Lost Planet 2 (Xbox 360) E3 2009 impressions

By Sid Shuman
June 06, 2009 01:46 AM PST
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Think Shadow of the Colossus meets Halo for this nutso sci-fi shooter.

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I'll keep this short and sweet: Lost Planet 2 is roughly one thousand times more interesting than the original game, which was a weird mish-mash of shooter conventions. But Lost Planet 2 is more inspired, playing like a hyperactive combination of Shadow of the Colossus and Halo. It's weird, but very, very cool. I played a two-player cooperative match (up to four players can cooperative online) and was immediately impressed by the graphics, which are based on technology more advanced than what was used for Resident Evil 5. The results look terrific: massive jungle environments with a huge sense of scale, enormous boss creatures that clomp around with impressive muscle-skeletal physics, and tons of special effects sparking around everywhere.

The boss battles, the best part of the original Lost Planet, are a major focus of this smart sequel. With my co-op partner, I battled a titanic creature that looked like red, skinless blue whale that storms around on six muscular legs. The creature's body was studded with glowing orange weak spots that I attacked relentlessly with my machinegun, grenades, and a new Hand Cannon weapon that worked like Halo 3's Plasma Pistol. It was an immediately gripping experience: epic, bizarre, colorful, and engaging. To kill the skinless whale, you have to blow out most of its massive knees to send it tumbling to the ground, then hop into its mouth to finish it from within. Totally crazy, but awesome.

Lost Planet 2 was a pleasant surprise. The graphics are pleasing, the controls are butter-smooth and immediately accessible, and the epic 15-minute boss battles give the game an utterly unique hook. Add in item collection and four-player cooperative play and you're looking at a muscular game. Capcom should be proud of this one.