LittleBigMetalGear!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH YEAH!!!!!!!!!


5 New costumes: Old Snake, Meryl, Raiden, Screaming Mantis and Gurlukovic Solider


Plus tons of new stickers (72), materials (12), decorations (10), and objects (18).


Media Molecule teamed with Konami to create 5 new Story Levels and 1 new Challenge Level for you to enjoy.


Plus:1 new background music track3 new interactive music tracks1 new Metal Gear Solid themed 'sound object'New Plasma Ball 'danger element'New Laser Sight 'gadget'New functioning Searchlight lamp - for those special 'exclamation mark' momentsand finally, the piece de resistance THE PAINTINATOR (and Paint Switch) Add to all that, there are 12 new Trophies to unlock (and if you pay attention to the story at all, we're not a big fan of Trophy Levels).Tons of new gameplay, tons of new game-changing objects, and tons of create materials all for just $5.99

Metal Gear Solid 4 + LittleBigPlanet = AWESOMENESS!!!!

~The Damo

LittleBigPlanet - Review

There comes a time when something new and fresh hits the scene. Sometimes it's a new twist on established genres, or a completely new genre altogther. But then you have something else. Something which revisits most of our own precious beginnings in gaming, expands on it, makes it better, and then lets you do it yourself. That game, is LittleBigPlanet.

What I'm talking about is platforming. All the classics were platforming - Mario, Metroid, Sonic etc. and LBP is the first game in a long to time to revisit this almost forgotten genre and reinvent it in a whole new way. You play as Sackboy (or indeed Sackgirl) and inhabit the LittleBigPlanet. Your adventures thoughout the story mode take you all across the globe, to a greeny/castle themed Eurozone, to the African Savannah, across the Altantic to the haunted South American section, up north to the bustling metropolis, then west to oriental Japan and a quick stop off in India before you make your way to the Tundra wastelands. Each area has its own unique feel and theme, all beautifully created using the LBP tools, and each section starts you off with a little costume zone to dress for the occasion. The story-mode in itself is rather good, though I can't say the game really has a story and really, the story mode levels are there to inspire you, the real creator of the LittleBigPlanet.

As Sackboy, you can do a couple of things. The controls are basic and can easily be taken up by anyone - I'm sure my 6 year old sister could even play it - X is jump, R1 is grab, move with the Left stick and change your emotions with the D-Pad: Up = Happy, Down = Sad, Right = Tough, Left = Scared. While the emotions don't change how you play the game, they can make the online mulitplayer experience more enjoyable and funny. If you hold L2 and move the left analog you control Sackboy's right arm, the R2 button and the right stick control his left hand. Combining these and tilting the SIXAXIS/DUALSHOCK 3 you can animate Sackboy by dancing, waving to other players, pointing to a direction or whatever. The default tilt controls Sackboy's head, while clicking L3 then changes the tilt to control his hips. It's remarkably intuitive and clever. By pressing SQUARE you can open your Pop-It, from here you can dress your Sackboy in all manner of things (too many to name, but at one stage I was a half Roman Centurion-Ninja type guy with a lions tail). You can open your sticker collection and decorate the levels or indeed decorate your pod. The pod is where you enter LBP, it hovers above the planet in the stars and online acts as the waiting room while you (or indeed whoever is the host) picks the next level.

While you don't have to play the story mode, I can see no reason why you wouldn't. Playing through the story unlocks costume elements, materials for contruction, level elements (as in pre-built stuff) and bonus levels. And like I said, you can get incredible inspiration from playing. You need to play through the story to unlock trophies and it is absolutely essential you play online or with friends if you want to get the illusive Platinum trophy. Speaking briefly on the trophies, many are rather straight forward and encourage community interaction as well as playthough of the story. Some also encourage creation and others are approriately graded for the challenge, example: you earn a gold trophy if you complete each level without dying once. Take it from me, that is NOT an easy thing to do. Any preconception you may have of this game being kiddy or childish or not for hardcore gamers is ridiculous. LBP is surprisingly challenging at times, and also frustrating it might be said. A shallow review would comment the difficulty at points being a flaw, and I will admit I planned to include it as a flaw when I first began this review (some weeks back I might add) but it isn't unfair difficult, it is challenging. I think many of us in this modern gaming generation have forgotten that games should challenge us, just because we keep dying does not mean the game is unfair!

Anyway, back on track here, LBP is intended to be used online. If you only plan to play the game offline you are cutting yourself off from an incredible experience. LBP allows you to make your own LEVELS!!! In this respect the game can never end. Each level in the story is made using these tools, and that is why playing through them is essential for inspiration and additionally in understanding how the tools work.

Before you begin you have to sit through tutorials which teach you how to build. Stephen Fry's narration can seem a little slow at times (we're not idiots) but it's a nice touch. The tools themselves are easy to use but difficult to master. I would recommend simply messing around and playing with different machines and objects before setting out to make a level. Some tools require a fair amount of understanding to nail perfectly, and it is highly recommended that you plan out what you're going to do, rather than jump in and see what happens. Doing that can lead to frustration and broken controllers. From my experience the building is a hell of a lot of fun, especially being an engineering student. The thermometer limit on the left really isn't a hindrance at all. Assuming you played through the story well you will have a whole host of objects, materials and stickers available to make your level as brilliant as possible. Expanding what's in your "Goodies Bag" is all the incentive you should need to collect everything in the story. What's great as well is you can make your own objects, then save it (like a car, or a bike, or a catapult - whatever!) and place it as a prize that other people can win when they play your level.

You don't have to upload your level, but as I mentioned earlier there are trophies to be earned when you do - for simply publishing a level, getting a certain number of people to play it, getting hearted and so on. Hearting a level is simple and quick to do. You can access other people's levels from the pod. All these levels are original content created by other LBP players from across the globe. Much like Youtube, the levels on "Planet 1" are either very new or the cream of the crop and you will often find that they have been played in the thousands of times. Pressing R1 leads you to "Planet 2", then 3 and so on. The idea is that the better levels are kept closer to the top while the bad ones sink to the bottom. It works well and hasn't met any hitches yet. There are already tonnes of levels online, and I must say at times I was blown away by the quality. While the story levels are still the most polished, I have no doubt that we will start seeing better levels over the holidays as people master the tools more.

The community experience is simply brilliant. Completing a level, even on your own, ends with a scoreboard, and your score is uploaded to the worldwide rankings. Playing with more players makes it into a competition. As Media Molecule call it "Co-opetition". Whilst you're still competing, you need each other to complete the level. It makes for a great experience all round. After you play someone's level you can heart it and leave a description tag. Naturally the more hearts a level has the higher it will be up on the "Planet" rankings. You can even leave comments and like I said, there are trophies rewarding good community interaction.

What makes LittleBigPlanet special is its innovation. Not to mention top notch graphics and physics. Just because it looks simple doesn't mean the overall presentation should be, LBP is a beautifully crafted world, full of colour and animation. I can't even do it justice in my review; LBP is something you simply have to experience. I can assure you there will be laughs, smiles, tears and above all FUN. How can you not love that face???



Presentation: 10
It is a beautiful game with vibrant colours and environments and excellent fire and electricity effects. And let's not forget excellently programmed physics and material interaction.

Gameplay: 10
What more could you want, platforming with simple yet entertaining puzzles and innovation the industry hasn't seen in years. And don't forget the creation tools.

Design: 9.8
Surprisingly no major technical issues and perfect frame rate throughout, jumping mechanics could be a tad better.

Content: 10
A MASSIVE amount for a game that doesn't know if it's little or big, potentially infinite play time and the ability to craft your own world and play online, I don't think you could have anymore.

Overall: 9.9

It really is The Next Big Thing. I can't begin to imagine how HUGE the sequel is going to be... Yes, a sequel is already in the works!

~The Damo

The LittleBigPreview

11 days to go. That's all that's left to the release of one of the most anticipated games this year - LittleBigPlanet. Never before have I seen anyone - and by anyone I mean Media Molecule - look to have gotten it so right.

LBP is unique in the sense that theoretically the game can never end, with the slogan "Play, Create, Share" defining the aspects of the game. LBP puts you in control of Sackboy (or Sackgirl if it takes your fancy) and will allow you to not only customise your Sackcharacter, but also to create your own levels or even modify those that come with the game. This level of creation in a game is something unique to the console experience, it is far more than a map editor which allows you to rearrange predetermined items - here you can make your OWN items and share them with the world.

Combining this incredible experience with lovable cute characters is the driving force behind LBP. Further down in the blog you can see images of how Sony and Media Molecule have exploited this cuteness by re-incarnating Sony's mascots in Sackcharacter style. All the customisations and creations give this title limitless possibilities, which is a dream for an engineering student such as myself.

The genius behind the design is that the tools are simple, easy-to-use, and with practice can be combined into designs that rival those created by the game makers themselves. All the levels and items in the game are made using these tools, further bridging the gap between the limits of the developers and the gamers - something which has yet to be accomplished save for MODS.

All the final details will come in the final review, including my thoughts on the gameplay and full range of creation tools. Until then, here's a host of media from the game, including the Sony mascots I mentioned earlier:

Dream/In Love Trailer:

Sackzilla Trailer:

Pirates & Ninjas:

Making Fun:

And these two are well worth the look - complete with Crocodile Hunter style narration!!!

SackPeople Documentary 1:

SackPeople Documentary 2:

And the Mascots:

Introducing...

Kratos from God of War

Nariko from Heavenly Sword

Helghast Troopers from Killzone and Killzone 2

Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid Series

Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII

With more likely to be announced such as Nathan Drake from Uncharted and Nathan Hale from Resistance: Fall of Man and Resistance 2.

Grinds My Gears returns soon!!!!

~The Damo

LittleBigPlanet Beta - Impressions

Yeah, I'm in the beta!! And let me sum it up with: "It ROCKS"!!!

Let me start from the beginning: there I was, happily browsing the Gametrailers forums when I discover a post revealing that Eurogamer.net were giving out free no-strings-attached beta codes for LittleBigPlanet. I was one of the lucky few who managed to nab a code before the servers crashed and were offline for some time. Nevertheless the second I got that code I switched on the PS3 and started the 900MB download.

This is an online beta, and as such is really there to test the online functionality of the game, not necessarily to exercise the game tools (which I must say are quite extensive for something which is practically a demo). I'll be doing a proper preview of LittleBigPlanet as the release date approaches but to put it in a nutshell - the only limits of this game are those of your imagination!

The beta lets you play through a few story mode levels which upon completion unlock different tools and stickers for use in the create mode. I can tell you here and now this is the single most addictive game I have ever played! Stephen Fry's narration also gives the game a very unique atmosphere, something that I haven't experienced before.

It's quite difficult for me to discuss the beta when I haven't done a proper preview of what to expect so, being the lazy person I am, I've whipped Gametrailers gameplay videos from the beta.

Enjoy!

Tree:


Stickers:


Pod:


Racing:


Sexy:


Scary Castle:


I've already made one whole level (which half filled the thermometer) and is currently available online. Actually making your own level provides you with far more experience than the tutorials ever could. The possibilities are quite literally - and quite cliche-dly - limitless!!!

~The Damo

...And E3 For All

So this years' E3 has past, and what have we learned? Well, surprisingly not much. I'm not going to waste too much time bitching about the overall crappiness of E3 as the industries (allegedly) biggest expo. It just isn't as good as it used to be. Nevertheless there would some good points.

Since I own a PS3 and Wii I can't comment too much on Microsoft's performance completely, but the surprise of the show definitely goes to them over the Final Fantasy XIII on Xbox reveal. I can't say I was overly impressed by anything else they had to offer. The avatars are a Wii rip-off, Lips is a Singstar rip-off and all these "camera orientated" games feels a lot like Playstation Eye. Nevertheless, Gears of War 2 and Fable 2 were excellent, but still didn't show us anything we didn't already know. Nintendo was pitiful, seriously. It was so bad than an offical apology was released. If ever there was a sign that the novelty of the Wii has worn off it was E3. Not one memorable game was shown, and right now the only games I would consider playing on the Wii are Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Bros Brawl.

Anyway, where it's at for me is Sony, which most analysts seem to consider the best press conference overall. I'll be doing a blog later (maybe next week) going into more detail about the PS3's current successes but for now I'm going to focus on FOUR main things.

First of all is two videos regarding LittleBigPlanet. I'll be writing more about LBP as its release approaches but for now I'll say this: LBP could well be Game of the Year.

If this isn't the cutest and best video for a video game ever I don't know what is. What's important to remember about LBP is that ANYTHING you see in the videos you can make yourself in the building tools. It should also be noted that given the set-up of the video (with the Playstation 3 gliding across at the start and the "This Is Living" logo at the end suggests this will be a TV ad.)



E3 is now better known for talking about Facts & Figures than games, and Sony definitely put together the most interesting piece to talk about all that boring crap. Like I said before - you could make this level in game yourself!



Secondly was the Resistance 2 footage. Like LBP I will be making a more concise blog about R2 as time goes on. All that needs to be said is that this is the sequel to one of my favourite PS3 games - Resistance: Fall of Man and everytime I see it I'm more and more impressed....

Gotta love this trailer, the 50's narration and everything....


And the 300ft Boss Battle....*drools*


Sony also showed off Killzone 2, which many are touting as currently the best looking console game available, and this video should illustrate that.....


AND FINALLY...the one trailer we ALL wanted to see. Ladies and Gentlemen, God of War 3.....


More on all these in a few blogs time.

~The Damo