Sackboy: A Big Adventure - PC - Review

Sony are continuing their porting process, bringing another of their formally PlayStation exclusive brands to PC, this time Sackboy is getting the love, specifically with Sackboy: A Big Adventure. As you might expect, it is a direct port, so for those who are fans of Little Big Adventure or have migrated to another platform for their gaming needs and wants from Sony can now rejoice. Something to note with this review, I played the entire game on my Steam Deck and while the game has yet to be verified, it was very playable.

For those curious about how it plays on Steam Deck, the good news is that there haven’t been any major issues, though that could be due to the updates the game has received since it launched. These updates though are not small, the game was redownloading itself when patches were applied, indicating that they were core changes, rather than those small MB sized patches that one usually sees on PC. With the updates applied, things have been fine except for a small number of issues, such as a couple of placeholder images that don’t seem to be displaying during load screens, and a couple of times where the game froze, which lead to being restarted. These issues may just be connected to the Steam Deck and not for the game itself, but given it is still just a PC, I would hazard a guess that they exist elsewhere. Apart from those issues though, 90% of the time the game plays perfectly fine. In fact, I daresay that the Deck is the perfect unit to play platformers like Sackboy on.

Visually, Sackboy’s design and textures are absolutely amazing. And to ensure I’m getting a good balance of performance and graphics, I’ve set most of the setting onto “high” opposed to its maximum settings in terms of visuals such as particle effects, textures dynamic shadows etc. And to be honest, the game is still more than fine in terms of its visual performance, especially when running at 60fps. Sackboy’s visual textures are absolutely fantastic that each material actually looks like what it’s made to be. Wool threads look like threads, cardboard looks like cardboard, even to the point where you’re still able to see the fibres and grain texture on leather material. The team really did an astounding job on the design and visual style of the game, making it really look like a papercraft platform.

In terms of gameplay, this platformer is a lot of fun. And sure, some levels may be very simplistic and basic, but it’s definitely something anyone at all ages can easily jump on. The world maps really do feel very Mario-esque, to the point where some of the game play does feel like you’re playing Mario itself. However, the only call out is the physics in the game feels a little odd in that Sackboy feels a little sluggish at times. One thing that’s a stand out is the multiplayer aspect of the game. It’s extremely easy to jump online and play with others, which this game is clearly made for. And sure, you’d still have fun playing single player, but can definitely tell that Sackboy is made for multiplayer to the point where there are parts in each level where it can easily be seen, whether it’s a path for 2 (or more) characters go to through, or even the very obvious ‘only playable with multiplayer’ levels. All to say that this is a game that’s definitely better with friends or randoms online.

Lastly, the fun not only comes in the cuteness of the Sackboy and characters he comes across along his journey to stopping the antagonist Vex, but also the music they’ve used through some of the levels. There are familiar songs from the likes of Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk, just to name one, so it’s definitely something that makes the levels very fun.

If you’ve been a big fan of Little Big Adventure, and have been wanting to play this on PC, then it’s definitely worth picking up. Of course, the big difference between Little Big Planet and Sackboy is the non-existing custom level creation, but if you don’t mind not having that and are just wanting to play a Mario-esque type platformer, this is one to pick up and have a lot of fun with. Especially with multiplayer.

The Score

8.0

Review code provided by PlayStation

The Pros

+Visual design and art style are absolutely fantastic

+A lot of fun on multiplayer

+A direct port from the console, our review of that here

The Cons

-Controls are a little sluggish and clunky for Sackboy

-Levels are a little too easy and simplistic

-Clearly made for multiplayer more than solo

-Still a few minor bugs and glitches