The developers that were once at the helm of ModNation Racers, United Front Games, showed off LittleBigPlanet Karting in Los Angeles last week. The team has been hard at work for sometime now while collaborating closely with Media Molecule, and the game is looking sharp. Even though the game is not being strictly developed my Media Molecule, United Front Games has done a great job at retaining Craft World’s character.
The good news is that it’s still LittleBigPlanet, and there’s no doubt about it. The game still focuses on a high level of customization, and that is fantastic. Players will be able to customize many options including tracks, characters, weapons, and of course, karts. The game’s hub is still centered around Sackboy’s pod, a customizable cardboard box that overlooks the game’s planets. These planets are also the game’s interface. Anyone who has played a LittleBigPlanet title will feel right at home with this familiar layout.
UFG’s Game Designer, William Ho, explains that the game’s story mode will do more than just racing. “It’s not always going around a loop,” he remarks. Ho continues to describe Karting’s gameplay as a “party adventure,” and explains how it will be fresh and diverse. Although, the game will branch out from the norm, it will still have traditional game modes such as versus, racing, and battle. So, no need to worry about it being too obscure or complex.
LittleBigPlanet’s diversity and longevity will greatly depend on the player base. Amazing things were done with the original LittleBigPlanet level editor, and I expect even more great things from Karting’s. I look forward to playing whatever the community comes up with -- hey, that’s you!
In the meantime, Check out the video Interview with William Ho below.