POSTED 20/12/14


LITTLEBIGPLANET 3

Sony

Call yourself a game?

Well, we don’t actually call ourselves a game, no. But LittleBigPlanet 3 calls itself a game and we sometimes employ linguistic elasticity while using the typed word to examine games, so we probably should type something about this one.

It’s so fluffy!

Now, that’s not particularly helpful, is it?

Look, this is the third real LittleBigPlanet and it sticks rather steadfastly to the established formula, save for when it veers away from it. For example, your delightfully gender-fluid sackperson isn’t one woollen being against the world now. He’s hornswoggled by talking light bulb Newton (Hugh Laurie reuniting with Stephen Fry – ooh!), and must save the creativity of a locale called Bunkum, in which you meet three new playable knit-wit chums. Oddsock’s a big jumper, Swoop flies and carries, and big old Toggle can become little shrinkydinked Toggle. Obviously these fine fuzzy folk variously help, otherwise we wouldn’t be arsed mentioning them.

As pretty and charming and platformy as ever, the adventure mode serves as an introduction to some golly-gosh-gee-wow innovations, such as multiple-multiple depth levels and new tricks – atop those which your three new associates bring to the tea party.

As obtuse as ever, some puzzles will grate, confound or just impel you to dive at the grumpy Sackboy face button. We also encountered bugs, and if we were patient types we’d likely still be perambulating along an apparently endless beach waiting for something... anything...

As predictably as ever, online tries barging in everywhere.

As reliably as ever, the myriad creation tools are what make LBP3 a worthy investment. Should you crave creation, natch. They’re super-improved, and even stuff from iterations one and two is compatible.

Are we happy? ARE WE HAPPY? Well, speaking as single players, we’re agreeably ambivalent. Speaking as creators, however, we’re pleasingly revitalised.

Night-night.

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