On Friday Capcom were kindhearted enough to invite us round to their place for a spot of tea. and by ‘their place’ we mean a hollowed out railway arch in South London, strewn with sandbags and rusted oil drums, and decked out with military-grade camouflage. And a coffee bar. And several rows of beautiful televisions hooked up to Xbox 360s, beckoning the assembled gaming press to get to grips with Capcom’s upcoming Lost Planet 2.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that the original Lost Planet perhaps didn’t warrant a sequel, and after the disappointment that was Dark Void, we were feeling just a little mistrustful of Capcom 3rd-person shooters. After a day of Lost Planet 2’s multiplayer and co-op modes, we feel a bit better. Here’s the skinny:
Getting our fight on, we jumped straight into a team deathmatch, with eight player on each team, making for a total of 16 gamers running about shooting stuff. Once you’re happy with your character’s loadout you’ll spawn along with your team-mates, and from then on you’ll be fighting across vast areas for kills and control points. Each map is jam-packed with vehicles, weapons and machinery to facilitate your opponents’ untimely demise.
We don’t mind confessing we were totally baffled at first. Lost Planet 2’s control scheme is very workable, yet quite unlike anything else that’s currently doing the rounds. There are too many vehicles to count, and each one has a huge roster of hidden moves, triggered by pressing in the left stick and messing around with other buttons. The maps themselves were massive, and until we figured out the layout of each there was a great deal of aimless wandering, trying to find the front-line.
Gamers get their game on
Over the time we had to spend with the game, we became gradually more familiar with each weapon and environment. We got to know the strengths and weaknesses of the giant robotic scorpion, and that by pressing ‘A’ whilst piloting it we could make it jump a hundred feet into the air. (Press ‘A’ again mid-jump to make it spread its wings) We were also informed that two players piloting separate mech-suits could join them together, forming one dual-piloted super-robot.
We gradually became more familiar with the maps on offer, slowly realising that although initially complicated, many of them were deceptively simple — for example a mountainous slope filled with maze-like ravines becomes a standard battle to hold the higher ground. We particularly liked ‘Cube’ — a tight gladiatorial arena that encouraged teamwork and co-ordination, and the massive, low-gravity spacestation arena that was best navigated inside a giant robot.
The action continues underwater
Lost Planet 2’s multiplayer is one with a great deal of depth, that becomes more rewarding the more time you invest in learning the ins-and-outs of each vehicle, weapon, game mode and map. We’re a little concerned that the game will be simply too confusing for new players, and learning the ropes will be impossible when more experienced players are dealing out death in giant armoured scorpions — if Lost Planet 2 is going to steal a significant portion of the multiplayer market it’s going to have to be accessible to all.
We also got a look at the co-op mode, which will arguably be the game’s strong point. The main-game can be played by up to four people, with AI characters taking the place of any absent humans. Once you’ve completed the game in single-player, gunning through once more with a few buddies will likely prove more alluring than taking on hordes of online opponents in multiplayer mode.
Lost Planet 2 is set for a mid-May release date.
