[Mikey]

I've been playing through it on normal, and I'm a few missions deep, so here are some impressions:

The game does have some oldschool sensibilities, in that some of the bosses are ridiculously tough. But once you take a few cracks at them, you sort of hone yourself into a blade made specifically for killing that boss. The graphics are really great, blowing snow especially is done very well. Enemy AI on regular enemies is pretty dumb, especially on human enemies. Turning off the aim-assistance is vital, because it will actually hinder you as often as it helps.

A few aggravating things include:

Wayne (the protagonist) gets knocked down by shit a lot, and his animation to get back up is painfully slow - which usually means Wayne will get knocked down again by the time he's ready to roll.

You can not look straight up, which is damned unfortunate in a game where there's always a good chance of an enemy being directly overhead.

In what has to be the cruelest design decision I've encountered in a long time, if you are out of thermal energy, you can not enter a Vital Suit. If you are in a Vital Suit and run out of T-Eng, you are forcibly ejected, even if the Suit is in perfect condition.

I will say, that Lost Planet is more video gamey than a lot of action games I've played in the last few years. I'm stuck in a boss fight right now against a creature that almost seems like it's straight from a Shmup, or at least something really arcade-ish. Especially when you do enough damage and it goes into hyper-killer mode and starts doing ridiculous things.

This fight essentially has a timer, as well, since there are not any real ways to replenish T-Eng. Most of the fights have ended with me being ejected from my VS and then just sort of running around and getting killed. Also, this boss fires lots of explosives which knock Wayne down. So two of my main gripes about the game conspire to defeat me over and over, and I had to walk away a little while ago so as not to spike my expensive wireless controller into the floor.

[Mikey]

[Mikey]

[Mikey]

Yes, it's the flying hornet boss - I sort of assumed it could only get harder/more annoying, but is it much worse?

[Mikey]

Whoever decided to make the button which picks things up while you are in a Vital Suit be the same fucking button which ejects you is getting smacked. I can not express the rage I feel when I'm in a pitched battle and try to replace a weapon on my VS only to accidentally eject and A) get blasted with a rocket or something B) fall of a cliff or ledge.

RAGE.

[Mikey]

[Mikey]

[Mikey]

I've just played a few 30-minute one-on-one matches with a friend, on some of the larger levels. I like the fact that in multi T-Energy is mostly used to regulate people's use of Vital Suits and energy weapons - in slow-paced matches like the ones my friend and I were playing, there would be long periods of just sneaking around and activating data posts to gain T-Energy before we'd hop into some VSs and stage a showdown. It's a lot of fun! If anyone would like to give some one-on-one elimination on Frozen Wasteland a shot, my gamertag is ilopan, and I'm on Live pretty often.

[Mikey]

In the end I'll say this - this is one of the games I bought a 360 for (or at least, why I bought one as soon as I did) and I have no regrets.

[Mikey]

I already compared this game to Metal Slug, but now that I've played a bunch of multiplayer, I realize that in many ways I approach playing it (in multi) like I approach fighting games.

Due to your avatar's propensity for being thrown about by explosions and stumbling after jumps from high places, you become acutely aware of the recovery times for animations - it is worth noting that most of these animations actually impart invincibility. For example, if one knocks an opponent on their ass with a shotgun blast, aiming down at their prone form and firing will not do more damage. You have to wait for them to get back up and completely finish that animation - should you time your next shot poorly, the rate of fire of the shotgun (the recovery, if you will) will leave you open to counterattack. Similarly, people who are falling after (for example) an explosion knocks them off a ledge are similarly invulnerable. If you jump and then stumble, you can actually take a rocket straight to the body and take no damage. It's very Street-Fighter, which I suppose is not that surprising considering the game's pedigree.

An interesting use of this quirk/glitch/whatever applies to the brief invincibility you are granted while entering a VS - while the VS goes through its start-up sequence, it can not be damaged. Once, while playing against a friend, I began charging a homing laser. I then fired it, and my friend waited until almost the moment of impact, then entered a VS. Though the shot hit him square in the back as he climbed into the VS, he took no damage. The fact that I was on higher ground (a tactic pioneered by one Obi-wan Kenobi [lolz0rs] ) and had an a very powerful weapon meant nothing because of his exploitation of the game system.

[Mikey]

Perhaps, but at this point I'm getting used to it for what it is and enjoying it, I'm having fun with it despite/because of those "niggles", is what I was tring to get at.

[Mikey]

It's for this reason that I usually disable voice when I'm playing with people I don't know because people either complain constantly, talk trash, say incredibly dumb things, or do a combination of the three.

I'll admit, I usually start to go after the loud mouths.