Review round-up: How well is LittleBigPlanet 3 stitched?

When a new studio overtakes a game series there can be a sense of discomfort in the fanbase. Will the game be like the others? Will it be good? Will it be worth your time and money?

The questions can be never ending. When it comes to LittleBigPlanet 3, Media Molecule set it free and let Sumo Digital take the reigns — how did its release fair? It went ok.

If you were to look over the reviews (they average out to around 7/10) there are both positives and negatives to the new release. The game seems to be in need of a patch to work out some game breaking bugs, but looking past the bugs, the new characters that were shown off are underutilized and the co-op is entirely too limited. The major positive in LBP3 is the level creation, its bigger, better and easier than before.

Without further ado, here's what the web says:

IGN

LittleBigPlanet 3 is an enormous – and, at times, unruly – game. It’s Adventure mode is beautifully designed, and new power-ups and character abilities switch up the usual bread-and-butter platforming gameplay, but it’s let down by limited options for co-operative play and most significantly, a number of game-breaking bugs on the PlayStation 4. While a little daunting for newcomers, its supersized creation tookit has enormous potential for creating deep and diverse play, and it’s here where LittleBigPlanet 3 justifies its existence.

6.8/10

Polygon

If anything, that's the theme LittleBigPlanet 3 left me pondering: delayed gratification. Despite switching to a new developer, it has the big ideas and wide-eyed, arms-open demeanor of the series at its best. Yet it never totally commits, never goes all the way with its new concepts and characters. LittleBigPlanet 3's devoted fans will surely craft some excellent levels in the months to come, but mostly this feels like a proof of concept for a much better LittleBigPlanet 4.

7/10

GameSpot

Little Big Planet 3 has a lot going for it–including another magnificently crafted soundtrack–but is plagued by crippling bugs. I repeatedly fell through set pieces or failed to respawn, and twice respawned into a side-scrolling level behind a boss and had to restart, losing all progress. These bugs hindered progression and made playing through levels requiring more precision a nightmare. They were present at various points throughout my entire playthrough, and while they weren't occurring every other level, they were common enough that I was annoyed.

7/10

GamesRadar

All the characters feel truly different and there is a real confidence in their movement and design that’s satisfying to experience. It’s here where LBP3 is slightly disappointing though. Those expecting a long campaign with the four friends won’t find one here, and instead will have to look to the creation community for worlds designed for co-op play…While exceptionally rich on your first playthrough, the adventure is surprisingly short. Over before you know it, despite some difficulty bumps and some badly placed checkpointing in its final levels, this is a campaign dwarfed by previous titles and can’t be much longer than 7 or 8 hours.

4/5

PlayStation Universe

LittleBigPlanet 3 boasts more creative capabilities than its predecessors and tutorial levels for teaching the basics to patient newcomers. Adventure mode fails to innovate in the same way, relegating the most interesting additions–playable heroes OddSock, Toggle, and Swoop–to a small handful of levels.

7.5/10

Shacknews

LittleBigPlanet 3 is perhaps a little too comfortable imitating the same basic hooks and simple storybook appeal of past ventures into the world of cloth and yarn. Sumo Digital has made some very sharp revisions and additions that correct some of the series' historic weaknesses, but those all fit into a familiar package. This is the most daring the series has been so far, but it's still very much cut in the cloth of Media Molecule's pre-made pattern.

7/10

Are you going to get in on LBP3 action? Let me know.

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