Whether in a Mech or on foot you’re going to be amazed by the variety and the tactics employed by all the enemies in Lost Planet. They dodge, they run, they jump, they smash things, and they animate beautifully. All the explosions they create and all the movement they have makes for a hectic onscreen ballet. It’s pure graphical splendor that both engulfs you in the moment and keeps you on the edge of your seat like a great action movie would. Then once you get to any of the many bosses you’ll find out just what good boss gameplay design is. All of the bosses are either incredibly cool Mechs which you can drive yourself at one time or another or they’re skyscraper sized Akrid. The latter wave around, burst from the ground, scream, and feature some of the best tactics needed to win of any game ever made. Blow up this to enable this to allow you to blow up that and finally change it into this form that then morphs to that form and so on and so forth in many different varieties. It’s just a joy to watch and to play against.


oh god, I think I need to change my pants now.

After the 10 or so hours of the single player campaign you can head back in to try another difficulty or find all the hidden coins lying around or you can head to the amazing online battlefield. Some maps are small and feel fast and edgy while some are large and feel more like Battlefield and require Mechs to travel around quickly. Some are better for straight up deathmatch or team deathmatch while others are perfect for post grab. Up to 16 players can compete on up to 4 teams to battle it out for a win that then gives you experience points that level up your gamertag. Level up enough and you can unlock new characters and textures to use online. Every time you kill someone, acquire a VS, take a post, or do a few other things I forgot you get points. If you hit the point limit for the match you win or if you have the most points at the end of the match time limit you win. On the other hand if you get killed, team kill, kill yourself, and do a few other things I forgot you’ll actually lose points. It’s a cool system that works incredibly well.


Online is incredible to say the least.
Of the 8 maps initially included, all feel unique and fun. One is completely vertical and requires you to constantly grapple while another is extremely wide open and requires fast Mechs to get anything done. On that vertical level it’s a treat to be walking around and suddenly see four or so other players fly by on their grapple lines. What’s great too is that there is an embedded way to access the XBOX Live store so that in the future you can grab new maps directly from within the game. My only real problem with the online experience is that after a match you can’t jump directly back into another with the same people you were playing with. You get spit back out to the main menu and that’s kind of annoying. But if the high number of matches always present on Japanese XBOX Live is any indication, this will be one popular game when it hits the rest of the world.


Screens don't do it justice.
And last but certainly not least are the graphics which are truly next-generation quality. The models are high polygon, the textures are high resolution, the effects are amazing, and it all looks incredible especially on a HD-TV. The sound is just as good and features great sounds and effects, a cool background score, and well done English voice overs.

If you’re tired of Gears, get this the second you can.


All English. Get it now.

• Varied and fun gameplay
  
• Great enemy design
  
• Incredible boss battles
  
• Mechs are easy and fun to operate
  
• Online is a dream
  
• Graphics are beautiful
  
• Voice acting doesn’t suck
  
• Story is interesting and coherent
  
• Great innovation in several areas like health management

• Little nags here and there I mentioned above