Little Big Planet 2: The Ethereal Dreamscape

Proud parents of a Sackboy

The power of dreams, Little Big Planet 2 conjectures, is more powerful than any other force on Earth. All the negativity that we experience on a daily basis—whether that be from an Internet forum, coworkers, or even unwittingly family members or friends—cannot overcome the power of dreams and creativity. That sounds absurd to most of us, but pick up Little Big Planet 2 and it becomes a realistic mantra.

The part of me that’s a critic and a self-proclaimed video game analyst wanted to smash the game for its shortcomings: how every now and then a simple jump on top of a block becomes a herculean task, or getting caught in between objects or struggling with a grappling hook control that seemed to fight against me (if I want to swing left or right, the rope shouldn’t retract or extend but stay the same length, I wanted to yell).

But then I found myself sucked into Little Big Planet, and those concerns and annoyances dissipated. Stephen Fry, who narrates the tutorials and some of the story mode, carried me into a world unlike any other, so surpassing its predecessor that developer Media Molecule deserves some kind of video game equivalent to the Medal of Honor for going above and beyond the call of duty.

My conversion started after finishing the last of the rather extensive list of tutorials and feeling, frankly, overwhelmed. I had learned about logic and robots and creating timed sequences and how to create music, but it seemed so daunting. Then a seed planted in my head long ago sprouted and I thought, well, let’s jump in and see what happens. Suddenly the game’s tree logo made sense, and my idea had blossomed into a fully realized level.

I built a Light Cycle from Tron. It took minutes and it's drivable.

For example: you want to know how easy it is to make a vehicle? You slap a little device (called the controllinator) onto an object, add a directional circuit to it, and voila! There’s your basic vehicle. You can make it more complicated, sure, but what was such a difficult task in the first game became a breeze in the second. I found myself spending more time expressing than fiddling (although there was plenty of satisfying fiddling involved as I added some of the more complicated details). My level was born, something entirely new and different than anything I had played in the excellent single player campaign.

The fantastic level design in the single player mode is just a sample of what you can build. My girlfriend and I finished the campaign together in just a few days; however, I see now more than ever that the story mode is meant to start the wheels turning to your own creativity; that mode is meant to show you what can be done, which I frankly believe is everything and anything. From side scrolling shooters to tower defense games (yes, someone has already made a rather excellent tower defense game), Little Big Planet 2 has limitless possibilities.

Never before have I said this and meant it so fiercely: Little Big Planet 2 is more than a video game. It is a conduit directly to the heart of imagination. Seriously. Since playing and starting to create, I have found myself thinking outside the box in all aspects of my life. My fiction writing has improved, my work as a copy writer has become more pleasant, my relationship with my friends has flourished. Maybe I can’t attribute all of this to Little Big Planet 2, but this gem of a game has made me stop doubting what can be done and start realizing my possibilities.