LittleBigPlanet 2
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| Developer: | Media Molecule | ||||||||||||||||||
| Publisher: | Sony Computer Entertainment | ||||||||||||||||||
| System(s): | PlayStation 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Genre: | Action, Platformer | ||||||||||||||||||
| Supported players: | 1-4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current version: | 1.33 (Read more...) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Further details:
- Merchandise images
LittleBigPlanet 2, abbreviated as LBP2, is a direct sequel to the original LittleBigPlanet developed by Media Molecule on the PlayStation 3. Put into development shortly after the completion of the first game, it boasts many technical improvements and new features while maintaining compatibility with all existing user-made content.
Like its predecessors, LittleBigPlanet 2 is a 2.5D puzzle platformer with a heavy emphasis on user generated content. In contrast to previous entries, which were primarily puzzle-platform games, LittleBigPlanet 2 was marketed as a "platform for games" - meant to contrast the "platform game" genre - with its toolset facilitating the creation of many different gameplay styles not possible in earlier titles, including shoot 'em ups, fighters, role-playing games and more.[1] Online support for the title was discontinued on 13 September 2021.
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Features
New features
LittleBigPlanet 2 sought to expand the series' scope, through the addition of numerous mechanics and quality of life features; many of these are available in the game's create mode.
- Two new level types: cutscene and versus.
- Player planets which, along with My Moon, can be customized using stickers, decorations, and materials from the popit. Planets can have published levels placed along them, which other players can access from the Pod; this addition comes with multiple new tools.
- The music sequencer, a music object that can be used in tandem with music sequencer instruments to create custom tracks.
- Logic gadgets - categorized as simple and advanced - that assist in the creation and optimization of complex contraptions.
- The microchip is a simple logic gadget, aiding players in optimizing messy logic through a collapsible circuit board.
- The controlinator is an advanced logic gadget that can be programmed and mapped to the PlayStation 3 controller to give players direct control of creations.
- Three new player power-ups built off the paintinator character enhancement from LittleBigPlanet.
- The grappling hook, a winch-like mobility tool that allows players to grab and swing at range.
- The grabinators, gloves that allow players to carry and throw heavy grabbable objects.
- The creatinator, a head-mounted power-up that allows players to shoot objects.
- New tools and functions for the popit in create mode.
- Sticker cutter, a tool that can reshape procedural materials to fit the stickers placed on them.
- The advanced glue tool that offers precise control when gluing objects together.
- The Slice 'N Dice tool that can cut procedural materials into two halves.
- The UV tool that can be used to manually adjust the appearance of a procedural material's UV texture map.
- Plasma, a hazard previously included with the Metal Gear Solid Pack, is reintroduced as one of the main hazard tools.
- Additions to the gadgets page in create mode.
- New emitters, including the smoke machine - an aesthetic tool that emits smoke - and the note - a developer tool with customizable text.
- Mover and rotator gadgets that can be placed on objects to allow for controlled and autonomous movement of varying types.
- New sensor gadgets that fire signals under specific circumstances.
- Global and object tweakers, which can dynamically change the properties of levels and objects.
- The movie camera gadget, with which players can create their own machinimas
- New gameplay objects for levels.
- Sackbots, robots that can be programmed to mimic player behaviors and act in a variety of ways
- Level links which transport players seamlessly between levels.
- Projectiles, objects expanded from the Metal Gear Solid Level Pack with various properties - water, fire, electricity, and plasma.
- Bounce pads, physics objects that launch players vertically when stepped on.
- Post-launch downloadable content that brought with it numerous additional features for player use in creations.
- Support for the PlayStation Move motion controller, which can be used in gameplay through the brain crane power-up and movinator gadget.
- The paint tool, with which players can create custom stickers.
- Attract-o-Gel, a special material that acts as a centre of gravity for players, allowing them to walk on walls and ceilings.
- Cross-controller functionality, allowing players to connect PlayStation Vita systems to the PlayStation 3.
- Worm holes, objects that transport players from one section to another in levels.
- Wall-jumping.
- The memoriser, a logic gadget carried over from LittleBigPlanet PS Vita that saves logic signals across play sessions.
- The hero cape power-up.
Legacy features
As the sequel was built off of the first game, LittleBigPlanet 2 carried over nearly all of its legacy features with modifications, though some were retired from the original.
- The thermometer has its capacity increased, allowing for the creation of larger levels and contraptions.
- Updates to LittleBigPlanet's proprietary engine, with changes to the game's particle systems and lighting.
- Gadgets redesigned to fit a visually cohesive style.
- The user interface is overhauled.
- The InfoMoon is retired, with features like news and personal statistics being moved elsewhere.
- Visual and functionality additions to the popit.
- Assets and gameplay features previously locked behind certain downloadable content are included in the base game.
- Gameplay objects previously included in the downloadable Creator Pack 1 are merged with the default toolset.
- The missile is redesigned and present in the base game's dangerous category.
- Global water and associated water gadgets are included with the base game after previously being locked behind the Pirates of the Caribbean Premium Level Kit and Water Creator Tutorials.
Releases
Story mode demo
Prior to the game's delay, a demo for LittleBigPlanet 2's story mode was released onto the PlayStation Store on 22 December 2010.[2] The demo included three levels: Tower of Whoop, Avalon's Advanced Armaments Academy, and Rocket Funland. These levels were picked to demonstrate the grappling hook, controlinator, and creatinator gadgets and power-ups included in the sequel. Exclusive to the demo are multiple video reels and screens designed to market the then-upcoming release.
Demo-exclusive icons featuring the grappling hook...
...controlinator...
...and creatinator gadgets and power-ups.
Pre-order bonuses
Up to six player costumes were included as pre-order bonuses, two of which varied by retailer. Included consistently was the Even More Animals Costume Pack, alongside two of five promotional cross-over costumes: the Ratchet & Clank Pack, Alien, Clu, or Gonzo.
Collector's Edition
LittleBigPlanet 2 released with a standard and limited-production collector's edition, with the latter containing bonus content ranging from in-game items to physical merchandise; this merchandise varied slightly across regions. Most editions included eleven in-game costumes, a Sackboy plush, five PSN avatars, and themed bookends, though others also featured SteelBook packaging and varying box art.
Special Edition
Released in November 2011, LittleBigPlanet 2 Special Edition included six post-release downloadable content packs, including the Move Pack, Toy Story Level Kit, Toy Story Costume Pack, Even More Animals Costume Pack, Dogs Costume Pack, and Cats Costume Pack.
Extras Edition
Released in March 2013, LittleBigPlanet 2 Extras Edition bundled in six costume packs and three feature-rich story kits, serving as the final post-launch edition of the game. As a whole, the edition included the Cross-Controller Pack, Move Pack, the Muppets Premium Level Kit, the Muppets Costume Pack 1, Weekend Pursuits Costume Pack, Deep Sea Adventures Costume Pack, Sports Costume Pack, Dogs Costume Pack, and Cats Costume Pack.
Story mode
LittleBigPlanet 2 features a story mode comprised of six themes. Unlike its predecessor, LittleBigPlanet 2's story is more plot-focused, in part due to the introduction of fully voice-acted dialogue and the movie camera gadget, both of which are used for "cutscene" levels at the start and end of each theme. LittleBigPlanet 2's story mode serves to introduce players to the sequel's updated gameplay and newly introduced features.
LittleBigPlanet 2's story mode follows series protagonist Sackboy as he joins a group of creator curators known as the Alliance to save Craftworld from the Negativitron - a neighboring planet stealing away Craftworld's creations to its surface - and its army of "meanies". The story begins with Sackboy narrowly escaping capture by the Negativitron, as he is intercepted by Larry Da Vinci; an aged creator curator and one of the co-founders of the Alliance, alongside his friend Avalon Centrifuge. The Da Vinci's Hideout theme follows Da Vinci as he runs Sackboy through a series of tests to prepare him for the coming battle against the Negativitron's forces; Sackboy completes his initiation into the Alliance after defeating Da Vinci in battle.
The Victoria's Laboratory theme follows Da Vinci and Sackboy as they rid creator curator Victoria Von Bathysphere's property of meanies created from the remains of Victoria's Sackbot army mutated by the Negativitron. With the Sackbot army being a key component to the Alliance's resistance forces, Da Vinci and Sackboy continue onward to the Factory Of A Better Tomorrow in pursuit of the brainwashed Sackbots. The two arrive to find the factory in a ruined state, with its creator, Clive Handforth, rendered helpless to stop the Sackbots and meanies from overtaking the facility. Sackboy recovers the lost Sackbots and escorts them out of the factory's wreckage as the Negativitron's meanie-possessed robots give chase.
The Alliance reunites with Avalon Centrifuge in his flying home of Avalonia, where he oversees Sackboy's pilot training with his robot creations. The Negativitron attacks Avalonia not long after, and Sackboy is set in charge of recovering the trapped Sackbot army. As the Alliance takes flight out of Avalonia in Avalon's Huge Spaceship, the meanies give chase in an attack robot, downing Huge Spaceship over Avalonia and leaving the Alliance stranded. With no other recourse but to seek out brilliant inventor Dr. Herbert Higginbotham, Avalon sends Sackboy and Clive Handforth to Eve's Asylum For The Mentally Alternative to liberate the doctor from a meanie infection. Sackboy fights back the hordes of meanies setting fire to the asylum's chakras, and cures Dr. Higginbotham of his infection with the help of Eve Silva Paragorica, the asylum's caretaker.
Dr. Higginbotham arrives at Avalonia, where he makes short work of repairing Huge Spaceship. Before departing for the Cosmos, the Negativitron takes Avalon captive, and the Alliance sets out on a rescue mission. As they near the Negativitron, it intercepts Huge Spaceship and leaves Sackboy lost on the opposite side of the planet. Working his way through the swathes of meanie forces, Sackboy finds his way back to Huge Spaceship's wreckage, where the Alliance makes the final push to planet's heart. Once inside, the Negativitron confronts the Alliance about the truth of its origins, but is ultimately destroyed after Sackboy lands the finishing blow on its heart.
Development
Development towards a LittleBigPlanet sequel was not anticipated early on in the first game's lifespan. Instead, LittleBigPlanet would continue to receive downloadable content releases that would supply the game with new features. Among these releases was the Arcade Kit which, prior to being cut, was slated to introduce many features which later became selling points of LittleBigPlanet 2 - namely, logic gadgets. With ambitions for the Arcade Kit growing far beyond the scope of the first game, Media Molecule would scrap the content pack's release, instead beginning development on LittleBigPlanet 2. Initial concept art for the second game dates back to as early as February 2009 - months after the first game's release. Art and music direction for LittleBigPlanet 2 pushed further into the science fiction genre, aligning with the Arcade Kit's technological origins.
Around May 2009, LittleBigPlanet 2 reached its pre-production phase, where plans were laid out for the game's story mode and theming. Following an identical design formula to the first game, LittleBigPlanet 2's story mode would serve as a "launching pad" for player creations, which followed eight themes based on the pitch of "science through the ages" - Da Vinci's Hideout, Victoria's Lab, Popov Factory, Henry's Garage, Eve's Asylum, Higginbotham's Mind, the Cosmos, and the Popov's Domain.[3] Around Q2 2009, LittleBigPlanet 2 was greenlit, and the game evolved greatly in the following months. By late 2009, initial layouts for the game's story began to resemble the final game, with the initial plan for eight themes being compressed down to six - Da Vinci's Hideout, Victoria's Lab, the Factory Of A Better Tomorrow, Avalonia, Eve's Asylum, and the Cosmos.[3] Rough features inherited from the Arcade Kit, such as the direct control and logic gadgets, were visually and functionally expanded into their finalized counterparts.
LittleBigPlanet's game engine received multiple overhauls in its graphical capabilities, with lighting and particle effects receiving updates to make them visually distinct from the first game. Certain effects were tailor-made to accompany the sequel's added features
LittleBigPlanet 2 was announced in May 2010 - a year since the beginning of pre-production - which showcased features that could be anticipated for the sequel's release, as well as the game's backwards compatibility. In August 2010, the game would receive an 'adventure trailer', with the trailer's contents being focused more on the sequel's story mode. The two trailers released during this period derived greatly from older builds of LittleBigPlanet 2 and depicted certain visuals and features that were outdated by the time the game released. Around three weeks after the second trailer, a private beta was released to certain LittleBigPlanet community members.
LittleBigPlanet 2's release window initially aimed for November 2010 before being delayed to January 2011.
Gallery
Logos
'Stacked' logo.
PlayStation Store icons
Beta
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Beta
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Demo
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Game
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Game
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Game
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Game
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Game
(JP)
Special edition demo
(NA)
Extras
(EU)
References
- ↑ LittleBigPlanet 2 Reveal Trailer - youtube.com
- ↑ LittleBigPlanet 2 Goes Gold, First Review is a 10, PSN Demo Today, Storyline Trailer - blog.playstation.com
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kenneth Young (29 January 2021). LittleBigPlanet 2 Soundtrack 10th Anniversary. kennyyoung.com.
External links
- LittleBigPlanet 2 on Media Molecule's website(archive)
- Official website on LittleBigPlanet.com(archive)
- Official Japanese mini-site(archive)
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