Adding the tools to make your own experience is not something new in videogames. The PC modding community has been wringing the life out of sometimes decade old titles for as long as I can remember. Even on consoles the ability to make a level is popping up in a few places, N+,UT3, Smash Bros, but there is something very wrong about the way these were implemented. It is often not accessible to the masses, UT3 for example requires a PC to create the mod’s that you want to import to the PS3, and while N+ just uses the console there is no effective way to share levels. LittleBigPlanet literally gives you everything you need to create levels to the calibre and detail of what the developers have made. If you need to get an idea of the level of complexity that is available play the last mission, it is pure madness that something so involved can be created by regular users.

From the main menu screen (your Pod) you can access the moon which holds all of your creations. When starting to create your first level you will be able to watch tutorials to familiarise yourself with the tools that are at your disposal in designing your own experience. The tutorials, just like the introduction, are voiced by Stephen Fry and they add a touch of humour to the well scripted and basic information. After completing the tutorials you are gifted with additional items to create your world that are not available in the developer created levels.

The single best part about creating my own levels is that I was able to make some that didn’t require use of the grabbing mechanic, the reason this is great is because I could make games that my 3 year old son can play. It won’t be too long before he’ll grasp the fact that Sackboy can actually hold onto some things, but for the moment I can create a fairly rich experience that he will be able to enjoy.

Other than a nice variation of building materials you have various mechanical tools, multiple switches and creature creation items. The tools start with the basics like string, and advance to pistons and winches, using these items makes your level dynamic and can be arranged to make rather intricate puzzles as is perfectly demonstrated in the last developer designed level. Almost anything is possible, it just might take a bit of time and ingenuity.

One problem that I faced was that the tutorials, while sufficient for basic information, lacked the deeper technical knowledge that would have made using certain settings a lot easier, they skip over some of the settings with a simple, one line, explanation but don’t cover what they are truly capable of doing. With enough experimentation this issue is nullified, but isn’t that the whole point of tutorials?

The creature tools allow you to set start and finish points as well as behaviours such as follow or avoid. It’s a simple formula but it works well for making either mindless enemies or logic driven bosses for epic finales to end your awesome adventure.

The few issues I have with the creation tools amount more to suggestions more than real problems. Mouse support, do it Media Molecule, do it now. The controller is fine but mouse support would be perfect. Online co-operative creation has already been mentioned as an item on MM’s to-do list, this is very important, as trying to create things with more than one person manipulating the environment and using the popit is completely useless as there is not enough space on the screen.

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Tags: Games, Sony

This entry was posted on Monday, October 13th, 2008 at 12:02 am and is filed under Games, Playstation 3, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.