuvenated with a lot more gadgets to play and an even more extensive create mode from the first game. Now more than ever you’ll be able to craft extremely inventive creations without writing a single line of code.

Gameplay

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