PlayStation 3
Published by Sony Computer
Entertainment Europe
Developed by United Front Games
It’s easy to be a little cynical when you see a
series such as LittleBigPlanet diversifying into other genres. It’s happened to many
gaming series in the past of course and most of the spin offs haven’t
been a success. The LittleBigPlanet series is one that’s famed for its
customisation and community sharing and it would have been a shame to
see the LittleBigPlanet name slapped on a generic kart racing game.
Thankfully, that hasn’t happened here. The developers, who also happen
to be the developers of ModNation Racers, deserve praise for not only
making this a kart racing game that’s enjoyable in its own right but
also keeping the game faithful to the spirit of LittleBigPlanet.
The story goes that the world of LittleBigPlanet is
under threat of invasion by the evil Hoard. Once again taking on the
role of Sackboy, it’s up to you to repel the Hoard and you’ll need to do
this by defeating them on the race track. Initially, this may not seem
that interesting an idea, but it is thanks to an enjoyable kart racing
experience. As you complete the races you’ll unlock side races and
versus races. There are also plenty of reasons to return to races you’ve
already completed thanks to the amount of items you can collect.
As in previous LBP games, your hub is a cardboard
box pod from which you’ll get to choose your desired planet and race in
the game’s Story mode. You can customise your Sackboy and his kart with
a variety of wacky designs to select. You can even create your own
custom tracks and battle arenas. You have your own planet and moon that
contains creation craters into which you’ll place a custom track or
arena. Your customisation options increase as you play through the game
thanks to the items you’ll collect as you compete on each of the Story
mode’s tracks. If you’re really feeling keen you can even create your
own custom objects too and use these on your custom tracks and arenas.
The kart racing itself is for the most part
enjoyable thanks to tight and responsive controls and cleverly designed
tracks that offer the usual assortment of weapons and shortcuts. There
are even battle arenas that help to provide a change of pace from the
usual races and these certainly help to freshen up the experience. The
game gives a good sensation of speed thanks to a solid frame rate that
remains smooth throughout. There is a wide variety of weapons to collect
when you’re racing around a track. However, weapons are not only for
attack and can be used defensively. It could even be argued that they
are more effective when used as a means of defence, preventing you from
losing your position and slipping significantly down the pecking order,
rather than simply hitting the opponent in front and gaining a position
or two if you’re lucky. Close to the end of a race, it may be
advantageous to displace the one in front if you’re if you’re
challenging for the lead, but generally, I find it better to save
weapons for defensive purposes. It could be argued however that this
defensive element does some remove some of the fun from the experience
and that’s certainly a valid point.
There are some disappointing aspects to the game
however. LBP Karting is not a game in which you’ll want to make contact
with the other vehicles. If you’re hit you’ll float up into the air for
a moment and return to the ground having lost a few places whilst the
one who smacked into you speeds away without any penalty at all for
having made contact. The process of creating your own tracks is
straightforward but it’s a shame that you can’t auto-populate the
environment as you could in ModNation Racers. Having to place every
object yourself is time consuming and will inevitably deter some people
from creating their own tracks. Whilst it’s great that you can customise
your kart as well as your Sackboy, it’s a shame that it’s only an
aesthetic difference with no performance boosts to be had. Whilst it’s
great that you can race online, it’s a shame that there is no direct way
to access the online play as you’re required to go back through the
Story mode and access the versus tracks that you’ve unlocked. What’s
more, your online progress is only recorded in the form of a leaderboard
for each of the game’s levels. This doesn’t provide a sufficient
incentive for making you want to return to the online races. The game
also supports the PlayStation Move Racing Wheel but whereas the controls
for the standard controller feel tight and responsive, with the motion
controls they feel loose meaning most will want to opt for the standard
controller to feel in full control of their kart.
The visual quality of LBP Karting is just what
you’d expect from the LBP series and the game looks just as impressive
here as it does in the other LBP games. There are cardboard cut-out
courses, knitted characters and other design elements taken from the
main LittleBigPlanet games. The most impressive aspect of the game
however has to be the frame rate that, as we’ve already mentioned,
remains smooth throughout making for a very fluid racing experience. The
load times are a little on the long side however which is slightly
disappointing.
LBP Karting is subtitled but unfortunately, the
subtitles aren’t enabled by default. When you first play the game,
you’ll be oblivious to Stephen Fry’s narration so you’ll want to press
the start button and enter the options menu to enable the subtitles as
soon as you can. Thanks to the subtitles, you can get to grips with the
game with hardly any effort at all. The game comes with over fifty
tutorials that cover everything from the control system to the
intricacies of creating your own tracks and arenas. The tutorials are
clear and explained with a minimum of fuss. However, they would have
been more useful had they been interactive and provided you with a
chance to get to grips with things one step at a time rather than having
to watch a short video and try to internalise everything in one go.
You’ll also be able to follow the game’s oddball storyline too and
whilst you could argue that the storyline is simply window dressing,
it’s bizarre enough to hold your interest. The game makes a good use of
icons to alert you to dangers. During the race, you’ll see icons that
warn you of an impending attack as well as icons that give you an
indication of when you should fire your weapon as a defensive measure.
In short LBP: Karting is accessible for deaf gamers.
There’s a lot to like about LittleBigPlanet Karting, particularly if you’re a fan of kart racing games and the LittleBigPlanet series. I suppose the real question is does the game manage to surpass ModNation Racers? In truth, I don’t think that there’s much in it but certainly, in some respects, ModNation Racers has the edge in regards to the simplicity of creating your own circuits and having a more accessible online component. It could be argued that the AI definitely feels fairer in ModNation Racers. That said however, the basic kart racing elements are enjoyable and the Story mode is pleasingly lengthy and enables you to unlock plenty of additional content. If you can’t get enough of LittleBigPlanet and have a thing for kart racing then LittleBigPlanet Karting should definitely appeal although for a pure karting experience ModNation Racers may be the better choice.
