A Plethora of Great Games

As I promised in my last post (see below) I wanted to talk about some of the games I've been playing lately. Over the past month I think I've finished more games than I did during most of my teenage years. I've made it a point to finish what I'm playing these days so I am able to get the full experience as intended by the designers. Let's keep it down two games though so as not to make this post too long.

Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions came out for the Xbox 360 back in January of 2007 to decent reviews. Over that year they also released a somewhat buggy version for PC and a version for the PS3. Now I've never been huge into console gaming so the recent trend of releasing great action games multiplatform has been a boon for me. Since the first version was bugged Capcom released Lost Planet: Colonies Edition over the summer and I decided to pick it up while I wait for the great releases coming this Christmas. Lost Planet centers around the adventures of Wayne on the harsh world of E.D.N III. The colonists of this world have been chased off by the predations of the Akrid, a race of gigantic insects. The few individuals that survive the harsh winter wastelands survive by collecting thermal energy, which is found in the body of every Akrid. Though the game is linear, except for the few outdoor missions that tend to give you a wide area in which to operate, the story is really what kept me playing on. That and fast paced mech combat against giant insects. Giant mechs known as Vital Suits are scattered all over the levels. These suits were designed to be flexible and match any playstyle a player might throw at it. Each VS has a number of customizable hardpoints that allow you to swap it's weapons for any you might find later. I almost always had a missile launcher and gatling gun. The variety of suits in the game ranged from slow moving suits that could jump high or hover to the vastly more maneuverable models that allowed for limited flight and jetting around. This game became one of the inspirations for my Unreal 3 Mech combat mod. When not running around in a VS Wayne can carry 2 different weapons (even a weapon pulled off a VS can be used) and has access to a grappling hook. The action when not in a mech is more like a combat platformer. Wayne has to get to a certain point using weapons commonly found in shooters (assault rifles, shotguns, rocket launchers, and sniper rifles) while doing battle with snow pirates (colonists who remained on the planet), the Akrid, and NeVec a shadowy corporations that killed your father. The level designs were fantastic with battles raging inside Akrid hives and ruined cities. Special attention was paid to creating levels that were sprawling vertically. Though your supply of thermal energy was constantly depleting (giving you a timer like games of old) replacement energy was dropped by every enemy and there was never a short supply of those. Weapons were placed in excellent positions with rewards given to players who used their grapple to explore the levels. I could almost always find a rocket launcher on top of some building or vehicle if I looked hard enough. Being that it was a third person action game you might expect to have camera position issues but Lost Planet's levels and hallways were always large enough to accommodate both the player and the camera. The new PC version still had a few bugs (my computer bought this year would lag at times and even locked up twice) but the game was far from unplayable. The only pet peeve I really had with this game is that it was a direct port from the Xbox 360 version, complete with the instructions telling me that a gamepad was the preferred input method and all of the instruction screens when I jumped into a VS explaining how to operate it using a 360 controller with no mention of keyboard controls. The additional multiplayer content you get when purchasing the Colonies Edition never really came into play with me since even though I can play cross platform I had a very hard time finding anybody playing. If your a mech junky like myself this game should definitely be added to your list. And since it's has a very modest price point I would suggest it as great filler if your waiting for Fallout 3 and Red Alert 3 like I am.

Maybe I'll keep down to one review. Till next time folks!