When Media Molecule and Sony first revealed Sack Boy and its imaginative world which is called Little Big Planet many gamers, including me, fell in love with the game’s charm and endless possibilities. Platformers used to be the bread and butter of video games which have now shifted to Shooters and 3rd Person Action games, that is one of the reasons why Little Big Planet 2 is such a refreshing element in today’s gaming scene. Media Molecule has managed to take what was LBP and actually elevate the title’s gameplay and tool sets to warrant a sequel which many had doubted was needed.

Whether you are familiar with the world of Little Big Planet or not, the sequel to its successful predecessor will charm you no matter if you are a young teen or enthusiast gamer. The British developer has made sure that you’ll find plenty anew in Little Big Planet 2. While the game has the same fundamental signature gameplay as the first game, it adds enough new and substantial content and tools throughout the story levels that it completely changes the experience.

When players first boot up the sequel they will be met with the uniquely cute and memorable theme that we have come to love from the first game. Dreamy music and an equally great sounding narrator will walk players through the concept of Little Big Planet 2. You will be asked if you’d like to import all the LBP content already stored on your Playstation 3’s hard drive. This will import all the levels you’ve created as well as costumes, items and of course ‘the pod’.

Before you know it, the world of over 3 million community levels and over 40 story levels across 6 themes are at your fingertips. While the story mode is a bit on the short side, the content is unique and very entertaining, especially when played coop with 3 random players or your best friends. Playing through the fun, creative and often challenging levels with a group of people makes the experience even more enjoyable for two reasons. Either, you spend most of your time throwing each other’s ‘Sack Things’ to their death or make sure to get all the ‘goodies’ possible for a perfect score.

Let’s take a look at what actually is so new and awesome, which makes Little Big Planet 2 so great. Going through the story mode alone will introduce players to the new gadgets available to Sack Boy, who is now called ‘Sack Thing’ for the sake of gender neutrality. The tools include a Grapple Hook to allow for swinging across gaps, pull up Sack Boy or switch levels. The new Grabinator does exactly what the name implies; it can grab any grabbable object including other Sack Things who are holding an object at the time. This is useful when several items need to be used and no stairs or jump pads are available to reach higher elevation. My favorite use of the Grabinator though, was the fact that I can now play a game of basketball in Little Big Planet. The other new tool is the Creationator. This gadget allows Sack Boy to shoot different objects or liquids such as cakes (yes, cakes – it will make sense when you play the game) or water in order to traverse areas of great danger.

Little Big Planet 2 has other new exciting features that will especially be great for players who are willing, able and talented enough to create levels of their own. The game includes even more new things such as Customizable Sackbots, these programmable AI can be inserted into levels or cut scenes as desired to allow for even greater and unique level creations. During my time with the community levels I have come across many ‘levels’, which were actually full blown music videos.

Staying on the topic of level creation, aspiring Little Big Planet 2 level designers will have new create materials and tools at their disposal. The new materials include a selection of filters, plasma and even holographic items to develop custom HUDS. The maybe most useful new add on to the creation tools is the ‘Level Link’. This gadget will allow players to actually create full games and link levels together without having to switch to the pod and load up a new area – this tool was also used in the story mode and allowed for a smoother transition between areas. Other new items to build into levels are the launch boards, smoke machines and circuit boards for the advanced bunch of you out there.

Little Big Planet 2 is a game of endless possibilities. It is not just a sequel to Little Big Planet 1 with new levels. Media Molecule has provided players with so many new create tools, gadgets and additional content on top of the millions of backwards compatible levels that this game simply cannot be missed. Sack Boy is back with a new game, which has a fully featured world and so much new content that it is a must-play for anyone who has or who has not played Little Big Planet before. While the developer created levels have great variety and unique ideas, I cannot wait to see what the community will create with the new tool sets provided. In all my time as a gamer, I have never seen such a robust and community supported title.

Score: 9.5 / 10

Little Big Planet 2 was developed by Media Molecule and published by Sony for the PS3 on January 18th. A copy of the game was provided to us by Sony for reviewing purposes.

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