Just a heads up for anyone thinking about getting it (regardless of the lukewarm reviews), they are selling it at walmart for 39.99$ I haven't checked other venues so I can't quite tell whether its the global price of a special Walmart price like Batman : Arkham Asylum got last august.

Bleck, just checked, its the same price at future shop so it must be the global price.

Sorry for the useless thread folks. I'll at least post my impressions on the game later.

It's 56.99 on newegg

Whatever the lowest price is anywhere, Amazon will inevitably match it. It's just a waiting game.

hmm, never finished the first game. is the sequel any better?

Its not the same experience. The single-player mission is apparently broken and a big part of why the game got such low scores. The coop (single-player with 4 people) is the way its meant to play.

The graphics are amazing and the action is loads of fun.

I found the gameinformer.com review to touch on what I care about more than the rant-like reviews at IGN and Gamespot.

Alright, while reading the following, keep in mind that it reflects my experience with this game SO FAR. The media has mentioned that level design takes various dips throughout the campaign, mostly due to notably poor design choices. (Many knockback attacks while fighting atop of a moving train. Requiring the player to cover the job of four players, more suitable for co-op, in single-player mode, essentially causing some serious issues.)

This is currently played on the PS3.

Additionally, I'll touch only on the campaign, as I've not tried any multiplayer beyond the demo. That'll come at a later time. According to various reviewers, multiplayer is the game's best facet.

First off, lets get this out of the way, Lost Planet 2 is an amazing looking game. Its amongst the best lookers out there, the sense of scale when fighting various enemies is nothing short of epic, and snowy regions from the first game and prologue give way to lush jungles, makeshift and broken down bunkers, and harid deserts. There is quite a lot of variety even if we visit environments we're seeing more and more in shooters these days. For looks, aside from a handful of forgettable glitches, Lost Planet 2 sports graphics worthy of a triple-A title.

Now onto the controls. Overall, I've found them to be sufficiently responsive and generally well thought out. There are certain questionable mapping options and features such as using the L2 and R2 buttons to rotate the camera rapidly 90° left or right respectively. While this feature has its uses, I've found it better to set things up so these buttons instead reload and aim. Thankfully, you've got plenty of options to tweak from aim assist and standard axis-inversion and sensitivity, to about 10 different controller mapping options and a feature called "Bounding Area" which essentially moves the crosshair around the screen within a certain range before actually turning your character. Turning it off leaves the crosshair at the center of the screen like typical shooters. I think thats a love it or hate it feature, but its likely to take the average gamer too much effort to get used to it, when every other game out there has a static crosshair.

If you are the type of player to piss and moan because a specific button is used for various actions, you are bound to hate to O button which covers melee attacks (tap), sprinting (hold) and activating various electronic devices (data-posts, consoles, vital suits, etc.) throughout the world when prompted to repeatedly tap it.

The AI itself, be it enemy or friendly, is probably one of the capcom's largest crimes. You'll do yourself a major favor if you start playing Lost Planet 2 with Arcade gameplay in mind. Don't expect your serious, hardcore shooter à la Modern Warfare and Killzone. You're just asking to be disappointed.

The AI in this game in focused on one thing. Killing. And occasionally turning random things on. But really, Capcom would do humanity good if they were the ones to program the first sentient A.I. No chance in hell that they'd turn on us. And if they did, the robots would likely stand there and not bother shooting at us.

Basically, the AI in this game will just shoot at you. And sometimes not, and instead stand there, likely juggling a bunch of bad code trying to decide what the hell to do next.

You can simply gleefully blast everything away. And if you look at it as a non-serious action-packed arcade game, you're going to love it. If you're looking for smart, challenging A.I. look elsewhere.

There has been a lot of buzz in the media about enemy gunfire stopping you from performing actions like healing and chucking grenages, often forcing you to run away. While I've encountered this, I've personally found that it works out nicely, forcing you to think of strategies to outflank your enemies. This falls nicely hand in hand with the bite-sized mission design. Often times, they almost feel like multiplayer arenas, but I find it serves the purpose of this co-op focus game well. The maps branch out in various locations, often allowing you to devise strategies to flank your enemies.

I've mentioned the enemy AI isn't challenging and that is true, but you need to be aware you're not in for an easy time. Most Akrid enemies (giant insects à la Starship Troopers) will take all but a sliver of your life away in one or two attacks, so prepare to dodge, roll and keep the hell away. These creatures (along with missile/shotgun wielding human enemies) have dangerous knockback attacks which might end your life prematurely.



Alright, I'm running out of time and this is turning out to be way too long. There's plenty more I could touch on, but I'll have to do that later if ever.


VERDICT

This game is no where near as bad as what some media sources say (Halo-obsessed IGN, or money-grubbing Gamespot). The metacritics score of 74 is more reflective of the quality. The game has its flaws but there is plenty of fun to be had, ESPECIALLY with friends and partners.

Its an action-packed, arcadesy co-op game.

I'm glad I bought it, especially at the low low price of 39.99$ CAN

In addition, I gotta say that looking at the majority of reviews out there really reflects this current generation of gamers' need for hand-holding and guidance.

I wonder what any of these guys would have to say about any good old point&click adventure where you backtrack and search constantly.

"Back in my day, I used to point and click uphill both ways in monster-laden snow to beat my games!"

Well I've beaten it with my friend. I gotta say, if anyone wants a great-looking, action-romp with great co-op this is the game for you. Its a blast to play and the action is just off the chart.

Just tackle it with arcade gameplay in mind, don't start expecting the next Killzone 2 or Bioshock. Story-wise, its... well... a bizarre presentation. Looks beautiful, and the further you get in the game, the more it works, but the story itself has no central character per say. I think it works out very well for its purpose though.

I'll totally buy it when its $5.