Lost Planet [360] Review

SM Ciel · Nov 29, 2008 at 2:59 PM

This is an old review I did for a buddies website.

Graphics & Design [8.8/10]

From the moment I started my first game on Xbox Live or from the moment I started to play single player, I was overwhelmed with how great this game looks. Though it lacks a little because most of the environments are snow. However, the snow looks pretty as does everything else. The snow effects are spectacular leaving footprints in the ground, snow blowing on you screen, or diving around and then standing only to see that the snow is stuck on your body until you go inside where it is warm and melts off. After getting in my first mech. or VS, I blew up another mech, and my jaw just dropped. The explosions are some of the best I've seen. It looks great and is a lot of fun when you are online and there are constant explosions going off; it's almost blinding.

Another nice feature this game has is when you look at the sun and look back down it is very hard to see! It's kind of annoying at first because when you have to grapple up somewhere sometimes you just look at it on accident, but if you think about it, it's a really cool feature that lots of games lack.

The Acrid or the "monsters" that you are fighting look great. The bosses look creepy-scary and the little monsters looks awesome as well.

Gameplay [8.5/10]

The Bad:
There are minor flaws to the gameplay that aren't too big but would piss off most gamers who can't just have a good time. One thing is, when you are getting shot at, it's hard to move. Also, when you get shot it tends to stop your shooting so you have to constantly be running, diving, crouching, etc to avoid bullets. Another minor flaw is if you got knocked on the ground, you can't get hit. Awesome for you, yes, but if you knocked a guy down and wanted to finish him, you'd have to wait till he gets back up. Spawn camping with mechs is another thing people enjoy doing. Even though you have a shield for a few seconds when you spawn, the mechs just keep shooting and eventually kill you. The final flaw to the game is that if you shoot a rocket and it hits the wall behind or the ground right next to a person they sometimes don't die. However, a patch is coming out to fix a few of these flaws (should be out by now). Some could say that the controls are "clunky", but after you played a game or two, like most games they will seem fine. Not much of a problem, but people complain about everything these days.

The Good:
Now that I told you the negative parts about the game, time to hit you guys up with what makes this game one of my favorite Xbox 360 titles, the weapons. There are your simple guns like a machine gun, a rifle, a shotgun, etc. Then there are your futuristic weapons like homing lasers (which can be dodged by diving or hiding), and mechs. Oh, did I mention that you could walk up to a mech that isn't being manned and take off its gun. Yup, you can take a shotgun, a gatling gun, or even a rocket launcher off a mech and use it. The reload button is also great. You reload by clicking in the right thumbstick, seems odd, but when your running and looking around it works out that you never have to take your thumb off the sticks.

The grenades are also pretty sweet. Even though you can only one type of grenade at once, that's all you need. There are two grenades that can stick onto people. There's the "Gum Grenade" that can stick to people and walls but can't be thrown that far, then there is the "Disc Grenade" or as I call it the "Frisbee". This grenade can be thrown across the map and can stick to people. There is also a regular "Frag Grenade" and a "Plasma Grenade". The plasma grenade stuns opponents and mechs temporarily allowing you to unload on them. Last but not least there is the "Dummy Grenade". When this is thrown, it pretty much makes a cheap imitation of you. It also floats. However, it is powerful and if you shoot it, it will explode. It's probably my favorite grenade because you can throw it at the top of stairs so it floats and gets stuck on something. Then when someone runs by, you shoot it.

Grenades are very helpful (try to have them on you at all times) because any grenade can be shot to have it explode. So watch out when you're throwing a grenade that it doesn't explode in your face.

You can also pilot many mechs online. One of my favorite mechs is the one that has chainsaw attached to it. You can press the "X" button to use it or hold it to keep it out. If you ever find yourself going up against another mech and you're in the one with the chainsaw, here's a tip on taking it down. Press and hold the "Y" button, this enables a dash/slide that allows you to get behind your opponent. Next, press and hold "X" to chainsaw him or her in the back.

Online is also similar to an RPG. As you win or lose you gain experience points that go towards your online level. The points system is based on how good you do, not your team. As you level up, you gain new character models to play as and you also gain new patterns for them to wear online. The max level for online is level 99, I've seen countless players at that level so it is actually attainable. An easy way to gain levels is to just host a ranked "Fugitive" match and have a friend join. Then kill him and grab a post to get a nice 4000 experience. Then have him host and kill you. If the fugitive wins, he gains lots of points. It takes about a minute to do if you are on "Pirate Fortress" and have the starting weapon as the "Rifle".

There are multiple game types to play. There is "Fugitive" where one player has to survive against a bunch of other players. There's also "Post Grab" which is similar to Halo's territories. The game also includes "Elimination" and "Team Elimination". Another cool feature about online is you can join ranked games with your friends, or host ranked games and have your friends join. While they won't be able to receive an invite, they can still search for your game in the list of lobbies.

Overall new players might be put off if they lose their first couple of games, but once you start getting a hang of it and learning new strategies the game is a blast to play with solid controls and enough online game types and features to please anyone.

Lost Planet has a fantastic soundtrack. Nothing is better then running in the middle of plain of snow and all of a sudden a Giant Worm Acrid comes out of the ground and the panic music starts. The soundtrack is a joy to listen to and can really set a tone for a specific event.

Some guns sound kind of weird but nothing to drastic. Firing the mech shotgun makes me laugh because of the noise it makes. But if you think about it, that's the type of noise it should make. If you want a good laugh, shoot your grappling good "X" a bunch of times in a row. The explosions on the other hand sound sweet. There is nothing better then trying to escape from someone in a mech and you hear the explosions happening behind you.

The sound effects in the game are also very pleasing. You can be inside a building and hear the people running around outside because of the noise their feet make while running in the snow. Or you can be on lower floor of a building and hear someone running around on the top. Also if you taunt, hold start in game and press any direction the D-Pad (each direction does something different) you can hear your guys cloths move, his hands clap, or hear one of the characters slap his arse.

Entertainment [9/10]

To wrap things up, Lost Planet is a blast to play alone or with buddies. The single player though short, was a lot of fun. Great graphics, great music, and great gameplay will put you in a happy place. However the game does have its flaws as I've already pointed out. I doubt many people play it online now, but the game is about $10 USED. So if you're looking for a fun single player experience, but not looking to spend a fortune, check it out.[/b]
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steez · Nov 29, 2008 at 3:06 PM

i love sleepytigersalex

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Lost Planet [360] Review

SM Ciel Well-Known Member

steez Banned from GR

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Lost Planet [360] Review

SM Ciel Well-Known Member

steez Banned from GR

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