Lost Planet is a highly-explosive third-person shooter which carves tracks over the blank canvasses of frozen tundras.
Wayne has a large pest problem - the Akrid. Huge insects-cum-crustaceans who claimed his father's life and are hungry for the next generation's own. These oversized garden insects fly, jump, run and even roll - more importantly, they hold the key for survival on the barren icy wasteland the human race has migrated to. They carry thermal energy; the main source of energy in the game and one of the pressuring factors Wayne is susceptible to in the field. Everybody wants it, everybody needs it. Wayne is only concerned about his own welfare - in the cold weather, thermal energy must be preserved in order to stay alive and stay warm whilst taking down some serious bugs.
Of course, Wayne is not the only party interested in the energy. In his travels Wayne not only has to contend with big mosquitos, but 'Snow Pirates' too. This is where the combat of the game comes in.
The third-person combat of the game is very effective and handles well. Nothing revolutionary features in terms of the actual gunplay - most player will be familiar with the set-up, but Wayne is a trained mech pilot and can strap himself into a large, toasty death machine in order to deal with larger enemies swiftly and successfully, whilst looking totally cool in the process. Unfortunately, Wayne is not the only one who can handle a mech - the various human enemies can also go head-to-head with him, but on the whole these are easy to deal with and can even be taken out whilst on foot.
The setting of the game is very minimal, ingeniously making the explosions and the brightly-coloured Akrid seem all the more vivid. The snowy tundras are littered with the broken, iced-over wrecks of mechs which were destroyed or ran out of thermal energy far from base, and abandoned facilities of metal and steel are inhabited by Akrid seeking respite from the biting cold outside. Also present in the game are the ruined housing schemes of the planet - Wayne will find himself battling with snow pirates and other more human enemies in these areas and going head-to-head with their mechs, occasionally.
The bosses featured in the game are gargantuan, alien affairs which more often than not pop out of the ground at a moment's notice and raise holy hell in order to kill the pesky human in the parka firing wildly at their flank. These Akrid bosses range from towering, toothy worms ascending from the packed-down snow to flighty insectine giants hovering around with some seriously lethal needles. Also encountered in the game are hostile humans, the majority of which appear in custom mechs with some fancy ice-skating moves - not as impressive as the Akrid but a hundred times more annoying.
Graphically, Lost Planet is superb. The textures look crisp, fresh and clean and that ain't got nuthin' to do with the snow. The enemies are detailed and move realistically, while the destructible cover is chipped away effectively. The sound is awesome with some decent surround-sound speakers, and even with standard TV versions the player can truly hear the action as it happens.
In conclusion, any shooter fan looking for a refreshing jaunt into the snow should pick up Lost Planet for the mechs and the Akrid.