About a year ago, I downloaded and watched the first trailer of the enigmatic yet energized LittleBigPlanet. Atrociously cute sackboys were jollying around, creating their own playground that seemed larger than life and foretold that Media Molecule had an ace up their sleeve. Indeed, the British development team was taking on a monumental task of innovative creativity with these teensy, instantly appealing mascots, and of course, a great risk. In a world where sequels can almost guarantee surplus revenue, it can be a run of the gauntlet to try and break in with a new IP, especially one as ambitious as this. LittleBigPlanet certainly has expectations to satisfy and the developers only have themselves to thank for that, as they have thrown out the proclivities that gamers expect and now put themselves in the lead when it comes to revolutionary ideas.

If for some reason you've never heard of LBP before then you are in luck, because now you have. Underneath its myriad features (or should that be possibilities?), which we'll get to shortly, the game is a simple platform-based puzzler. You have your sackboys - and sackgirls - who you control and who can do everything that a sack person should be able to do - run, jump, grab... okay, far more than the average sack can do, actually! You only need to use two buttons - X to jump and R1 to grab - though if you really want to get into the sackboy jiggy then you can control your arms, posterior, and even display emotions. You can give a big smile to laugh at your buddy who was killed or be more supportive and use your arm to point to the right direction that everyone should go. It's a novelty act but one that adds personality to the characters and is delightfully infectious. The simplicity of the design never falters into monotonous territory and echoes the joy of playing older games of its inspiration while still looking very contemporary.

In the world of LittleBigPlanet you can expect danger to be lurking in every nook and cranny. From spikes and electrified moving walls to ghosts and ninjas, the seemingly simple goal of making it to the end of each level becomes a tumultuous act for survival. To see your sackboy to safety from all this depressing malign you will have to scramble up ever narrowing platforms, hang onto spinning wheels to launch yourself with perfect timing, and even control a makeshift airship to fly your way across the open expanses of the atmosphere. Don't fret if you accidentally pull off a wrong move though, as there are a gracious number of checkpoints throughout the levels. Each checkpoint has a set amount of lives so you can get a few do-overs, but exhaust your chances and you have to restart the entire map over again. This is unlikely to happen very often until later on in the game, unless you find the physics and how the game handles your movements to be a factor.

You see, despite Media Molecule's best efforts, there are a few bugbears when it comes to the controls; for example, sometimes you don't get enough momentum for a jump depending upon what surface you are on and where you are standing, which can get tedious. The realistic physics equated with the sackboys' weight might be to blame but in the end it is more annoying than game breaking. Another problem I've been hearing about is how automatic pathing works. In LBP, sackboys don't just run in a straight line; they can be running in the middle, background or foreground for added versatility in the gameplay. When you are running and something is in your way, your sackboy automatically hops to a different lane and takes the open path, which could spell your death if you aren't paying attention, as you might automatically turn down a route to find a deadly trap. Fortunately, I haven't been the victim of this too often as I am usually meticulous when it comes to watching for danger. While these little issues could be improved through patches, they are nothing more than a slight bother, and certainly not a deal breaker.

LittleBigPlanet's ethos is to "Play, Create, Share" and each distinctive experience meshes well within this triad. "Play" is pretty self-explanatory and you'll be doing a lot of it. The story mode provided isn't hinged on anything in particular; LBP is the after product of our dreams and every unconscious thought floats up and becomes apart of that unreal universe. Therefore, in that pseudo perspective, it makes sense that the story is disjointed, with random, stereotypical backdrops for levels. There's the Wild West, cherry blossom ninja town and the metropolitan city, to give you an idea of the range of themes on offer. There isn't much of a cohesive overall story but I wasn't really expecting much to begin with on this front and, to be honest, the game doesn't really need one; it performs at its best by just being a fun experience that doesn't delve too deeply into, dare I say, seriousness. Regardless of what you may think of this, the levels are still challenging (I was victim to the white hot rage when I had to redo a later level probably ten to fifteen times) and the last one is sheer genius. The final map is a grandiose demonstration of just how sophisticated the editor really is, which brings us to the next part of the game: "Create".

The main attraction to LBP is the level creator, as it provides a bottomless source of possibilities. Everything you've played in the single player mode has been constructed using the level creator, meaning that it's entirely possible to recreate each level yourself. The main focus of the game is user friendliness, yet the options available are more than amicable and may dissuade some people from diving in. There are tutorials, albeit a lengthy amount, spiced up with British accented colloquialisms to the degree of "nervous nillys", "right up your culdesac" and "this rock's larger than a boulder", for your pleasure. Once you get inaugurated by this and find out how everything works, it's all rather obvious. To suspend something you can use string, to make a platform wobbly just bolt it in place and loosen it, and for a platform that launches you into the air, simply employ a spring bolt. The physics are one of the most enchanting things about the game and you will have to fiddle around with each material (metal, wood, sponge, etc.) to find out how to make something work when it combines these properties. So if you're a failed architect, graphics designer or engineer, then don't worry because you still have LittleBigPlanet to comfort you and turn your shattered dreams into your greatest aspirations. That should cheer you up.

If creating levels for yourself doesn't get you antsy in your pantsy then publishing them online should; as somebody who loves creating and sharing, LBP online creates a wonderful conduit for both, as well as playing other peoples' work. I mentioned a "bottomless source of possibilities" and when you take a gander at the levels available, you'll see why. From rescuing commissioner Gordan as Batsack to trying to survive a zombie infestation by escaping a burning building and making it to the helicopter to a bona fide Ninja Warrior level, it's both fun and funny to see how many of these marvelously creative designs have turned out.

Once you start an online level you either join a game in progress or start alone, after which players can come in and join you pretty much at any time. Up to four players can help or hinder (you can sabotage your comrades by slapping them into traps) with the progression through these stages. To keep this social aspect alive as much as possible, whenever someone is leaving a game you can choose to follow them into their pod (the interactive menu screen) where the host can choose another game to play, making it easy and seamless to keep in contact with your buddies or specific people you would like to stay with - or stalk, if they just came in and ruined things for you! This system in and of itself is a great idea that truly works and encourages people to play together rather than alone.

The only impediment to a completely enthralling experience here is the dreaded lag; it's not uncommon to expect some bouts and spurts as people join in or if the level has some bigger creations in it. It was at times virtually unplayable but the new patch has helped tremendously with the problem and it's not the brick wall blocking a good time that it was. Other than that there are no other real problems, though I don't necessarily care for the limited options of finding all the different user content. You can either search by generic tags such as "brilliant, musical, or beautiful" and if people rated it as such then all of the corresponding maps will show up. Alternatively, you can manually search a level's title using the text option of the PS3, which feels a bit cumbersome and discouraging; I want it all categorized by the alphabet and I'd prefer a more intuitive way than relying on other peoples' opinions.

Some, though, may even be turned off by the cute and unique makeup of that of LittleBigPlanet; it embraces the simulacrum of an uncanny and preposterous art and game design, the result of the dreamlike premise. Everything, some more so than others, concerning how the game functions is readily transparent - ghosts "fly" via visible strings, platforms are connected by bolts and vehicles are often driven by pulling a lever. That's the stipulation of the title; you won't find a complicated trigger-based level editor or an overtly realistic moniker, the game is one of a kind and it's happy with what it is. That doesn't mean that you can't find mature themed content online, though - from the God of War stage, complete with the sacrificing of the caged man, to the Azure Temple and its moody underwater peril, there is variety for everyone's tastes.

Venerating all these features and complementing an already wonderful package, is the sheer quality of the visuals; from the incredibly detailed objects to the gorgeous scenic backgrounds and the texture-mapping of the sackboys and sackgirls themselves, they literally can't be overlooked. Media Molecule has struck the perfect balance between edgy realism and a distinctively fake façade, resulting in a wonderful ensemble that demonstrates the vivid imagination and creative prowess of the developer. Equivalent in quality and sophistication is the impressive soundtrack; it is the epitome of how important music is to games and it helps make LBP what it is. The selection is as diverse as LittleBigPlanet is heady with style, with contemporary indie rock and foreign compositions to ravishing symphonys, complete with epic choruses. Listen to Battles by Atlas and Battle on the Ice by Alexander Nevsky to get a taste of what's on offer here - it's all so well composed that you won't be disappointed.

LittleBigPlanet is a creative person's wonderland, providing the reconciliation that eccentric and unique titles aren't always lost in the status quo. It had a huge amount of hype surrounding it and it has delivered for the most part, as it is anything but not an ordinary experience and is a real blast to play with friends. The online community is brimming with endlessly different styles of maps, as each of the creators' personalities are poured into the fun of constructing them. LittleBigPlanet will undoubtedly keep you up at night, constructing the next big hit for the community - and if you don't care for that then you can still play the plethora of maps being produced by countless others. This really is a title that needs to be a part of your collection and an experience that you need to be a part of.

Reviewed by Matthew Dart for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).