REVIEW: Little Big Planet 2 (PS3)

Little Big Planet 2 was one of my most anticipated games of 2010 despite the fact that I never really played the previous incarnation. It was on my "To Do" list along with other such explosions of cute as Viva Pinata. Vaguely aware of the premise behind the game, a platformer with elements of collecting stuff and customising oneself, I gave up on trying to get around to the first game, and instead put my energy into waiting for the second.

I was not disappointed. The game begins with a short introduction by a certain Mr Stephen Fry, which sets the tone for the rest of the game. This game is Made In Britain, by British People, for British People and Those Who Love Them. Forget your Lara Crofts, your Professor Laytons (and that little gobshite Luke), the characters in LBP2 could beat them all hands down in a tea-sipping contest. The whole tone of the game is incredibly quaint and quirky, without being overly twee or irritating. Expect lots of cakes, steam trains, castles, pigeons and other such icons of Britishness.

Our hero, throughout all this is the wonderful Sack Boy - or as when the player is referred to in the game, Sack Thing. That's the wonderful thing about Sack Boy, he is a blank genderless canvas, and can be dressed up however you like. Costumes and component parts of costumes are collected as you progress through the story mode, and mixing it up a bit is actively encouraged by a prominent "randomise" button. If you want to wear the bellydancer dress with your big clompy boots, a full moustache and a combover, then that is your business. There are a number of preset costumes as well, naturally, although so far I've found them mostly useful for just throwing on when I can't find anything else to wear.

Gameplay-wise, I have to admit I find most platform games infuriating. This is no exception. At times the controls can be a little fiddly - partly down to my own ineptitude and partly to do with the controls being a touch sensitive - the grappling hook is a fine example of where is all goes wrong. Up and down control the length of the grapple, and left and right control the swing, but because it's all controlled with the analog stick, things can get a bit hairy, particularly if you're swinging over electrified doom or lava death. Other than that, there have only been a few honest-to-god screaming fits, both at points in the game which are relatively easy, I have been assured by my colleagues, which kind of implies that it was my own fault.

Speaking of my colleagues, besides the story, the other main focus of this game is the online multiplayer. LBP2 includes some fairly powerful-looking level design tools, including a sequencer to create your own music. While I've not had the time to have a go at designing myself yet, I've had a brief look at a few other peoples, and seen a massive variety - from Fallout 3 inspired levels to crazy science adventures to a game where the aim is to see how long you can run away from a shark across bits of wood floating in the water before he eats you. There is an excellent Daft Punk/Tron level (one of many, I suspect) that shows off the full potential of the sequencer by recreating one of the scores from the Tron Legacy movie almost perfectly. And then there's the Lady Gaga level.

Despite its flaws in the control of your Sack Thing, I could ramble for hours about  how much I adore this game. Instead, I shall just leave you with a mental image of my Sack Thing. Currently in game I am wearing red boxer shorts, a birthday cake for a top, blue eyeshadow and a long black wig. Oh, and I have flippers on my feet.

Is it wrong that I hope to unlock a Predator costume later in the game?

Scoring: 5/5 - a gorgeous game. So gorgeous I'll even forgive it for the shoddy controls sending me to my firey death on a regular basis.

PREVIEW - Nintendo 3DS



Whatever happened to Catdog? Did it's/their inability to poop cause him/her/it/them to come to a somewhat sticky end? Did one argument go too far, ending in a fatal argument? Are they living in retirement in Mallorca, celebrating a successful TV career by the pool with a chilled Margarita at each end? (No, I've not been smoking - I've just woken up. Feels similar.)

Why the fuss about Catdog? Was just an amusing thought I had when I found out that one of the launch games for the Nintendo 3DS would be Nintendogs + Cats. Having never played the original Nintendogs, I have put myself at a good advantage over other gamers who may already be sick of the feed/bath/frisbee/repeat routine, as by all accounts, there's nothing groundbreakingly new here, apart from the cats, who seem to be tweaked dog AI wrapped in a cat skin. Can you imagine a realistic cat sim? "Here Tiddles!" *no response* "Fetch!" *no response* "Go away Tiddles, I'm doing something important!" *sits squarely on laptop keyboard, looks smug* Cats with pure and accurate cat AI = no goddamn fun at all.

So yeah, anyway, before I was distracted I was about to mention the Nintendo 3DS, which as of yesterday has a release date for Europe - Friday 25th of March. A price was not released at the press conference, Nintendo stating that retailers could "set their own prices". A quick google search reveals major games retailers such as Game, Gamestation and HMV will be selling the 3DS at £229.99, Play.com at £219.99 and some smaller retailers offering prices as low as £159.99 - unlikely that they will be able to deliver on this price, but only time will tell. Gamesbasement.co.uk has already been caught out by this - This morning, their price has jumped by £60 to the £219.99 price point as more and more retailers put their official prices up. No word from the supermarkets yet, but I would guess that they will be priced around the 219.99 point.

So what of the technical aspects of this new toy that costs more than a brand new 360? Well, it's in 3D, obviously. Thankfully, it's backwards compatible with the DS, since I can't imagine many people being able to afford to buy a whole new catalog of games straight away. The emphasis seems more than ever to be on community, with lots of multiplayer options and a new feature called StreetPass, where your DS can exchange information whilst in sleep mode in your pocket/handbag/whatever with whoever else happens to have a DS in the vicinity. Cue rude greetings galore. This is of course, only going to become a big thing if lots of people have one. (And those people get out and about with them - My DS has sat next to my sofa for probably around the last six months or more.)

Another completely new feature of the 3DS is the news that Nintendo have teamed up with Eurosport and Sky with the idea of bringing 3D sport to the handheld, an idea which has excited The Husband greatly. If this signifies a shift to more of an entertainment system rather than a purebred gaming system, I think this can only be a good thing.

Other sensible new features include a wireless switch on the machine, so you don't have to exit your game to turn it on, a home button that seems to promise some form of multitasking for the machine, a 3D "slider" switch that allows the amount of 3D depth to be adjusted, or turned off completely. There is also an extendable stylus (finally!), the ability to transfer your purchases from your DSi (finally!), an analog control (finally!), and motion control (well, I suppose every other platform's got it now).

All in all, I'm looking forward to the 3DS, despite the seemingly overinflated price - the US gets the 3DS for $249.99, which converts to approximately £160, but the damn things are region locked. I'm not bitter. I'm not, honestly. Well, maybe a little bit quite a lot, really. But I've got five paydays between now and then - Provided I don't need to buy anything for the next sixty-odd days, I should be fine.