There have been a lot of wonderful games this generation, but my hands down favorite is LBP2. I had burned out on buttbouncers in the 16 bit era, when they were as common as shooters are now, but when I saw the first video of the original LBP at the GDC, my interest in the genre was rekindled. It was a four player simultaneous platformer governed by cartoon physics which gave players the ability to interact with much of the world and each other in novel ways.
Of course, it was a wonderful game on its own, but the LBP series owes its incredibly long legs to the community. People working along or in concert (once saw a credit roll of 30 people) poured dozens if not hundreds of hours into crafting levels. The 3D engine of LBP has always been limited (though a handful of elite designers have figured out how to build games in 3D) but LBP's 2D engine was amazing flexible out of the gate and got a lot more powerful as time went on. Creators can design levels and enemies, tweak physics (which can be set globally and also on a per-object basis), program AI, paint textures, compose music and perform voice work. There are not only platformers, but 2D shooters, puzzle games, rpgs, educational games, click and point adventure games, brawlers, minigames, survival horror games and movies.
I'm not a creator myself (though I tinker for fun) but I admire the quality and creativeness of some members of the community and up until a few months ago my daughters and I would sit down almost every day and play LBP2 together (tomorrow we are all going to play the new DC Comics Level that hit today). I spent two days putting together a real world dollhouse but my daughters were a lot more interested in building their own dollhouses in LBP2.
Last and probably least, LBP boasts a ton of costumes, textures and objects. Where else do Batman, Ada Lovelace (real life female mathematician/programmer who worked with Babbage), the Disney Princesses, Wolverine, Bioshock's Little Sister, Oddworld's The Stranger, Kratos, Judge Dredd, The Muppets, Cloud Strife and Solid Snake rub elbows?
Log in to comment