LittleBigPlanet 3 didn't offer the gameplay experience that I was expecting, given Sony and Sumo Digital's heavy promotion of the game's three new playable characters, but anyone already in love with the LittleBigPlanet franchise will probably be more than content with LittleBigPlanet 3.
Like so many other games released in 2014, LittleBigPlanet 3 is a project that spans multiple console generations, having launched on both the PlayStation 3 and PS4. Sadly, attempting to develop LBP3 for multiple systems hasn't fared much better for Sumo Digital than any of the other studios that attempted to do the same this year.
LittleBigPlanet 3 certainly matches the same level of functionality found in previous iterations, and the introduction of new characters offers some level of promise down the road, but LBP3 doesn’t really move the stakes in a way that new/casual fans are likely to find meaningful.
Granted, few console games offer the depth of creation found in LittleBigPlanet 3's level editor, but I suspect I'm not the only person who will be disappointed to hear the game's new characters appear in fewer than a dozen missions from the LittleBigPlanet 3 campaign. In fact, you can count the number of missions that even allow you to play as Oddsock, Swoop and Toggle on a single hand.
Sure, you can revisit the overworld map of each area with whatever LBP3 character you just unlocked, but only to collect whatever bells and stamps you haven't already picked up with Sackboy. Those hoping to hot-swap between each of the game's four heroes will be disappointed to know it only happens once in the LittleBigPlanet 3 campaign.
Even then, you won't actually have any say over the character you're controlling in a given situation, and the only multi-hero stage is frustrating enough to make you want to stop playing LBP3 for a few days .
Before you start thinking I hated everything about LittleBigPlanet 3, I'd like to make clear that I did enjoy aspects of the game and am interested to see how the new characters from LBP3 are integrated into new levels from the LittleBigPlanet 3 community. The game's creation tools are as robust as ever and still allow players to import all of the content they unlocked in LittleBigPlanet and LBP2.
LittleBigPlanet 3 also continues the trend of allowing the LBP community to download maps created for LittleBigPlanet and LittleBigPlanet 2. Though it won't necessarily benefit everyone the same way, I was happy to see that trend continue because having a few costume pieces already in my inventory made it easier to identify my Sack Boy when playing cooperatively.
It's also nice to see such a substantial collection of content already residing in the Community section of the LittleBigPlanet 3 menu. Creations from previous games won't be equipped with any of the new obstacles from LittleBigPlanet 3, though; effectively removing any incentive to revisit them with Oddsock, Swoop and/or Toggle.
Even the handful of stages that do allow use of LittleBigPlanet 3's new characters aren't exactly head-scratchers. Because LBP3 doesn't allow you to swap between characters on-the-fly, instead forcing you to swap before entering the next level you plan to complete, there's never any question about what ability you're supposed to use to clear a given area.
While I've long enjoyed the LittleBigPlanet franchise, the complexity of its most-popular levels and a lack of time to sit down and come to grips with the Popit system has always prevented me from coming up with a LittleBigPlanet creation of my own. Based on the chatter I've seen in forums, I'm not alone in that regard and Sumo Digital is looking to solve that problem with LittleBigPlanet 3.
Not only does the latest LittleBigPlanet include more than two dozen Popit Academy challenges, a collection of tasks that mesh traditional level-traversal with Popit construction, Sumo Digital put together more than 150 tutorials for those looking to design their own LittleBigPlanet 3 level.
Each offers specific examples of how you might use one or more parts from the LittleBigPlanet 3 collection, along with the game’s expanded layer system, and should help budding creators come up with their own LBP3 content. The tutorial videos in particular can be especially helpful to anyone who just needs a quick briefing or refresher on the various items and mechanics featured in LittleBigPlanet 3.
On the flip side, many have rightly pointed out that LBP3 fails to offer any training on the various items from LittleBigPlanet and/or LittleBigPlanet 2. Both would be incredibly beneficial to those who’ve never played previous LittleBigPlanet titles or those who’ve simply forgotten how a part from one of the older collections works.
To make matters worse, a variety of bugs and game crashes make it difficult to play the game for more than an hour or two without interruption. But none of the problems with LittleBigPlanet 3 is more evident (or problematic) than the fact that LittleBigPlanet 3 completely freezes for about 3-5 seconds anytime you open the Popit menu. In fact, the freezes guarantee I'll never finish the Popit Academy, which aims to teach players how to complete certain tasks via level-like tutorial stages.
Similar hitches can also occur when browsing stickers, backing out of the customization screen and/or when interacting with various bits of the environment. Basically, any action involving the Square button is going to come with a fair amount of down time.
On the plus side, changes to the game's item management systems have allowed the LittleBigPlanet 3 team to include a variety of obstacles throughout each of the Sackboy-focused stages. There's plenty of rocket boot jumping, rail grinding and other such actions presumably meant to prevent your third outing as the cloth kid from feeling too similar to previous LittleBigPlanet adventures.
That said, it's disappointing that Sumo Digital didn't feel any responsibility to include more campaign content in LittleBigPlanet, or bother to create enough new content to make buying extra content packs feel like a bonus instead of a necessity. Previous entries in the series may be cheap these days, but the contents of LittleBigPlanet 3 should stand up on their own.
The content present on the LBP3 disc left me wanting and is likely to be even more disappointing for the millions of PlayStation 3 and PS4 owners who don't use PSN with any regularity (if at all). The LittleBigPlanet 3 campaign can be completed in a single afternoon and is unlikely to fill more than a few play sessions for even the most time-strapped gamer. And it could be weeks before we see the sort of community-created content that would justify spending $60 on the game.
LittleBigPlanet 3 Review - Final Verdict
I don't really know what I was expecting from LittleBigPlanet 3, given the change in development studio and the introduction of three relatively unique characters, but I certainly was expecting something a bit more substantive than what's to be found in LBP3.
Even if Sumo Digital didn't include my own vision of the hero rotation -- which I still think should have been swappable mid-level -- I'm not sure how Sony can justify making them such a significant part of the LittleBigPlanet 3 marketing campaign given their near constant absence from the story mode.
Like so many community-focused games, I have little doubt that the LittleBigPlanet 3 community will create enough content to justify my purchase. But I'm getting pretty damn tired of waiting for fans of my favorite games to finish the dev teams' jobs and even more out-of-patience with AAA projects like LittleBigPlanet 3 being so underwhelming at launch.
LittleBigPlanet 3 is an acceptable entry point for anyone who's yet to play a LittleBigPlanet game for themselves; however, I'm of the opinion that anyone still holding onto their copy of LittleBigPlanet and/or LittleBigPlanet 2 should just keep playing those for a few more months.
LittleBigPlanet 3 might justify its price tag one day, when all of its bugs are fixed and the community has had time to create the content that Sumo Digital couldn't be bothered to, but few outside of the community’s most dedicated creators and fans are likely to enjoy LittleBigPlanet 3 at launch.
Score - 3/5
What did you think of LittleBigPlanet 3? Disappointed with what you've found waiting in Sumo Digital's first take on the LittleBigPlanet franchise? Want to share your favorite level from the LBP3 community and/or promote your very own LittleBigPlanet 3 creation?
Let us know in the comments section!
