By Cody Webb

Many gamers may not remember frolicking about in the winter wonderland that was the first Lost Planet, but what they will remember is kicking giant alien butt using equally big robot suits. While the first game was fun and offered a few thrills, it could’ve been a lot better than it was. Now the sequel is out, and it seeks to satisfy that itch that every action junkie has.    Ten years have passed since the original game and the planet of E.D.N. III has been hit hard by global warming; the once-snowy landscape has thawed in places to the point of becoming deserts and tropical jungles. Along with the radical warming of the planet, the alien Akrid have grown bigger and meaner. Luckily for the inhabitants of the planet, weapons and Vital Suits (VS’s, the robot suits) are plentiful, if you know where to “procure” them. E.D.N. III is still as beautiful as ever, adding lush foliage and burning desert to its list of impressive locales. The graphics are slightly improved over the already-decent original’s, and little touches abound. Such as the characters’ clothes swaying in the breeze or a Category G’s (Giant bosses) rampaging destroying the environment. You’ll even find yourself venturing out into the darkness of space towards the end of the game!   

I would really love to say the story is full of memorable characters and exciting plot twists, but unfortunately, I cannot. The cutscenes try their best to be as exciting as possible: with the various characters doing moves that would put most action heroes to shame and explosions aplenty. It’s incredibly hard to connect or feel any sort of emotional attachment to any of this characters, because they all insist on wearing facemasks throughout the entire game. So while you end up jumping from character to character, you won’t feel close to any of them. The only group that managed to affect me in any way were the insane-yet-goofy Fight Junkies you play as towards the end of the game. In my opinion, once you beat the game and unlock the ability to play as your customized character in the campaign, the story becomes just a little better because now you can tell which character is you. Further little issues hold Lost Planet 2 back from being great, such as nagging control issues that weren’t fixed from the first game. The controls suffice, but I’d like a little more fluidity when I’m trying to avoid skyscraper-sized aliens trying to kill me. The credit slot machine can be aggravating as well, being the only way to use those credits you get to outfit your custom character. However, all of these little issues tend to become less important when you’re trying to use a giant wartrain’s cannon to blast a seemingly-undefeatable alien determined to eat said train with you on it. It’s simply fun to jump into a VS and start gunning down enemy forces, Akrid and then the giant bosses, even if you aren’t quite sure about why you should care about your comrades. So if you’re an action junkie who simply wants to blast apart his friends or work together to take down towering bosses, you’ll enjoy Lost Planet 2. If you’re a completionist, you’ll probably enjoy playing the game over and over to unlock all of the various emotes, weapons and character parts. I’ll give Lost Planet 2 a B; I hope that if they do decide to make another, they keep going bigger and better!

Cody Webb lives in Live Oak.