This is a great shooter, just make sure you have some friends to play online with you before you buy it.
The story to Lost Planet 2 is actually a bunch of small stories put together, but the gist of it is that rival factions are fighting against one another, as well as the monstrous akrid, for Thermal Energy, E.D.N. III's natural resource.
Each part of E.D.N. III, be it jungle, desert or snowfield, all look rich in detail and beauty, however the levels are short sadfully, that means once you actually get going, the level will pretty much end sooner than you initially think.
The gameplay is similar to Monster Hunter, but in 3rd person shooter form, without the excessive preparation required when needing to take down a boss, which is one thing that makes Lost Planet 2 stand out from Monster Hunter.
Other reasons why Lost Planet 2 stand out are that bosses actually have HEALTH BARS!!! Finally we will get to know if our attacks have any effect. Bosses even have weak points that are more like advertised facts than a hidden mystery.
However Lost Planet 2 does have flaws. The friendly AI is dumb, I mean seriously dumb. They will not get into a VS and they will rarely help you activate data posts, they are great at shooting things and getting killed VERY quickly. I will go as far as saying don't buy this if you CANNOT go online.
Your enemies will use the cheapest tactic at their disposal... knockback attacks! These will encourage players to reach levels of frustration unimagineable since once your hit by one attack, your pretty much going to get hit by another... or not if your lucky.
Lost Planet 2 is a great alternative to Monster Hunter, providing you have friends to play online with, but try this before you buy, and don't bother if you cannot go online.