LittleBigPlanet 3 Reviews
LittleBigPlanet 3 is a well-intentioned pastiche of different activities that is simultaneously too restrictive and too open-ended to achieve greatness.
LittleBigPlanet 3's whimsical world has plenty of good ideas that struggle to form a cohesive whole.
LittleBigPlanet 3 is a great creative experience packaged with an unfortunate single-player experience as its forward-facing section and buggy co-op play, both which significantly hamper what is otherwise an excellent creative experience and game-design as play.
A beautifully-designed game with a great creation toolkit, LittleBigPlanet 3 is let down by unimaginative co-op & bugs.
Ultimately, LittleBigPlanet 3 is a pretty decent effort which lamentably hamstrings itself. It's charming, aesthetically pleasing, and a lot of fun when it works - but various bugs and glitches, long load times, and a lacklustre story mode really drag it down. Fortunately, the level creation and sharing features save it from being mundane, and provide a boatload of additional content to make it worth the money. It might not be as good as the first two games in the series, but LittleBigPlanet 3 still has enough going for it to make it an enjoyable - albeit sometimes shaky - platform game for all ages.
LittleBigPlanet 3 is a fantastic and enjoyable experience till you hit a game breaking glitch.
LittleBigPlanet 3 is an endearing and charming game that will work its way into your heart thanks to its presentation and new characters. The end-game possibilities are endless thanks to the co-op, level creator and millions of community driven stages imported from past titles, but it's held back due to Sumo Digital's unwillingness to fully flesh out their ideas.
In its third mainline iteration, LittleBigPlanet's momentum shifts from a bastion of adaptive entertainment to a lightning rod of tailored inspiration. It's a logical progression, one that sacrifices personal moments of professionally crafted clarity, but in their place is a tidy collection of tools and concepts masquerading as purpose-driven levels – and the hope that talented players will embrace enough of them to fill in LittleBigPlanet 3's considerable gaps in content.
It seems disappointing that new developer Sumo Digital didn't take the time to really make this a definitive LittleBigPlanet entry. Long loading times and slightly restrictive campaign levels are holding LittleBigPlanet 3 back from being a fantastic game for players of all ages. Co-op is still as enjoyable as it always has been, but there's not enough of it in the base game for you to appreciate all the characters.
'LittleBigPlanet 3' shows flashes of potential to current-gen gamers but comes across as a proof of concept more than anything else.
LittleBigPlanet 3 makes some serious revisions to the formula, but somehow still feels like it's following a set design pattern.
LittleBigPlanet 3's devoted fans will surely craft some excellent levels in the months to come, but mostly this feels like a proof of concept for a much better LittleBigPlanet 4.
Little Big Planet 3's focus on creative expression is underutilized in its story campaign but shines in its level editor.
LittleBigPlanet is once again its own worst enemy, as it fails to make the best use of its own fun new characters. Although the creation tools are the most accessible they've ever been.
Without these problems, I'd have no hesitation in saying this is the best LittleBigPlanet game to date. The deeper integration of creative elements into the story is a big plus, as is the superior level design, and the new characters are very welcome, even if they're ultimately underused. But in its current state, it's hard to recommend without some serious caveats. Held together by Sellotape rather than superglue, LittleBigPlanet 3 is in constant danger of falling apart.
LittleBigPlanet 3 doesn't quite live up to the legacy of previous iterations due to a handful of key drawbacks.
In six months, it's likely we'll be seeing some fantastic user-created content for Little Big Planet 3, and I can't wait to see what the community produces. As the game stands now, it offers a fun but shallow Adventure Mode, bottomless charm, and all the tools you need to make your own fantastic platformer experience -- provided you have the creativity and patience the franchise has always required.
LittleBigPlanet 3 boasts more creative capabilities than its predecessors and tutorial levels for teaching the basics to patient newcomers. Adventure mode fails to innovate in the same way, relegating the most interesting additions--playable heroes OddSock, Toggle, and Swoop--to a small handful of levels.
With all of the innovations LittleBigPlanet 3 brings with Toggle, Oddsock, and Swoop, it's a shame they aren't allowed to show off their stuff on a regular basis, because they are the best thing to happen to the series in years. It would be nice to see them return in a big way in a potential sequel, but for now hardcore LBP fans should have enough creation options to last them until that point.
LittleBigPlanet 3 brings a box of new toys and drops them at your feet. Your enjoyment of the game will greatly depend on what you decide (and are able) to do with that assortment of goodies.