Its Underrated ! Lost Planet 2 PC is great Co-Op fun once you can overlook its weak story and linear level design.
The Good:
- 4 Player Co-Op in campaign (You can play the entire campaign with 3 friends or by joining other players)
- Solid Multiplayer options and tons of character customization
Very beautiful visuals and graphics
- Huge and epic boss fights (And I really mean HUGE)
- The PC port is superior to the console versions and was improved and optimzed very well
The Bad:
- Weak story
- Kinda linear compared to the first game
- Running around activating dataposts gets boring
- Apparently the retail version and the steam version are not compatible with one another
Story:
The story of LP2 is actually loosely based on the first game, it takes place several years after the events of LP1 and this time around you don't play as a single guy named Wayne (the protagonist from LP1), you take part of one member from different factions all over Eden III. Basically your main "villain" is the evil Nevec corporation which tries to collect as much thermal energy as possible and then let the planet rot for all its good. The story isn't really worth mentioning because its really shallow and much weaker compared to the first game which also had a weak storyline but at least some drama and spicy moments. Overall the story is not great but explains some of the over the top action which is going on in LP2 6/10
Gameplay:
LP2 is a third person shooter and follows the same formula as the first game, you are either on foot or using a vital suit or short VS. If you are on foot you are given 2 weapons of choice as well as grenades and a thermal energy injection gun with which you can replenish the health of co-players. The awesome VS mechs from the first game are also back this time around and their functions are upgraded and you can also fuse two VS mechs into one this time around. There is also the grappling hook which helps you to climb to higher grounds. In short the gameplay is fun and fast paced and with a 4 player co-op and competitive online multiplayer its a blast 9/10
Controls:
The controls in LP2 are surprisingly fluid and responsive once you turn off the auto aim assist and crank the mouse sensitivity up to 30. This game is very fun to play with a gamepad but I honestly love the mouse and keyboard input much more then using two thumbsticks for moving and aiming. There are many key commands which make using a keyboard much easier than a gamepad. In the end once you get used to the controls its very easy to run and gun or perform crazy stunts using a VS. 8/10
Graphics:
One word, beautiful ! If you have a high end system (and you won't even need one just a fast VGA) this game will blow you away with its vivid graphics and environment design. The first LP was visually amazing but LP2 tops that by offering much more diverse areas than the first game which was placed mostly in an ice covered environment. In LP2 you play through thick jungle areas, dusty deserts and underwater complexes which all look detailed and gorgeous. Overall this game looks superb on the PC and was optimezed very well for the PC as so many Capcom PC titles recently 9/10
Sound:
Not much to say about the music, its nice and fits the game atmosphere. The gunfire sounds a little bit weak for my taste but its okay. The campaign has some dramatic tunes here and there when a huge Akrid boss makes an entrance which is kinda cool. The voice acting is okay and fit the characters in this game so I would say there is nothing wrong with it 8/10
My Review:
Now into the meat of LP2 and into my review which will cover most of the aspects this game offers. I will cover the PC version of LP2 which is considered to be superior to the Xbox360 and PS3 version due to the implementation of several bug fixes and later release of the game of course. This game got a lot of negative reviews because of the blow back function which was also present in the first game. Hopefully you can turn it off in the PC version but honestly it didn't bother me so much and even the train level wasn't all that dreadful as many other players and reviewers said. The first thing I want to mention is that even thou this game is called Lost Planet 2 you should not expect it to be like the very first game from 2007. The overall feeling and shooting mechanics are the same but this time around the game was purely designed for Co-Op which means you are never alone up against the Akrid like in the first game, of course you can play it in single player mode with AI bots but its much more fun with friends or joining online sessions.
The game is divided into 6 big episodes which are also divided into several chapters following a specific character during the single player campaign. You start off as a snow pirate and later you can even take control of a Nevec special forces unit. All 6 episodes are combined together in the end so the story makes sense (which actually didn't but its a hell of a ride). So either you play as a snow pirate or a Nevec spec ops member LP2 is all about running and gunning and collecting thermal energy which makes a return from the first game. Thankfully collecting thermal energy isn't that hard anymore as it was in LP1 because your health won't sink once your TE is depleted which also make the game a much more linear experience. Basically you run from point A to point B activating dataposts and killing some AI enemies or Akrid. You will get used to the level procedure pretty fast so don't expect anything more demanding other than activating dataposts by tapping your key or input the right command for the right quick time event which feels completely out of place and reminds me of Resident Evil 4-5 (at least there they were fun to perform).
The lack of mission objectives and linear feeling of the levels is a letdown and I can recall even the first game had much more open large area maps to cover.
The only true highlights of LP2 are of course the epic boss battles against the giant Akrid enemies and the 4 player online Co-Op which enables you to take on the big baddies with a team of three other people. As mentioned the boss battles are massive and require 4 people to take on, on hard or extreme difficulty you will encounter problems using AI partners as they won't perform as accurate as a human player in co-op of course. Controlling a VS is also fun and Capcom did a great job by importing the older VS models from LP1 and offering new redefined VS mechs with the ability to fuse two of them into one. So the boss battles are epic and massive and the shooting is fast paced and fun the only downside is the lackluster story which kinda seems stupid and forced but there are some epic set piece battles here and there and the graphics of Lost Planet 2 are absolutely top notch and well done. If you have a well balanced gaming PC I recommend playing it on its highest details because it will deliver, the multiplayer section is also well worth to mention as it offers a large possibility of game mods like team deathmatch or faction wars and the vast character customization features will keep you busy. If you are new to LP2 there is a training mode which will cover most of the bascis and advanced techniques in the game.
Lost Planet 2 for the PC comes either as a retail 2 DVD version or the can be purchased via steam download. The one important thing I mention this in this review is because it seems that the two versions are not compatible with one another which unfortunately leads to the fact that steam players won't co-op with Retail GFWL players which is a true shame having in mind that the original LP1 was one of the very few games wich offered crossplatforming compatiblity allowing PC players to play against Xbox360 players.
Thankfully there are always people online to play the campaign in co-op even thou I rarely get into the competitive multiplayer or faction match meeting a lot of people I had a lot of fun playing the campaign in co-op.
Verdict:
If you are a fan of the first Lost Planet you will eventually love Lost Planet 2 as well. It has all the updated graphics and fast paced gameplay and epic boss battles you could wish for and the multiplayer component and 4 co-op is a highlight, the only problems this game has is its weak story and the multiplayer compatibility limitation between the retail version and the steam version. In the end its a very underrated game and definitely a great sequel.
My Endrating: 9/10