Common Sense Media Review
By Chad Sapieha
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Fun motion controls improve an already great creative game.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
LittleBigPlanet 2: Move Pack
What's It About?
The largest of dozens of downloadable content packs available for LittleBigPlanet 2, LITTLEBIGPLANET 2: MOVE PACK offers players five new story levels that tell the tale of an evil creature known as the Cakeling. Angered at her existence as a thing perpetually on the verge of being eaten, she begins kidnapping peaceful sackbots and eventually attempts to turn them into a cake to show them what it's like to be a foodstuff. Players will unlock a septet of mini-games as the story progresses, and earn scores of new stickers, materials, musical tracks, and abilities that they can put to use in the creator module when designing their own game levels. Chief among these is the Brain Crane, a headband that sacks people to allow them to telepathically move in-game objects. It requires that players employ a PlayStation Move controller, which is used to move, slide, spin, and select objects on screen in all of the Move Pack's new levels and mini-games.
Is It Any Good?
British developer Media Molecule has come up with several brilliant ways to seamlessly incorporate PlayStation Move functionality within its popular LittleBigPlanet universe. The new story levels essentially act as a primer to teach players how the Move controller can be used to interact with game objects. You will slide walls up and down, ratchet levers back and forth, carry objects with you to use as shields against harsh elements, and put others in place to use as platforms to cross dangerous hazards. The mini-games make even more inventive use of the Move peripheral. One has players tilting and turning the controller to manipulate a ball-rolling maze, another lets players use the Move's pointing function to select squares in an addictive little block puzzle game, and yet another involves moving energy nodes to block incoming balls in tower defense style.
One can easily work through all of the new content in a single night, but the pack's $10 price tag is justified by the new design possibilities it enables within the game's popular level editor. There are already thousands of user-generated levels designed explicitly for the Move controller. If you're a LittleBigPlanet fan and own a PlayStation Move controller, this content pack is a must.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about creativity in games. How does creating your own game differ from, say, creating a drawing, or a musical composition? Do you feel pleased and satisfied after spending time to create a game? How might you apply what you learn designing game levels to the real world?
Families can also discuss online safety. What would you do if you found a user-generated level that you believed to be offensive? What would you do if you encountered someone online who was mean to you, or threatened you?
Game Details
- Platform : PlayStation 3
- Subjects : Hobbies : building
- Skills : Tech Skills : digital creation , using and applying technology , Self-Direction : goal-setting , initiative , self-assessment , Creativity : imagination , making new creations , producing new content
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : Sony Computer Entertainment
- Release date : September 14, 2011
- Genre : Action/Adventure
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : February 15, 2023
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