Media Molecule have made us all gods.

Think about it: when they're not smiting, plaguing, blessing, rewarding, canonising, or speaking with Tom Cruise, gods are creating various aspects of our world.

All Odin or Ra need to do is throw down a tree, magic up a few million animals, and clap an avatar made in their image into existence and - voila! - there they are, standing proudly in their very own world. In time, a god's avatars will most likely use the intelligence and free will bestowed on them to improve said world, but because they were created for this purpose, their heavenly father still gets 100% of the credit. All good things are made but by the will of god, brother. Testify.

Replace trees with decorations or in-game objects, animals with non-playing enemies or sackbots, and avatars with sackthings, and you've got yourself a piping hot, fresh-out-of-the-oven sackworld, just like Jehovah used to make.

Here are, in no particular order, twenty-five LittleBigPlanet 2 levels worth diving into sack-first. All the level names given here are exactly as they appear in-game and on LBP.me, so if you want to play any of them, searching for the name should provide results (but don't hold me to that).

The Seven Deadly Sins of LBP2 (funny movie) by ettevroc

Seems like a good place to start. This short film educates LittleBigPlanet neophytes (like myself) on the seven annoying actions that they should avoid at all cost during their adventures in the sackiverse. Full of fire, brimstone, and judgment from above.

Super Little Big Planet Fighter 2 Turbo by Hymanator

If by 'Turbo' you mean 'the awkward speed and physics of rock-'em-sock-'em robots in low gravity" then yeah: this is definitely turbo. Beware, though: you will be forced to endure (and dish out) face-sits, fondle-punches, and crotch-kicks. A lot.

Rogue Panda Rescue by JackofCourse

A herd of energetic pandas have escaped the zoo, and are hiding out in what I assume is a local Chinese man's ridiculously complicated house (apparently Chinese architects don't believe in stairs). The stage is both fun and challenging, and can be completed either solo or with an ally. Further proof that pandas are the wildest and most excitable of creatures.

Little Big Olympics with Water by Nicolas0664

Hurdles, diving, the long-jump, mountain biking, and no sack-shrinking performance-enhancing drugs. Half the fun is the level's happy-go-lucky, often goofy presentation. Great with friends.

HACKER (arcade shooter) by PeteyPirahna128

A bit difficult for my taste, but classic kill-the-aliens-before-they-descend-past-this-arbitrary-line fun you grew up with (if you're old enough to remember He-Man, the Thundercats, and/or the forgotten past-time now known as "hanging out at the arcade"). Don't feel bad that you just destroyed the last fleet of a dying race just trying to find its home in the 'verse. They were different to you, and therefore had be shot down in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire.

The gnome cave by ManiaColus

Fun and visually striking, but if gnomes really live in this cave then, god damn, they hate outsiders. A fairly difficult platformer with some unique tricks.

Die, Zombie, Die! by Senfglas-Josh

Really, Die, Zombie, Die! shouldn't even be on this list until it's had some serious improvement. It's easy, predictable and somewhat uninspired, but hey: you get to decimate sack-zombies (sackbies?), which is a great way to kill two minutes.

Dani California Song - Red Hot Chili Peppers by LucidSummit

Not a jawdropping rendition, but still better than 90% of the remixes floating out there in the LittleBigPlanet community, perhaps because the Red Hot Chili Peppers are just that good a band.

Fireflies by Owl City by RyanJonny

Personally, I hate this song when it's sung by its actual artist. Take out the vocals (and the distracting pseudo-hipster stage Halloween costume), and it's actually kind of soothing. The starry-night aesthetic of the stage adds to the effect.

Music Archive Menu Screen by cortster12

Our friend 'cortster12' is pretty good at using the LBP music box to give classic songs a makeover. This level incorporates Pokemon, Pirates of the Caribbean, Gerudo Valley, and a few others worth checking out for any fan of retro gaming.

LITTLEBig Basketball by Halocomander1

This game with one player? A picture of loneliness. This game with four players? A full-on, courtside fiesta of good-natured competition.

Lady Gaga - Pokerface Music Box/Sequencer by Mike0_O

Yeah, that's what we need: more Lady Gaga to burrow into our memory cortex and drive us slowly but utterly insane. The best part of this level is definitely the three-way dance party involving Gaga, your sackthing, and Antoine Dodson of YouTube fame.

Bed Intruder Song by mfc50

It's exactly what you think.

Omicron - Neon City by UrbanDevil

It's just a two-minute teaser of a full game to come, but this appetiser to UrbanDevil's upcoming RPG does a ridiculously good job of manipulating the LBP level editor. The setting - a rainy, noir cityscape that makes you imagine private detectives in trench coats putting out cigarettes to wailing saxophones and electronica - is a mix between Gotham and Tron.

No Peg's Island by Shris and clarkdef

Pirate No Pegs wants to loan you his ship, but he can't - at least, not until his chores are done. Help him out by fishing, recovering lost treasure, discovering a lost city under the ocean, and recovering a message in a bottle floating at sea. You know, everyday humdrum pirate stuff. Very well designed, with scallawagish music and a buccaneer-ey setting.

Bad luck...(FILM) by allu199

Hilarious, well directed, and short enough to hold the attention span of even a schizophrenic toddler on a sugar high in a carnival fun house. Be sure to check out allu199's second film, The Chase, as well.

Jaws! by PinkPoeticAngel

You are chased by a giant, god-hating shark until you are either:

a) eaten, or...
b) ...I'm really not sure if there is a B.

The most exhilarating thirty seconds you'll spend all hour.

Batman - the Joker's escaped (now copyable) by BentheBomber1

A must-play for any Batman fan. It's a little long, but in its own cartoony way it does the caped crusader justice.

The Adventures of Cyclops! Bounty Hunter Chaos! by GodofPlum

Cyclops, meet the great state of Alabama. Alabama, Cyclops. You two are gonna do fine.

Dragon Slayer by Jaeyden

A six-part fantasy epic that, like the Lord of the Rings before it, involves a lot of walking. Overall a fun, generally well-crafted story with sections that are relaxing, exciting, and just plain fun.

Bounce Race in Space! by Sanji101

A simple racing level to try out with your friends, boasting veritable oodles of bounce pads. Get ready to yell with fury at your cheerfully-trampolined competitors.

Classic Zelda 1-1 by BlueTonBerry

I'm not sure how Blue pulled this off, but he's recreated the first Zelda dungeon with skill and ingenuity. It lacks music, and the color scheme is an oppressive Van Gogh blue, but it's impressive nonetheless.

Rio Dance Off by Wexfordian [From LBP2 TV Ad] [2-4 Player] by wexfordian

A basic combo game, in which a column of different buttons on your controller scroll downward, and hitting the requested button causes your specially-chosen dancebot to shake his or her 'groove thang'. I say 'groove thang' because all the characters look as though they were pulled from a 70s disco flick, or perhaps John Travolta's subconscious. It's a simple concept that can get boring fast if played alone, but - like all versus levels - becomes exponentially more fun when competing with friends.

Incredible Hulk! (FILM) by ArnieBoy74

Featuring more plot than in both Incredible Hulk films to date.

Vile Anchorage by Lockstitch

My favorite community level to date. It boasts a beautiful setting, complex gameplay, an entrancing soundtrack, and even a little story. If you own LittleBigPlanet 2, seek out and play this game, then heart Lockstitch a thousand times so he knows he's done well.


All these levels and more can be found at the LittleBigPlanet community website, LBP.me.

Labels: 2011, Feature, Greg Mengel, LBP, List, LittleBigPlanet, LittleBigPlanet 2, Media Molecule, PlayStation3, PS3, Sackboy, user-generated content

Those pesky Chimera. They just don't give up. Not only have they taken over Europe, suffered heavy losses in Great Britain and continued the fight by going over to the US, but now they're flexing their muscles and killing innocent Sackboys. When will they stop?

That's right, my lords, ladies and Sackpeople. More DLC is coming to LittleBigPlanet, one item being a Chimeran Grim costume for your Sackboy to celebrate the release of Resistance 2. The cosume, which you can see in the image above, will be available on the Japanese PSN at a cost of ¥200 which should come in at about £1.50 if the content makes it over here.

Other costumes making their way to the Land of the Rising Sun include a TV head for Sackboy, a MotorStorm riders outfit and a Thanksgiving turkey head (for some reason). Hopefully all these costumes should make it over to the UK. Keep an eye on the PlayStation Store to see.

Linford

Labels: DLC, LBP, LittleBigPlanet, PSN, Resistance 2

Why is it that companies allow the public to beta test products that aren't fully ready yet? Is it because they enjoy the risk? Is it because they need the feedback? Or is it because they know they've created an absolute masterpeice and want to show it off?

In the case of the LittleBigPlanet beta, it must've been the last one. The first and second ones too, but mainly the last - because, and I'm not overstating here, LBP is a work of art in every single sense of the word.

If anyone is struggling to remember or does not know what LittleBigPlanet is, then shame on you. However, due to the fact that I need you to read this, I will attempt to explain. LittleBigPlanet is a platformer in which you are a small 'Sackboy', who has to make the perilous journey through a world that is made of all the dreams we've ever thought up. Cool, huh?

'Yeah, right', I hear you say, sarcastically rolling your eyes before going back to your hyper-realistic shooters. But wait, oh ye of little faith - and don't roll your eyes as I say - LittleBigPlanet is one of the best games you will ever see.

Gameplay-wise, LBP can't be faulted. Response-times are really quick, the controls are intuitive and easy to pick-up, and the platformey/arcadey vibes it has going are spot on - it really feels like a well-rounded game.

Graphically, LBP is really good - but not excellent. The best graphics have to be in the pod, with the giant Sixaxis controller, but in game there is a little pixelation and the renders are a tiny bit squared. It isn't enough to put you off, though, and the HD textures should make up for lost ground in other graphical departments.

Online is where LBP comes into it's own - and I will nick the 'recycling' slogan here - the possibilities are endless. The beta included just under four pages - and the pages are bloody big - of user-created levels, as well as the pre-developed levels on the campaign mode. Of the levels I played, the fashion was to go for downhill races, but some were absolutely original - MusterBuster's [of the EU PlayStation forums] pinball level was absolutely amazing.

If the beta test was anything to go by, LittleBigPlanet is going to be the biggest gaming event this side of the PlayStation4 - it really is absolutely breathtakingly fantastic.

Welcome, my friends, to the PlayStation revolution.

Linford

Labels: LBP, LittleBigPlanet