Let me say it right up front–I’m a huge Lost Planet fan. I played the game nearly non-stop for about six months following its initial release, unlocking every achievement and devoting hours and hours to multiplayer. This in mind, you can imagine how unhappy I was at the fairly poor reception the game received from the media (though it does have a score of 79 on Metacritic right now, which is fairly respectable). I found many of the complaints leveled at the game in early reviews to be unsubstantiated, the product, I feel, of easily frustrated reviewers who didn’t give the game a first chance, let alone a second. Even so, there where some complaints that could not be denied by anyone. I’ve listed those complaints below, along with how Capcom has addressed those complaints in Lost Planet 2. Hopefully, if you didn’t enjoy the original Lost Planet because of these flaws, seeing them corrected will get you a bit more excited about the release of the sequel.
Complaint 1: Two Left Feet
"Particularly painful: Whether on foot or in a mech, get hit by a powerful enough shot and you go into an uncontrollable stumble animation that lasts too long." – Greg Ford, 1Up.com
This was one of the complaints that popped up in many of the reviews for Lost Planet, and legitimately so. Both in singleplayer and multiplayer, it was aggravating to be repeatedly tossed on the ground and forced to watch your hapless avatar flail about in the snow. True, as a player became more familiar with the game such flailing occurred less and less often, but most gamers didn’t put up with it long enough for that to happen. Happily, in the spirit of not alienating players with such frustration, Capcom has addressed the problem: in Lost Planet 2, players can roll out of most stumble animations with a well-timed button press.
Complaint 2: Incomprehensible Drivel
"Like some of the best bad, but fun movies to come out of Japan, the story itself isn’t worth delving too deeply into. It doesn’t hold up to close examination…" -Patrick Joynt, Gamespy.com
There is no doubt on this point–not even the most die-hard Lost Planet fans even attempt to defend the convoluted mash of dialogue and cut-scene that comprised the game’s story. Only the fact that all the cut-scenes could be skipped prevented the story from becoming a significant annoyance. With Lost Planet 2, though, Capcom has decided not to take any chances, presenting a bare-bones story that does little more than propel the game’s action. In the new game, you and your friends will take on the roles of different groups of snow pirates as they attempt to secure huge caches of "thermal energy", which, inconveniently enough, generally reside within the hides of large, glowing beasties. Currently, that seems to be about all the story we get, and that’s all I really need in a good action game.
Complaint 3: Slogging Through The Mire
"[T]he game can be a bit sluggish. I mean that quite literally – Wayne and most of the Vital Suits move very slowly. Wayne appears to be running, but he could have fooled me." -Worthplaying.com
Another common complaint, though I, personally, didn’t find it to be a huge problem. Like many shooting games designed for consoles, the movement speed in Lost Planet was slow in comparison to other genres in order to allow for more precise aiming. The reason it was considered a problem in Lost Planet (unlike Gears of War, despite the fact that you moved at a snail’s pace while aiming), was because your character moved at that speed all the time. So, to address this complaint without comprimising the aiming system, Capcom has given players the ability to sprint. Much like other games that use this feature, you won’t be able to shoot while sprinting, but you will be able to get from point A to point B in a right quick-like manner.
So, to all past and present haters of Lost Planet, an entreaty: Capcom has worked hard to put the things you hated right, so give the sequel a chance.