Lost Planet 2
We played and wrote about (in yellow?) Lost Planet and pretty much hated it because it let us down. This was supposed to be next-gen.
Then Richie tried to hide his excitement following the hype train for Lost Planet 2 and bemoaning the near-transparency of this IP amongst several 'hardcore' gamers.
Well, like the adolescent boys we are we've had a little play for the first time [of Lost Planet 2] and we like it.
WHAT WE LIKED
1) This is essentially an HD, fighting large things version of the truly truly excellent Freedom Fighters. Why didn't a single review (disclaimer: that we read) draw this parallel? Freedom fighters was excellent. This game is also mostly excellent. Space dwelling snow pirates freedom fighters!
2) The Capcomness. Unlockables include emotes, nom de plumes, weapons and clothes. There are thousands of emotes and nom de guerres to collect and it''ll take even keen players forever to unlock them all. Once again, some of the unlocks are CAPCOM MAGIC(TM), like special noms unlocked if you have other Capcom save games (I've covered wars don't ya know, BSAA etc.) and costume elements from Dead Rising. Brilliant brilliant cross over stuff that you just don't get from other Studios.
3) It's freedom fighters against massive fucking monsters. Did we mention that? And when it isn't co-op freedom fighters against massive fucking monsters it comes damn close to being co-op Starship Troopers (the film not the game), standing side by side unloading clips into swarms ofChigs, Bugs we mean Akrid.
4) Some of the co-op elements are truly amazing like cooling down, loading up and firing a cannon the size of a house. Fun Fact: That sequence with the big desert fella plays very similarly to both the same bit in Monster Hunter Tri and the Giant Octopus Battle in Zack and Wiki. Other highlights include being fired miles into the air through Heatran's anus.
WHAT WE HATED
1) This will be a killer for some players. In split-screen co-op, each player gets a quarter of the screen for no good reason. The other quarters of the screen are taken up by one of gaming's least useful maps ever. From now on, fucked up split screen co-op screens will be called 'Chronic Resident Evil 5 syndrome'.
2) The story is pants. Everything is twelve years, then two weeks, then three months after everything else. After what? Nobody knows. On top of that you bounce through the game playing as a 'Snow Pirate' or a 'Carpet Bagger'? It's all a bit silly but although following who is doing what when is tricky there are some humorous cutscenes particularly the section with the desert people. Who may or may not be Carpet Baggers.
3) If you play through in co-op it only charts the cheevos, unlocks and progressions for player 1 even though player 2 has to sign into XBL. I was player 2. I'm not fucking happy about it.
4) There are some bits, in between it being freedom fighters against massive fucking monsters or the Starship Troopers simulator we've always wanted where it is standing on a train and waiting for the last hidden bad guy to come out because the next bit isn't triggered until he dies. A couple of blips like this mess around with the pace but it is a minor complaint.
5) The end of level stats screen is timed? Again, not a biggie but we played this after we'd played ODST and comparing stats is a compelling mini game.
If you want a splitscreen co-op game, like big monsters and have any love whatsoever for freedom fighters then we recommend you pick it up. If you have a small TV, get confused with games that require more than two buttons or really value a followable story then we suggest Modern Warfare 2.
Then Richie tried to hide his excitement following the hype train for Lost Planet 2 and bemoaning the near-transparency of this IP amongst several 'hardcore' gamers.
Well, like the adolescent boys we are we've had a little play for the first time [of Lost Planet 2] and we like it.
WHAT WE LIKED
1) This is essentially an HD, fighting large things version of the truly truly excellent Freedom Fighters. Why didn't a single review (disclaimer: that we read) draw this parallel? Freedom fighters was excellent. This game is also mostly excellent. Space dwelling snow pirates freedom fighters!
2) The Capcomness. Unlockables include emotes, nom de plumes, weapons and clothes. There are thousands of emotes and nom de guerres to collect and it''ll take even keen players forever to unlock them all. Once again, some of the unlocks are CAPCOM MAGIC(TM), like special noms unlocked if you have other Capcom save games (I've covered wars don't ya know, BSAA etc.) and costume elements from Dead Rising. Brilliant brilliant cross over stuff that you just don't get from other Studios.
3) It's freedom fighters against massive fucking monsters. Did we mention that? And when it isn't co-op freedom fighters against massive fucking monsters it comes damn close to being co-op Starship Troopers (the film not the game), standing side by side unloading clips into swarms of
4) Some of the co-op elements are truly amazing like cooling down, loading up and firing a cannon the size of a house. Fun Fact: That sequence with the big desert fella plays very similarly to both the same bit in Monster Hunter Tri and the Giant Octopus Battle in Zack and Wiki. Other highlights include being fired miles into the air through Heatran's anus.
WHAT WE HATED1) This will be a killer for some players. In split-screen co-op, each player gets a quarter of the screen for no good reason. The other quarters of the screen are taken up by one of gaming's least useful maps ever. From now on, fucked up split screen co-op screens will be called 'Chronic Resident Evil 5 syndrome'.
2) The story is pants. Everything is twelve years, then two weeks, then three months after everything else. After what? Nobody knows. On top of that you bounce through the game playing as a 'Snow Pirate' or a 'Carpet Bagger'? It's all a bit silly but although following who is doing what when is tricky there are some humorous cutscenes particularly the section with the desert people. Who may or may not be Carpet Baggers.
3) If you play through in co-op it only charts the cheevos, unlocks and progressions for player 1 even though player 2 has to sign into XBL. I was player 2. I'm not fucking happy about it.
4) There are some bits, in between it being freedom fighters against massive fucking monsters or the Starship Troopers simulator we've always wanted where it is standing on a train and waiting for the last hidden bad guy to come out because the next bit isn't triggered until he dies. A couple of blips like this mess around with the pace but it is a minor complaint.
5) The end of level stats screen is timed? Again, not a biggie but we played this after we'd played ODST and comparing stats is a compelling mini game.
If you want a splitscreen co-op game, like big monsters and have any love whatsoever for freedom fighters then we recommend you pick it up. If you have a small TV, get confused with games that require more than two buttons or really value a followable story then we suggest Modern Warfare 2.
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