While rather shallow, Lost Planet is an enjoyable experience.
When Capcom's Lost Planet hit the shelves, I was one of the first to buy it. While I was not disappointed with its pretty graphics and abundance of aliens to kill, its tangled and uninteresting story makes it a pretty mediocre game.
h are in essence mechanised suits that your character can climb into and dish out a whole load of firepower in the form of chain-guns to devastating grenade launchers. These suits are an imperative part of the game and in destroying some of the more hardy Akrid creatures that your machine gun just cannot kill.
While the game has some gargantuan monsters to face, there are also the smaller Akrid. The weaker Akrid are more commonly found as you progress through a level and usually emerge through noticeable spawn alien-like pumping stations which will continually pump out these smaller aliens until you destroy it. By killing the Akrid, you can gain thermal energy from their carcasses which are used to replenish your health keep you alive in harsh planetary conditions. As you play through the game this energy is continuously drained until you eventually die. This energy drain is an instant concept but from playing through the game on various difficulties you will rarely have to worry about it on the easier difficulties as it is so easy to get your hands on.
Graphically, the game is excellent and the game is not always played out on snowy plains. The level design is also great and most levels aren't too linear and offer a bit of exploration with the aid of your grapple hook which can be used to grapple onto ledges or rappet down to areas below. The levels are also pretty varied as on occasions, you may find yourself in vast concrete-slabbed complexes, in rocky mountainous regions and in what appears to be abandoned cities. There are also various storage containers, barrels and machines which can be blown up which creates some beautifully crafted explosions. Overall the game's graphically and visually superb.
The game also has plenty of weaponry to use ranging from the standard assault rifle to varied guns like a plasma gun. You can also pick up the Vital Suit weapons which wield devastating attacks but severely hinders your movement. The weapons also sound great to from the pulsating rounds of the assault rifle to the huge explosions created by the grenade launchers. Not only do the weapons sound great but everything else sounds excellent from the screeching cries of the Akrid to the crunching noise made from walking in the snow. Everything sounds as it should on Lost Planet.
The online portion of the game is also pretty good. You can fight it out on several different maps that are spacious and look and supports up to 16 players in four game modes ranging from Team Battle to Data Post Grab (capture the flag). There is also a basic level system so buy playing games you can increase your level, while it bears no real rewards, it is an incentive to keep playing.
Lost Planet is an action-packed game which will provide you with plenty of fun and excitement. While the singleplayer is a short ride, it makes up for it in an enthralling multiplayer mode that will offer you plenty of enjoyment out of a game that is a lot of fun to play, overall.
