Little Big Planet review-me-do.

PS3 HOME is supposed to be the most amazing thing ever. It isn't. It is just a crass attempt to make you spend money instead of playing games on your games console. (Read : Media centre.) As a gateway to a world of new experience, it makes for an incredibly effective barrier. The whole community aspect is far too limited, and I can think of no logical reason why the bowling alley consists of 6 lanes that can fill. Yes, you read that right. I had to wait for a slot to become available to play a video game in a virtual space!

Sony have made a pretty huge mistake there, because despite HOME and its over-powering restriction, there really is the potential for a great community on the PS3. The proof of this pudding comes in the shape of Little big Planet.

That it is the best 2D platformer since New Super Mario Bros. is enough for me, I would buy the game on the strength of the single-player alone. Platforming, when done right, is still one of the most satisfying genres out there. And Media Molecule have gotten some of it EXTREMELY right! From pixel-perfect jumps, to timed chases, to seemingly unreachable rewards, all the required elements are in place. Things are made so much better, though, because of the style. Sackboy is such a simple idea, and yet is full of charm. The world in which he lives is a direct extension of this, and is all the more enjoyable for the enforced cartoonishness of things.

The real genius, though, is the clever usage of physics. Items can be moved, bounced, burnt, sploded, broken, and interacted with in countless ways. Some things are light enough for Sackboy to grab and drag in order to get access to areas he can't jump to. Sometimes, you need to find other ways past. So, you might grab a sponge on a string in order to swing across a chasm. Or, you might have to drive a rocket-powered car at it fast enough to smash through. Or, you might need to carry explosives toward it from a jetpack, through perilous rocky outcrops. All the kind of stuff you just don't do in more real-world based games.

And then, the piece de resistance. Or, more accurately, the first of two.

You get the opportunity to create your very own levels. In the past, this has amounted to some limited "Place one of these few blocks in one of these few places." Not so, here! Here, you get to create the very blocks that you are placing, as well as what they do, what they react with, along with where they go. You can create locales, traps, enemies, vehicles, even the very backgrounds. You define how they look, how they sound, how they are lighted, and how they react, along with what they react to.

Then, you get to upload it to the community. Which is quite possibly the trump card. I swear, rather than making adverts with generic Australian 'comedy', and stressing that you can play with anything, Sony should be showcasing the idea that ANYBODY can play with anything you made!

I came across a level called 'Vanessa Feltz in the Cheeky Temple', which speaks for itself. Even if the level is awful, somebody took the time to create something like that. Let's examine this for just a couple of seconds here.

Vanessa Feltz is ... there is no nice way to put it. She is a joke. Her short-lived career as a broadcaster is well and truly over, she only gets to appear on TV these days when they remind us annualy of her Celebrity Big Brother meltdown. Any aspect of seriousness she once held has been stripped away in a loop of reality TV and sitcom cash-in appearances. And, most people in Britain know this. She belongs to that special class of celebrity who exist these days because we like to laugh at those less fortunate than ourselves. To her credit, she does somewhat accept her fate, rather than try and act like she still has any kind of relevance.

So, when 'Divalicious' got his or her hands on the tools to make ANYTHING THEY COULD IMAGINE, they imagined a fat has-been for their ideal mascot. I have yet to play the level myself, but I don't need to. I can already imagine the level of hilarious it entails. Divalicious is clearly a person with whom I could have a great laugh. At time of writing I am unable to access the LBP servers, but as soon as I can I will 'heart' them (add them as a favourite creator of levels) without hesitation. Such is the potential of this title.

From my own point of view, I have in my hands a tool that will allow me to try out ideas, and test them on the public at large. By refusing to join in with any forum-based "Let's heart each other for the trophy!" shenanigans, and just releasing my own levels to see how they do, I will know that if I get enough people hearting me that I am doing things right. If I don't, then I am not. This is wonderful, publishing without the need to buy a license!

All of this goes without mentioning 1-4 player local play, and up to 8 players online! Replayability is built in due to the quite frankly scary amount of items to collect in each level, some of which are VERY well placed. Some require co-operation to get, and thankfully all players receive the reward when they reach these items.

The real community consists of gamers, not customers. People are what they make, not just what they buy. HOME has been made by marketing executives, whereas Little Big Planet has been made by artists. I will leave it up to you to judge which one is more likely to be a success.