WeView Verdict: LittleBigPlanet 3

I used to think that LittleBigPlanet wasn’t really for me. I could certainly see the appeal for others, particularly if you had young children to enjoy it with, but it didn’t really seem like it was a game for me, even if it did look fun. That was before I sat down and played LittleBigPlanet 3 at last year’s EGX, where I quickly realised just how wrong I had been. The LittleBigPlanet series is clearly built to be enjoyed by everyone, regardless of your age.

However, it seems that the third entry in the LittleBigPlanet series falls somewhat flatter than the others. Dan, who wrote the original WeView article, noted that the game had been collecting dust on his shelf, and other long time fans of the series didn’t seem quite as enamoured with it as they had been with previous games. Blair, otherwise known as our glorious leader, mentioned that he “just couldn’t get into it like I did with the other ones”, and found that it didn’t inspire the same “childish glee” that its older siblings had.

bunimomike picked up on this thread too, feeling that some of the issues can be attributed to “franchise-fatigue… creeping in”, a problem he, unfortunately, can’t see a way out of. However, he did also mention that while “LBP2 felt like a slight misstep… LBP3 corrects much of that”, which is certainly a plus for the game.

The other key issue that some of you picked up on were bugs in the game at launch. JR. seemed to be particularly hard hit by issues, complaining of an “inexcusable number of bugs and glitches that plagued the game at launch”, noting that “Some still haven’t been fixed”. This has lead them to steer clear of the game’s create mode, one of the key feature of the LBP series, feeling that investing a large chunk of time in creating a fun level only to “have my save file glitch and lose everything just isn’t worth the risk”. I can’t really argue with him there, its frustrations that like that really turn people away from games.

We also heard from tantalus_blank on the issue, who agreed that the game has “been full of bugs since it released, and generally just feels rushed”. dave87fez had a slightly different problem with the game, focussing on the camera. They found that “the camera was very problematic for two players”, leading to “endless frustration” when playing with his wife. Fortunately they have provided a potential solution, suggesting that LittleBigPlanet adopts a “Lego-esque dynamic split screen” to keep everyone clearly visible while playing.

There was some positivity out there though. stigdu related that their “(almost) 4-year-old daughter absolutely loves watching me play it”, while they personally praised the “new characters and getting Hugh Laurie in as our hero’s nemesis”. On the creation side of things, Sitorimon felt that while “the easy accessibility of LBP has been shrunk down” there’s now a lot more depth to it if you want to dive in, comparing the flexibility it gives you to Minecraft.

Our final comment of the week sees us return to tantalus_black, who managed to sum everything up quite nicely:

On paper LBP3 sounds amazing when you read about all the new features it brings in. Unfortunately Sumo haven’t met the high polished standard MM set with the prequels, and in a game like this, it really needs to feel robust.

Even with the general negative vibes around the game, including complaints from many of you about the story’s length, LittleBigPlanet 3 still did pretty well when it came down to the verdict. Although stigdu provided a split vote between Buy It and Plus It, depending on whether or not you had children, I’m inclined to count that as a vote for Plus It.

That was, however, the only vote for Plus It, with Buy It also gaining just one vote. The remaining four votes all went to Sale It, and given you can now get the game for below £20 that seems like pretty good advice.

In tomorrow’s WeView we’ll be taking a look at The Wolf Among us, while you can vote below for next week’s game.