Little Big Planet 2

Little Big Planet 2 Review

Little Big Planet 2 Feature

• Sackboy is at it again! Join Sackboy in a completely new Play, Create, Share adventure.
• A world of Play is at your fingertips! Whether it's the 50 plus levels in the whimsical storyline, or the endless multiplayer fun - there's an infinite amount of gaming experiences for you and your friends.
• Create your own games! Customize everything! From your Sackboy's appearance to creating any game you want - racing games, mini-games, action/adventure games, and even multiplayer shooters.
• Games to Share! Go online and discover new games that other players have created. With over 2MM levels already there, your gaming options are endless.
• Enjoy 4-player support online and offline in created games using new features and abilities

Little Big Planet 2 Overview

Join Sackboy in a completely new adventure - filled with new abilities, new game play rules, innovative tools and a smarter LBP Network, evolving the Play, Create, Share experience.

Little Big Planet 2 Specifications

LittleBigPlanet 2 (LBP2) is a puzzle-platforming game for PlayStation 3 with new built-in functionality allowing players to create advanced content, including full-fledged games of all sorts, which can be shared with others within the LittleBigPlanet online network. The third game in the LittleBigPlanet franchise, the toolset within LittleBigPlanet 2 provides players with the ability to easily change the mapping of objects in-game, add abilities and non-player AI characters, create cutscenes, link levels and more. Additional features include backwards compatibility with content created with the original LittleBigPlanet game, a 50 level deep Story Mode and all new platforming gadgets.

A Whole New LittleBigPlanet Adventure

Join Sackboy in a completely new platforming adventure, spread across 50 levels.

Some time has passed since the events of the original game and its PSP sequel and Craftworld is in trouble. An evil device, force, thingy known as "The Negativitron" is threatening to suck up everyone and everything, including Sackboy, into the void. Only an intervention by a rebel organization known as "The Alliance" saves our hero. And with that Sackboy decides to lend his creative platforming powers to the cause. Along the way he'll discover new abilities, gadgets, gameplay rules and innovative tools to get the job done.

Play, Create and Share in LittleBigPlanet 2.
View larger.

A Platform for Games

LittleBigPlanet 2 is about more than a game storyline. It is about player creativity. Loaded with a powerful new set of tools that vastly widen the scope of possibilities in-game, LittleBigPlanet 2 moves far beyond familiar level editing and delivers the power to literally create whole games. It is in fact, a platform for games. Whether you are talking racing games, mini-games, action/adventure games and even multiplayer shooters, using the Direct Control feature you can create/recreate a mapping for objects and abilities from the Sixaxis controller for use directly in gameplay. You can also link levels to extend the fun and/or create a new gameplay experience. Bring your characters to life, compose your own music, direct cinematic masterpieces, wire controllers directly in to your contraptions, connect easy to use switches, microchips and circuit boards to build epic bosses, vehicles, machines, and puzzles. All the tools are at your fingertips. And with custom heads-up displays (HUDs) for scoring and game data exported to a game ending grid, allowing winners in created multiplayer games to celebrate while opponents look on in shame, the sky is truly the limit.

Play, Create and Discover

LittleBigPlanet 2 is fully backwards compatible to the original game. With millions of creations existing in the LittleBigPlanet universe and millions more to come, finding the experience you're looking for is important. With that in mind the developers of LittleBigPlanet 2 have expanded Share functionality to enhance the player's ability to discover exactly what you want to find. In addition, the searching system has been given a total overhaul, and Activity Stream functionality has been added so you can follow your friends and hearted creators, helping you discover the top notch playable bits that they have brought to life. In addition, a new web portal gives every single LBP creation its own home on the web, with a page for every creator and every level. Browse creations online to find fab levels, add them to your queue to play later on, check photos, comments, leaderboards, create and share playlists, and easily promote your levels and games wherever you might hang out online.

Key Game Features

• Story Mode - Explore more than 50 pre-prepared game levels holding an all-new storyline
• Create Full Games - Take advantage of a wealth of editing tools to create full scale games
• Gadgets Galore - New gadgets available within LBP 2 include: a grappling hook for platforming, the Creatinator which allows for items to help you platform, and Power Gloves with which you can toss and move large objects in-game
• 4-player multiplayer - Enjoy 4-player support online and offiline in created games using new features and abilities
• AI Sackbots - Program and manipulate these non-player characters to do your will in-game
• Cinematic Cut-Scene Maker - Create custom cutscenes for use in-game, or just as a means of sharing with friends
• Improved Share Functionality - Improved search and share functionality and features allow players to more quickly peruse the millions of LBP pieces of content available online
• Backwards Compatible to Original Game - LBP 2 is compatible with all content created with the original game

Additional Screenshots

All-new platforming gadgets. View larger.

Full game creation. View larger.

50+ level story mode. View larger.

Custom made game elements. View larger.

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Review Feature Office 2010

An Action Movie With Very Little Else - "Crank" Movie Review

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The premise of "Crank" is a fairly simple one. Chev Chelios (Jason Statham - "Transporter") is a professional assassin who is poisoned with a combination of drugs called "The Beijing Cocktail" by one of his enemies. The poison will quickly kill him unless he can keep his adrenaline up to block the poison from bonding with his blood. Thus, Chev must do everything he can to keep his blood pumping fast enough to keep himself alive while he hunts down his enemy Verona in search of an antidote and to avenge the poisoning itself.

Despite the simple concept, "Crank" becomes a complex weave of characters and action that really doesn't make sense, causing the movie to just be one high-adrenaline action scene after another. The high points of the movie are few and far between. Due to the concept of the movie, the action scenes are intense and each one brings a different type of action to the forefront. From a gun fight, to high speed car chases. to a fight on a helicopter mid-air, "Crank" takes every possible way to create action-packed moments and forces Chev to experience them.

One of the other high points is in the cinematography. At certain points of the movie, the camera switches from a single one following Chev to the view seen through the security cameras, allowing the viewer to observe the scene in a different light.

Other than those few high points, "Crank" falls flat in the rest of the movie. As for the action of the movie, most of the scenes seem completely unrealistic and completely staged. For example, when Chev first realizes that he must keep his adrenaline up, he walks across the room and punches a couple gang members, causing a fight that probably would've gotten him killed. Instead, it just pumps him up and he jumps into his car and drives away. Sure, the adrenaline fact for Chev is a matter of life and death, but punching a gang member out of the blue seems a little forced.

When it comes to characters in the movie, the essentials are clear. Chev is an assassin in trouble. Verona is the crime boss who poisoned him. Eve (Amy Smart - "Just Friends") is Chev's girlfriend. Beyond that though, the characters and how they relate are poorly discussed and the character relationships are poorly developed. For example, there is a character named Carlito. He is a rival crime boss, and although it is clear who he is, the reasonings behind his actions are never fully explained, and all of a sudden, Carlito is in a scene with another major character, and you're not really sure why.

One of the other major negatives of the movie is in the portrayal of women. Eve, although beautiful, is portrayed as naïve and dumb. In the face of possible death, Eve feels it's more important to try and pick up her spilled purse than to get out of danger. Besides Eve, the only other women in the movie are seen as sex objects or servants. "Crank" lacks a positive female presence, which isn't always a necessity, but the fact that the women that are in the movie are portrayed so poorly makes it hard to watch.

Overall, "Crank" is a good action movie if all you're looking for is action. Other than that, it really is a poor movie. The potential was there. The concept was rather unique and could've made for a great film, but in this case, the way it was told, it really made for a bad viewing experience. Although I would typically recommend all movies for some reason or another, even if they aren't that great, I really can't find a good reason to recommend this movie.

Grade: D

Review Feature Office 2010