Kodu Game Lab is a newly released Community Game for Xbox 360. In my mind this always had the humorous hype of being the “Little Big Planet killer”, though as more and more information came about, I understood it was something a little different.

Kodu is a “create a game” game, but does not hold itself to a specific genre of game you can create. In fact, it encourages you to try different things, racing, action adventure, RPG, side scrolling, even first person shooters. A game that offers so much has the downfall of not being easy.

When starting the game, it is slightly confusing. You are started off in a tutorial that you may or may not pass right away, and once complete, the game doesn’t show you how to get to the second tutorial level. Get used to this sort of treatment. I am not sure if the makers intended it this way, or were unable to provide a full tutorial with any time/size/money constraints they have, as the game provides many options but only so much help. Either way though, who likes looking through booklets, we all like mashing buttons, so that is how it goes.

I have yet to find a good guide online, but I’m sure in the coming weeks people will have detailed FAQs on specific game genres. For now though, the amount of editing possible is overwhelming. Everything can be changed to fit your needs. The world itself, titles, sounds, lighting, colors, friction, reaction times, paths enemies take, THE BREEZE OF THE WIND.. seriously, it has it all. Yes, by saying this I’m sure there is somebody ready to yell out what few options might be missing, but the amount Kodu has, is far beyond anything out there in this type of game.

Thinking I was ready to start dabbling in making my own full game, I found myself frustrated by the amount of settings I was not familiar with and went right back to the lessons. I suggest going through all the tutorials/lessons, then going through the pre-made levels before attempting to make Super Mario Bros Stage 1-1. A note, don’t think too big. The amount of space given to make one level is decent, but don’t expect to make a recreation of your neighborhood.

Not to sound negative on the game, as maybe it was presumptuous of me to think there would be a little more hand holding in the beginning, however, it does promote the idea that you need to do things on your own. Explore. Figure out what you want to do, and Kodu is here to give you the tools to finish out your thoughts.

I hope no graphics whores were considering this game, but just in case you were, the look of this game is very basic, slightly clunky, but it fits with the idea that this title seems to be geared towards kids getting into gaming. Sounds and music are fine too, they fit the game, nothing annoying that gets in the way, so mission accomplished. The amount of sound effects you can choose is pretty hefty, all categorized nicely. Unfortunately, with a game as open ended as this, you will start wishing there were more sounds available, but creativity will kick in and you will end up finding some kind of sound for whatever situation you want.

At the moment you can share maps with people on your friends list, but there is no general downloading area. This could be to avoid legal troubles (ie Little Big Planet erasing Mario levels) or the team possibly did not have enough time to put that feature in, either way, friends only. For now, hit up the Official Xbox Forums, TeamXbox Forums, GameFAQS, etc etc.. and I’m sure you’ll find people who want to share their levels and enjoy yours (most of the time you don’t even have to be a member, just send the gamers a message if they leave their gamertag in a thread).

Final Thoughts

Adults, this game is a “starter” for any person who has thought about developing. Kids, it is an awesome tool to be creative. For all, it just reeks of appreciation of what goes into full games. The final score (god I hate review scores), is going to have to be four out of five though. Despite how great and in depth the game is, it is limited by the amount of items it contains, which though is a lot, will certainly become repetitive over time. The lack of sharing levels is a big turn off as well. I feel also there is a lack of help, but it is hard to say that without mentioning the mass amount of tools available. I am sure this will change with strong online gaming communities sharing information.

Even with my gripes, you still cannot get past the value that Kodu Game Lab presents for the price of $5, nothing can compete. If you have the least bit interest, you should download the trial. It is on a time limit, but not a gimped version of the game, so you’ll be able to see the depth offered right away.

Popularity: 1% [?]