Tuesday 9 January 2007
The skin-cracking January weather may be inhospitable to most humans but it makes for the perfect battleground scenario. Trapped on an isolated planet, it's you against an endless army of giant bugs and ruthless snow pirates. Your only memories are of loss and violence, something about betrayal and a towering knowledge of rocket-launching robotic suits. Basically, you're well-equipped to blast the living hell out of everything you see.

And in Lost Planet, that's all you need to do. The path is set, the goal is clearly defined and all you have to worry about is your constantly diminishing thermal power. If it runs out, your energy will cease to replenish itself and it's game over. You'll need to activate a few glowing data posts along the way to supercharge this meter but they're all easily found on the linear path. Everything else, from tossing grenades to commandeering bipedal death machines to vaporizing hordes of insects, is all about action. Sure, there are some slow moments of trudging across the frozen wasteland, but once the Akrid burst from the ground or spew from their hives, it's on.

There are so many ways to go about dismantling your enemies that it's hard to go back to other third-person shooters. Predator style disk grenades can stick into enemy mechs (called Vital Suits) or you can zip away to safety with your super-quick anchor line. The latter allows you to ascend buildings or avoid incoming, teeth-rattling explosions. It opens up combat to a vertical, as well as horizontal plane that makes each level a joy to destroy.