LittleBigPlanet 2: Play. Create. Share. Like Never Before...
Company: Sony Interactive Entertainment America
Play. Create. Share. This is the mantra of LittleBigPlanet... and Media Molecule did a great job of creating a wondrous playground of the imagination. LittleBigPlanet 2 takes this idea and runs with it, with an all new Story Mode influenced by historic events of cultural significance, powered by a new, upgraded graphics engine and featuring a veritable Smörgåsbord of new gameplay features.
If you're more into creating, there are many new things to play around with, from jump pads, to A.I.-controllable characters called "Sock bots," to new logic circuits to allow you to make your switches and activated objects work in as complex a manner as you like, allowing for the creation of more elaborate puzzle-based gameplay. Why, I've even seen levels that were First Person Shooter and even Pinball games. And, for more creative expression, why not make your own music for your levels with the new sequencer tool? For that matter, with the new in-game level connection gate, you can connect your levels into whole games. If you think you know what can be built in LittleBigPlanet, it's "Back to School" time - and your major? Recess.
As far as sharing, it's never been easier. In addition to sharing your created levels and objects with others, you can literally share your experience of playing different levels with almost no effort. In order to make the multiplayer experience more approachable and easy to use, there is a feature when you enter a new level that can prompt you to join players already playing in that level - click "Join" and you'll join the game already in progress. Still too much trouble? No problem! You can set a default answer to that question, either always join, never join, or only join friends and you will join (or not join) without so much as being bothered with the question. You can join others in playing levels, return to their pod... even view their creations, all while chatting with text or voice chat, which, by the way, lip-syncs to the player's words to what can be a hilarious effect.
It's still a bit early, but there's a lot to be excited about. As the saying goes, if you liked LittleBigPlanet, you'll love LittleBigPlanet 2. With upgraded graphics, new gameplay mechanics, deeper customization, customizable music, new genres, linkable levels... it's a whole new LittleBigPlanet, just waiting for you to, well... Play, Create and Share...
-Geck0, GameVortex Communications AKA Robert Perkins
Related Links: Official LittleBigPlanet Website Game Vortex's Coverage of LittleBigPlanet
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