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A flawed game with a great co-op mode that provided one of favorite online experiences this gen.

I'll admit to liking Lost Planet 2 maybe more than I should. It's a flawed game, offering up a campaign mode that's a huge pain in the ass for anyone that tries to tackle it by itself, but if you're getting the chance to play with three other players, well, the game really shines. And to be fair, Capcom shoves the online aspect of the game so far down your throat as soon as you get past the start screen that there's no reason why you shouldn't at least try and play the game with a buddy or random person a time or two. If you don't have online for some reason, then I guess this isn't going to be the game for you. Of course you're not even reading this review now, are you?

That's not the only problem Lost Planet 2 has either. There's some frame rate issues that can often make you think your PS3 is getting ready to freeze up, but it never does. There are some mission objectives that are incredibly repetitive, like activating data posts or clearing out enemies before you can trigger the advance point for the stage. Limited lives in the form of a Battle Gauge can become problematic, because if you lose all your Battle Gauge points (500 are deducted for each death) you'll be forced to restart an entire chapter section, which tend to be pretty lengthy. There's also no way to save in the middle of a chapter, which again, can be pretty long, especially if you've already wasted some time prior to playing in an effort to get a team together. I'm also not a big fan of the heavy focus on human enemies, and the weak VS (think mechs) presence in the story, whereas I felt the first title offered up a little more variety in its run of the mill bug slaying (I do give props to LP2's awesome bosses though!), and the really bland multiple angle storyline of LP2 is awful in comparison to LP1's single protagonist, which wasn't all that great either.

At the same time I've had a hard time not playing the game, even after I finished what I needed to play for review purposes. And I'm not even talking the online multiplayer modes; I'm just talking about the campaign. There's some really satisfying action in this game, something that's amplified by playing with other players in this four person squad format. Maybe it's the end chapter ranking system, or maybe it's the ridiculous number of unlocks that you need to earn credits from the campaign in order to spin a random wheel to earn, or maybe it's just that the game captures a certain sense of old-school gaming fun for me. Either way, I enjoy the hell out of it, and I'm still playing it!

I made my best effort to play the game through with at least one other person, and often times I wouldn't jump into a stage without a full group behind me, and I definitely think my experience was better for it. It's not due to in-game chat either, in fact, most of my encounters with random people were a largely silent affair, but more so because the game makes use of its objectives and level requirements that you can't imagine tackling it without other, real thinking players attached to you as partners. The AI isn't too hot, and that's definitely an issue, but it's a moot point with someone else attached. Even the now notorious 3-3 stage, which features a boss fight that requires players to mount and aim a cannon, cool it down via a separate cooling system, load and charge ammo, and avoid getting killed at the same time, can run remarkably smooth once you get a squad behind you that knows what they need to do. The same goes for a later encounter, I believe stage 5-3, where I couldn't even imagine tackling it by myself, but at the same time I had a blast playing through the stage after a few failures with a group of people, as we learned more after every attempt about what we should be doing, to the point where we were able to blow through that section once we got everything down pat.

I won't harp on too much about visuals here either, but it looks pretty solid. The standout award winner in the graphic department really comes from the boss designs though, which are colossal, stunning, and overall fun to play against. The only part that really drops the ball a bit is the end boss, which I won't spoil here but lacks a little bit of style in comparison to some of the other giant Akrid beasts you'll encounter throughout the game. And like I mentioned, the game does rely a little too heavily on standard foot soldiers for enemies, which are both dumb as rocks AI wise and generally boring to look at too.

Still, despite its flaws, I feel like Lost Planet 2 is a game worth playing. I'm sure other's will not love it as much as I do, and I do suggest renting before buying with this one, as I think even original fans of Lost Planet could be off put a bit by some of the changes here. At the same time, if you have either no issue with gaming with random people, or have a dedicated group of co-op friends, I don't think you'll come across a better co-op experience for a third person shooter than this (yes I went there Gears fans), and I'm still looking forward to playing more of the game in the near future. Of course, for the purposes of this review and acknowledging the many flaws the game does possess, I have to give it a score that I feel reflects the overall package, but this is definitely the most fun I've had with a B minus game in a long time.