Hands On: Lost Planet 2

I really enjoyed Lost Planet‘s icy setting, pirates, insectoid Akrid, and mech suits. The bosses, on the other hand, I could’ve lived without. So what did I get to do for my hands-on? Fight a boss, of course! A big, nasty thing that lived in a swamp, had about a bazillion legs, spikes, and was about five stories tall. And it’s apparently one of the smaller bosses in the game.

The swampy locale is just one of the more obvious changes to Lost Planet 2. There’s still some of the ice and snow that made the first game so distinctive, but now you’ll also fight your way through swamp, desert, and cityscapes. You won’t need it to keep from freezing anymore, but thermal energy is still important for your health. You’ll use it to heal yourself or your companions – did I mention that Lost Planet 2 has cooperative multiplayer? It’s technically not necessary – you can play through the game all by yourself- but the game’s difficulty doesn’t scale based on how many people are playing. I was fighting that boss with three other people and still getting squished; I can’t imagine trying to do it solo.

Teaming up with friends does come with some risk, though. As you play, the game keeps a running tally of how you’re doing – activate a data node, your team gains 500 points. If one of you dies, you collectively lose 500 points. If your overall score reaches zero, that’s it, you’re done. So that guy who thinks it’s a hoot to suicide over and over again – we all know someone like that – is probably not someone you want to invite to play LP2 with you.

I only got to play the boss fight, but I can see how playing with friends would be absolutely badass. The monster was huge, the graphics were gorgeous, and the weapons were stupid amounts of fun. (Mech suit with a chain gun? Yes, thank you.) I still want to see more about the overall campaign and story, but you can count on Lost Planet 2 to have some epic boss fights.