One of the games I most wanted to play going into E3 was LittleBigPlanet 2. I absolutely adore LittleBigPlanet, despite its flaws, and the community levels have managed to keep it feeling new and entertaining for almost two years. However, despite the incredibly deep level creation system and talented community of creators, the game was tied to its side-scrolling, platforming roots. Paintball guns, jetpacks, fast vehicles, and overactive imaginations added plenty of variety to the gameplay, but not enough that LittleBigPlanet could ever truly transcend the genre. This is perhaps the largest change developer Media Molecule is making with LittleBigPlanet 2: allowing for different camera schemes and more options that will allow players to create levels from any imaginable genre. I got to play a few levels at E3, and though I still don’t know how accurate Media Molecule’s “every genre” claim is, I can tell you that a little thing like changing up a camera angle can make a big difference.

At its core, LittleBigPlanet 2 is still a charming platformer, though the campaign will still have some new mechanics. Obviously, there will be plenty of new accessories and outfits with which to decorate your Sackboy or Sackgirl, as well as plenty of additional environments and a fresh story. While playing through one of these platforming levels cooperatively with another E3 attendee, I got to try out a new tool: the grappling hook. This allowed me to latch on to certain parts of the level, as well as the other character, which obviously led to some typical co-op shenanigans. The campaign, from the small bit I played, didn’t feel too different from that of the first game, though I did think it was a little smoother to jump back and forth between dimensions.

Then we tried out the three other stages included in the E3 demo, which were entirely different. The first featured a top-down view and had four of us trying to knock each other out of a ring to score points; the second was a puzzle game that required quick and accurate reflexes; and finally, a crazy racecourse not unlike some of the better racing levels the LBP community has come up with since late 2008. These all focused on the competitive aspect of the game, as opposed to the cooperative, and the fast-paced, bite-sized games reminded me of the original Xbox game Fusion Frenzy—definitely a good thing. If anything, this should make LittleBigPlanet 2 even more of a social game, making it perfect for parties, small gatherings, or solo. After playing it initially, I just wanted to play more; unfortunately, there weren’t more levels being shown off in the standard E3 demo.

Later in the show, however, I was given the opportunity to play through one of the levels of LittleBigPlanet 2 that will have Move controls. The Move sections are being billed as “bonus levels”, and won’t be the core focus of the game, for which I am thankful. As the player holding the Move controller, my job was to manipulate certain parts of the level for the other players so that they could get past obstacles and make it safely to the end. This meant pointing the Move controller at highlighted purple areas, hitting the button, and usually pulling in any direction. It was entirely too simple and felt completely tacked on. It’s nice that this will add a fifth player to the otherwise four-player action, but I can’t imagine anyone volunteering to be the Move player. Again, these are extra levels and not part of the game’s campaign, but this kind of unnecessary control scheme took some of my excitement for LittleBigPlanet 2 away.

Despite the tacked-on motion controls, I still walked away from E3 really excited about LittleBigPlanet 2. Not only am I psyched to play through a whole new campaign (probably more than once, if the first game is any indication), but I can’t wait to see what kind of content the gaming community can create. Who knows, I may actually finish one of the levels I start this time around. If I can make an RPG/point-and-click adventure/puzzle/tower defense/strategy hybrid, why the hell wouldn’t I?