Game Details

• Title: Lost Planet 2
• Format: X360 & PS3
• Players: 1 - 4
• Genre: 3rd Person Action
• Price: £29.99 RRP
• Reviewer: Stuart Burnside

Now I must admit I love stomping around Alien worlds suppressing and killing the locals as much as the next man. No, for once I am not talking about Avatar, but actually referring to the next installment in the Lost Planet franchise. 2010's follow on from the surprise Capcom hit (all the way back in 2007) has been eagerly awaited by a loyal and adoring fanbase which, alas, has me amongst its members.

Capcom have rightly assessed that it was the multiplayer aspect of the original LP that hit hardest among the adoring hoards. The unusual snowy landscapes, mechs and range of weapons and grappling hooks all added to the playability and combined beautifully to make a hit out of what people first thought was just another average shooter.

The first Lost Planet game even came with a creditable (if not slightly short) single player campaign. I myself really enjoyed this and was soon sucked into the world of Lost Planet. Having leapt forward three years to the inevitable sequel, I don't mind admitting I was rather excited at the prospect of more, bigger and badder action along similar lines, Capcom this time promising to deliver all the fun of the first game, but with improved graphics and gameplay. The very thought of it had my sweaty Nintendinitis ridden hands all ready to lay waste to some oversized Akrid.

The first thing that should have been a glaring give away was the price. Most retailers retailed LP2 at around £10 less than all other new releases. My initial thoughts were that someone at Capcom had a brainwave to market the game cheaper to attract a wider audience.... Sigh. Why do I always think the best of massive multinational companies and assume that their best interest is in the pleasing their credit crunch stricken gamers?? The reason for the lower price is actually because Lost Planet 2 features no single player game as such. Capcom have instead put all of their efforts into the more historically successful multiplayer experience. So in effect we have a title along the same lines of other recent titles such as MAG and Socom on the PS3. Lets delve deeper to give you guys a better understanding of what this game does actually deliver then.

Capcom have brought forward a very arcade style of game play. Anyone born in the 80's will remember spending their pocket money in badly lit, slightly grubby rooms full of classic cabinets, long before the days when everyone could afford a console - but I digress. Lost Planet 2 is made up of 6 episodes; each then broken up into smaller chunks. Every episode contains its own storyline and allocated hero to control. To help players along the way they are accompanied by 3 comrades controlled either as AI bots or enlisted via the might of XBL/PSN. Except for the initial sequence of LP2, Capcom have moved away from familiar, snowy landscapes in favour of mixing it up a little. You will now be fighting your way though a plethora of different environments which vary from jungle, deserts, the ocean depths and even outer space.

Many of the things that I loved about the first game are present here as well. The VS (Vital Suits / Mechs) are back and are just as good the second time around. This time players can also hang on the side of a friendly VS for a quick lift. Weapons will also be familiar to players of the first game and there have been no changes to the control system which is a good thing.

Some things however have been tweaked. Unlike in the original game, in LP2 players do not constantly lose Thermal-Energy due to the warmer climate. This is instead used up by the player in other ways such as sprinting or when using the VS suits. A nice new feature of this T-ENG is that if a player is getting close to depleting his share other players can transfer energy to that player. This does help with the team work aspect and reminds me a little of playing Team Fortress as the doctor when running around healing team mates.

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