If I have bragging rights over anything from PAX it’d be that I got to get my greedy little hands on LittleBigPlanet, a feat I am very proud of. Once again, I took advantage of my media badge and the press preview to get some insight here, and waited patiently behind an already proceeding demo. I felt kind of dirty, waiting there, because I just couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe just maybe I’m not supposed to be playing this game. What else am I supposed to think with all the delays? Alas, it was my turn.

The demo consisted of four people. Myself, another PAX goer, our station attendant/demo guide, and some girl that well, I don’t want to call her a booth babe, but she was new to the scene. She still held her own though, so respect. So our guide decides to start out the demo asking, “So what do you guys know about LittleBigPlanet?” I was feeling especially snarky, so I responded with a “That we’ve been waiting for a very long time for it”. I know I’m bad…

After getting a glimpse of the globe, we settled on a good beginner’s level. We first got a chance to tweak our characters by changing their skins/fabric, putting on costumes, picking out props, etc. I settled on one skin that had a red and blue lightning bolt across the face against a light pink fabric. In other words, I was Aladdin Sane himself! I also added a magic wand, just for good measure. Amongst my team were dresses, ribbons and even a lion. Yeah, we were an attractive bunch.

While LittleBigPlanet is essentially a platformer, it still exhibits depth. As far as controls go (which were generally just jump and grab), the only thing I really had difficulty with was trying to move back and forth instead of just left and right. Obviously, after a little practice, it’d be no problem. The level required a lot of teamwork while many simple machine platforms needed to be leveled to one side or pulled over yonder in order for all of us to continue. My favorite obstacles consisted of the sponge pendulums, which you could swing yourself across on. When encountering little vehicles, you have to try to keep a certain balance of weight. Also if one of your teammates is tipping over the edge, you can actually grab on to them. I was a big fan of grabbing my teammates, just because my little guy looked so cute while doing so. In one mini game, we seemed to have a hard time staying aboard our little horse car, so we ended up having to run the rest of the course. Oops!

Not all is cheery on LittleBigPlanet though, as your little dolls are quite vulnerable to being squished. It may have been an accident, but fact was, I squished my own teammate under a giant sponge block when trying to push it closer to the elevated platform. And I was just trying to help him! Yikes! Luckily enough, when you travel on, the recently deceased are shot back, not undead but alive!

We also got to check out a level created exclusively by our demo guide. Basically it was a huge death trap of ridiculous jumps and fire. Needless to say, he killed all of us in the end. The car must have been death proof or something since he was the only survivor (you know how that goes). Still, we were able to surprise even him when we first jumped into the trunk of the car. Apparently he had never seen anyone do that. Go figure.

Just as you imagined, LittleBigPlanet is a bundle of, for lack of a better word, awesome. The graphics are stunning, and even if I weren’t playing, I would have enjoyed watching it just as much. Reflecting on how much bitching and moaning we do over waiting for LittleBigPlanet, I have to say; it really is worth it in the end.

UPDATE: Timmy got some footage of one of the demos including the horse car mini game and the death proof car through the death trap. Check it out on our GV video page here.  

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