Some Vital Suits have retractable legs that transform into snow-mobiles. These are good for slipping through enemy lines at high speeds, although the boost jump is clumsy and you’ll spend most of your time falling into pits and being forced to continue on-foot. Sometimes you’re forced to battle enemy VSs without a mech - the only solution to which is to aim at the cockpit with your guns.

Standard weapons are good, ranging from generic shotguns and machine guns to gatling guns double your size. But our favourite weapons are the grenades - mainly the gum grenades which stick to enemy VSs and explode after a short period of time. Disc grenades are cool too. You throw them like a Frisbee and they stick to enemies. You’re never short of ammo, which makes for some delightfully explosive firefights, if making it a tad easy.

Most of Lost Planet involves trekking through the wasteland, destroying Akrid-spawning nests and light platforming bits, but some epic set-pieces break up the routine. In one scene you’re in the middle of a vast, open snow field being pursued by an enormous Dune-like worm. There are numerous screen-filling bosses, including a mega-sized moth in Mission Four and a tortoise the size of a bungalow.

But no matter how big the enemies, Lost Planet’s never really more than just a button-bashing shooter, and you never really feel like you’re being that imaginative - just following a defined path, killing everything you see without deviation. The game could have benefited from some more puzzle and exploration elements - especially given the size of the levels.

Don’t get us wrong. We loved the 360 version, but the poor PS3 visuals - and presence of new rivals like Uncharted and Ratchet - diminish its impact.

It’s a decent enough shoot-em-up - and the multiplayer is good, letting you fight both on-foot and in Vital Suits. But it doesn’t have enough new ideas or a sharp enough aiming system, while the story lacks depth. It’s a Capcom game at heart - but time has thawed its fresh appeal.

Feb 28, 2008