Lost Planet 2 - Fantastic Music and Visuals Fail to Mask the Same Old Problems
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3Publisher: Capcom
Genre: Action/Shooter
ESRB Rating: Teen
Release Date: 05/11/2010
Graphics: 9.0 / 10.0
Much like the original, the graphics presented in Lost Planet 2 are actually very good. Granted, the enemies can begin to look very similar. However, the amount of options that you have for faction choice and the beautiful environments in which you play more than make up for some similar features in character design. Some of the familiar environments from Lost Planet stick around in the sequel. However, there are also some huge improvements and new environments that we won"t spoil for you.
Gameplay: 3.0 / 10.0
The controls are just plain silly. If you have a B button on your controller and a joystick, you can almost do anything the game requires. Obviously, the developers learned nothing from one of the primary complaints about the original Lost Planet. You also have to suffer through repetitive and unnecessary periods of waiting while you perform some button smashing or watch a cut scene because you got into a new battle suit. These periods of time are aggravating and unnecessary. Finally, say good bye to checkpoints and hello to at least an hour period before you can save your game without losing progress.
Story: 1.0 / 10.0
Worst story ever. Think of a Michael Bay movie made up of random scenes from Michael Bay movies. There simply isn"t really a story in this game. Yes, it takes place 10 years after the first game and there is some sort of war going on over some sort of valuable material. If Capcom doesn"t hand feed you chunks of the story, you won"t get it. This is lazy script writing and has no place in today"s game market. Enough said.
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Music: 10.0 / 10.0
Many great jazz musicians will comment that the key to playing a good solo is not focusing on the amount of notes that you can fit in an amount of time, but how you use the space between those notes. Lost Planet 2 really uses this concept to fill out their fantastic score. Not only is the music powerful, well written and intense, but it is often missing to create a spooky and lonely atmosphere. Much like game series such as F.E.A.R., music is used to compliment and add to what is going on in the game - not overpower it by looping endlessly, regardless of your actions.
Replay Value: 2.0 / 10.0
If you manage to make it through the campaign portion of the game, you could play it again with some friends if you have some pretty bored friends and some sort of masochist fantasy. Or, you could play in the equally flawed multiplayer games. These will look very similar to the regular campaign as it looks as if the campaign consisted of pre-rendered multiplayer maps anyway. You probably won"t want anything more to do with this game once you beat it.
Overall Rating: 3.0 / 10.0
Lost Planet 2 looks and sounds great. However, many movies look and sound great but are fantastic flaws because of a lack of story or substance. What is really sad about Lost Planet 2 is that, with a little attention, it could have been a great addition to the Capcom library. Whether because of arrogance or incompetence, it wasn"t. You have enough to play with the other fantastic shooters released this year. You won"t find anything new or exciting in Lost Planet 2