LittleBigPlanet 3 Review

LittleBigPlanet was an enormously ambitious game when it debuted in 2008, accompanied by a lot of hype. That original game lived up to pretty much everything it promised and provided a TON of content for one game. LBP was a new breed of game where you could not only create pretty much anything you wanted, but you could also take up to 3 friends along for the ride at any time. A few years later, LBP 2 would prove that that formula could be expanded upon and made even better. Now, LittleBigPlanet 3 introduces new characters and gameplay elements while retaining all the classic features that have made this series a staple of the PlayStation brand.

LittleBigPlanet 3 is an ambitious game, and that much is easy to see from the first few levels of the game, where you’re introduced to some of the new gameplay elements. LBP has always been one of my favourite series, but the one complaint I’ve always had is that it gets boring if the levels aren’t inventive enough. LBP 3 takes this problem away by having so many things going on at once that it continues to capture your interest far beyond the prologue.

Adventure Mode

Story

Stephen Fry returns in this game to give his signature narration, which helps LBP 3 retain the charm of the original games. A welcome new addition is that each supporting character in LBP 3 is now voiced. It sounds like a small thing, but it’s so much more engaging to hear what a specific character wants you to do than to read through it for 30 seconds. This game has a bit more of a traditional story about the world of Bunkum and how an attack sucked away all of the inhabitants’ creativity. It’s a story worth caring about while still keeping the wacky world of LBP intact.

Level Design

The Adventure Mode has been crafted beautifully, as was to be expected. A great deal of care was taken to make the levels both creative and functional. The tone is always set so perfectly with sound effects, music, and visual cues. It’s an interesting new concept for LBP 3 to include hub worlds with sets of levels inside them. It all flows together very nicely, making playthroughs that much quicker and relatively seamless.

The levels are beautiful, the characters are quirky, and the story is simple and easy to follow. It’s everything you’d expect from an LBP game. Don’t take it too lightly, either. LittleBigPlanet 3 can be complicated and frustrating at times. With all the jumping between the background and foreground and new power-ups, there are a lot more untimely deaths (I died four times in four seconds on one level and could only stare in disbelief).

Gameplay

Glitches

I encountered some interesting issues while playing the game that were frustrating at times, especially when trying to complete a level. While playing with a friend, we jumped across to another platform and fell through the level landing far below without dying, without any way of getting back to where we were without popping. This happened multiple times. The finicky controls also create havoc sometimes while trying to jump precisely. Sometimes Sackboy doesn’t jump as high as your button press has indicated. Neither problem is that prevalent, but they are worth mentioning. There are enough new elements added in that a few little glitches aren’t enough to spoil the game for me.

New Ways to Play

The “Velociporter” transports your character into the background/foreground, “Boost Boots” are as advertised, and the “Blink Ball” gun teleports. These things alone make LBP 3 such a different game from its predecessors. Don’t take anything too lightly, either. LittleBigPlanet 3 can be challenging and frustrating at times. With all the jumping between the background and foreground and new power-ups, there are a lot more untimely deaths. I died four times in four seconds on one level and could only stare in disbelief.

Characters

A new cast of characters joins Sackboy on his journey. Swoop (who can fly and swoop down to grab), Oddsock (who can run fast and bounce off of walls), and Toggle (who can switch back and forth between being heavy and light) add some great new ways to play if only they were used more often. Even in the cooperative mode, players have to use the same character most of the time, so it was a missed opportunity to add a whole lot more to the game.

Creation Suite

Creation mode retains the LBP 2 toolkit while adding support for 16 layers of creation, compared to the 3 in LBP 2. While this seems like a massive amount of space to create and a daunting task to try, it’s a pretty simple creation suite, as it always has been. “Popit Academy” will help you figure out Creation Mode by attempting to blur the lines between create and play over 12 levels. You use your creation toolkit to solve puzzles in some rather imaginative levels. In addition, “Blaster Handle” allows you to be creative and create your own power-ups. I see so many things that could come out of that. The potential is endless.

Legacy Content

If all of that isn’t enough, all nine million-plus LBP 1 & 2 user-generated levels have been included on the disc. That’s simply amazing to me that there are that many levels readily available to play in one single game. Not only do you get the levels, but any costume content that you purchased as DLC is available in LBP 3 at no extra charge. This is huge for all the people who have spent money over the years to know that it hasn’t been wasted and that most of that content can still be utilized. I did have problems downloading some legacy content, however, most of it did carry over and I expect anything that hasn’t will eventually carry over as well.

Conclusion

While I encountered a couple of very minor bugs in my hours of gameplay, LittleBigPlanet 3 is a must-have on the PS4 if you enjoyed the first two or are new to the series. LBP 3 provides more high-quality content in one package than you can find anywhere else. The game’s general charm hasn’t been lost, even after the switch in developers, and the series looks to be in great hands. Whether you like to play, create, or share, LittleBigPlanet 3 excels on every level.