I am so pleased that I entered the weird and wonderful world that is Little Big Planet 2!
Taking place in an utterly madcap world inherited by robots, bugs and other strange beings, you play as Sack Boy as he earns his stripes by battling negative forces, collecting prizes and solving puzzles. The world is superbly and richly detailed with hundreds of things to do, collect or just plain laugh at. Everything collected is this world is stored and is viewable and usable in some form. From clothing and items to high-scores and even decorating. This offers an almost unprecedented amount of reply value.
Co-op and community play is encouraged but not enforced. There are so many options in this game that you can play however you want. But I can safely say one of the funniest moments I have had in gaming came from accidently inviting a stranger to help out, this quickly escalated into a four man team with hilarious and sometimes annoying consequences. I found that initially everything was hectic and the amount of deaths during each level went way up. However within an hour of play it dawned on us that we would have to play the game differently to get by. We would have to gel together as a team. Instead of a madcap run towards the finish we would have to plan our way through. Once this began to happen each obstacle we overcame felt like a real triumph.
The story feels just right in terms of length with a good 10 hours of story and loads of extra side missions. It is also supported by a stellar cast, including the wonderfully charming Stephen Fry on narration. It is also supported with added subtext which encourages and celebrates to power of the imagination. Even encouraging you to create your very own Little Big Planet levels which can be shared with the community. With a little time and practice it won't take anyone long to create levels they can be proud of.
The graphics are beautiful. Each gaming world has a different theme and is lit and textured extremely well. The dynamic use of the camera ranges from great pans and cuts to full on to down isometric views, seemly transforming this from an standard side scrolling caper into something much more fun. A point of reference for anyone else creating similar scrollers.
The sound is great too, a great array of sound fx but the music in particular was extremely well chosen and reflects the world very well.
Controls are very good but one of the bigger issues I personally felt was in this are. Jumping from the far-ground to the foreground to navigate the world can sometimes be tricky, as can using some of the game devices like the grapple hook. Repeated attempts at trying to swing to an object sometimes become annoying. Though it never feels impossible.
The extra features in this game, again are almost unrivaled there is just so much to do! Creating, online, arcade style games, side missions, pool! there is just tons to do!
Over all brilliantly fantastical adventure that can be enjoyed by everyone. Even me, a veteran of all things destructive.