While LittleBigPlanet 2’s revamped creating tools will undoubtedly be the star of the show, there was still a lot to love with the prepackaged content on the floor. The level on display turned out to be the perfect showcase for one of the hotter mechanics, the grappling hook. Fired with a shoulder button (not unlike the paintball gun), the grappling hook stuck to any surface almost instantaneously and proceed to retract rocket Sackboy at considerable speed. Like any grappling hook worth its cable, you have the option to remain connected and ride it all the way to the top, or use its inherent moment to swing yourself to areas within reach. Other variables, like bumpers, electrified fields, and giant swings augmented or hindered your progress, but the best were the giant spinning wheels; grapple on to one of those suckers and watch Sackboy get flung to his death and/or destination. I pressed the Sony rep on whether or not the grapple would work in combination with other shoulder based projectile weapons, but I was unable to get a solid response. In all likelihood, you’ll be forced to drop one in favor of the other, but we’ll see.
Three other mini-levels were also on display, each of which created in a 24 hour challenge by some of the original LittleBigPlanet’s most talented community designers. The first of which was Crashy Bashy, which could be summarized as death bumper cars. A giant circle with electrified edges was an arena for analog stick controlled “cars” being piloted by Sackboys. A brief turbo boost was also present, which was perfect for ramming or quickly avoiding others. As one could expect, the chaos increased as more players joined the field.
The next mini-level was Super Block Race, which was being billed as a test of hand/eye coordination. Each Sackboy was plugged into a giant column stacked with X and O labeled blocks. The goal was to push the button of the corresponding block as soon as it reaches the bottom, and to generally do so as fast as possible to net more points. It was incredibly simple and ridiculously easy with two buttons (and I’m sure it’ll use more when LBP2 ships), but Super Block Race didn’t speak so much for interactivity as it did potential. Jamming this, or a similar little mini-game, in the middle of a level could do wonders for pacing.
The final mini-level was called Rocket Funland, and it was undoubtedly the most chaotic of the three. Each Sackboy was crammed in a small rectangular arena and outfitted with a rocket launcher. Gravity was set to low and a few bouncy spring blocks were thrown in for good measure. What followed was a fairly insane death match where luck often took precedent over pure skill, but it was still a boatload of fun. One could only imagine what sort of pandemonium could unfold if grappling hooks or electrified walls were thrown into the mix.
As stated earlier, these levels weren’t so much a representation of potential gameplay as they were about pure potential. With a creation toolset that purportedly makes the original look primitive by comparison, one can’t help but wonder what sort of incredibly interactive insanity is going to emerge out of the finished product. November can’t come soon enough.
