T-ENG. EDN III. Akrid. CAT-G. Vital Suits. NEVEC.

Get used to this kind of nonsensical jargon because it’ll be force-fed to you for the duration of Lost Planet 2‘s “single player” campaign. From unneeded abbreviations to garish body armor (seriously, what’s up with those outfits??), from groan-inducing dialogue to flippant victory poses during cutscenes, there’s very little to take seriously. It’s unapologetically designed in a very specific fashion, which will lead to a lot of head scratching and possible controller hurling from many players.

Basically, Lost Planet 2 is about as accessible as Monster Hunter. And just like Monster Hunter, Lost Planet 2 can be one of the most entertaining and glorious multiplayer experiences you’re likely to have. All that’s required is for you to let go of what you know, and be ready to embrace the weird and the different.

If you go into the game expecting something akin to a AAA Third-Person Shooter, you’re bound to be disappointed. The action is much more slow and deliberate than players have experienced in games such as The Continuing Adventures of Marcus and Dom. There is no cover system and no Stop & Pop. You can (and should) keep yourself out of the many wild streams of gunfire as often as you can, but you won’t be peeking out from behind a wall or blind-firing. Conversely, you aren’t nigh invulnerable. Trying to stop bullets with your face will not work. You’re every bit as mortal as anything you put in your cross-hairs (sometimes more so).

Some may accuse Lost Planet 2 of being an archaic mess tied to old conventions that have no place in modern gaming. I would argue that it’s actually an extremely polished experience that exists purely on its own terms. To put it bluntly (and in a manner that sounds dismissive), it’s just built that way. Yes, your character may get taken out by a one-two punch from a massive Akrid, but I see that as a challenge rather than a flaw. A good team should be able to continually shift the creature’s aggro so that their teammates won’t get stuck in a corner. By the same token, a great team should know the ins and outs of their target and be able to avoid most, if not all, of it’s attacks in the first place.

While I’m sure this will make me sound either elitist or defensive (possibly a combination of the two), it has to be said: The reason I believe so many people take issue with Lost Planet 2 is because, like every other cult classic Capcom has released, they just don’t bother to understand it. It happened in Pokke Village, it happened Raccoon City and it continues on EDN III. This is not to say that these complaints are invalid (although I do disagree with them), but just as I can’t discount the boos, people should also stop discounting the cheers. If so many people love these games, Capcom must be doing something right.

But yes, there are flaws in Lost Planet 2. Your character animations tend to take longer to play out than many people are used to, dodging is a more complicated affair than in most other action games, reloading can feel like it takes forever and your team AI in the singleplayer campaign is some of the worst I’ve seen in a current gen game. I mean really, the AI is terrible. I’ve had teammates rush ahead to the level exit and leave me behind to fight off one giant Akrid and his two mid-sized (and still very formidable) buddies all by myself. I’ve had them assist me with taking a command post only to then have them stand idly by, not a foot away, while I single-handedly take another while being peppered with bullets. And no, they weren’t busy shooting at the badguys.

Unfortunately it also falters in places other than the AI. Navigating the menus is somewhat awkward, there’s no handy system in place to track your newest acquisitions (i.e. weapons, emotes and so on) and that slot machine method of handing out new gear is silly to say the least. 2000 credits per spin? When you’ll probably average about that much in gains for each episode? Taken by itself that seems ridiculous, but when you finally get to spin the stupid thing you’ll end up unlocking a new emote or “noms de guerre” 90% of the time. Look at that, I just spent an hour farming bosses to unlock a “”Yummy Yummy Food in My Tummy” title and the ability to spank myself at the press of a button… Yay.

And yet, even as I ridicule the silly emotes and goofy titles, I can’t help but enjoy them along with the wealth of other character options. After all, character customization is really just a vehicle for self expression, and as goofy as some of these things can be (the “Giddy Schoolgirl” emote is particularly noteworthy) they’re always entertaining. Especially when you see a new one online. Being the customization junkie that I am, all of this pleases me greatly. Between the wealth of costume choices, goofy titles (I’m currently using “No Nepotism”), custom weapon load-outs (Gunsword, FTW!) and varying abilities such as starting a match or re-spawning with max ammo or more T-ENG, you’ll find yourself playing for hours just to fine-tune your character.

But my biggest issue? That damn checkpoint system. Oh sure, re-spawning from a datapost is handy and all, but whenever a player (as in not an AI character) dies in a co-op game your Battle Gauge drops. When your Battle Gauge hits zero, it’s Game Over. Game Over means you have to restart from the beginning of the episode. And when you’re two or three chapters into a given episode, having to start aaaaaaallllll the way back from the very beginning makes progression feel like a chore. Seriously Capcom, why can’t we just restart from the beginning of that area? Why force us to restart the whole thing?

I was also going to mention the whole “Unlock a level before playing it cooperatively online” thing, but having played more than a few games with CFD!’s Rob T. I’ve found this was actually a misrepresentation. You can indeed only play levels you’ve unlocked, but you can unlock them as you play with other people. Which means you could, in fact, start a new game with someone who’s never played before and work your way to the end of the entire game. A brand new player wouldn’t be able to jump into Episode 4 right from the start, but if they’ve beaten up to Episode 2, Chapter 2 then you could start a co-op game from Episode 2, Chapter 3 and everything would be fine. So yeah, it’s not as bad as people were making it out to be.

Inconsequential gripes aside, there’s a whole lot to love in Lost Planet 2 if you give it a chance. Most notably, it looks amazing. From the multitude of VS designs to the completely over-the-top character outfits and the remarkable Akrid varieties (a few from the first game also make an appearance), everything looks fantastic. And it looks even better in motion. Okay so you won’t be ogling your character’s gyrations as he (or she) bounces across the ground after getting hit by a rocket, but it’s hard not to be impressed by the apparent weight of their gear as it bounces off of them while they run across open terrain or the way in which a bellowing Akrid’s lips ripple. It’s also impossible to deny that tiny bit of nerdy glee as you watch your character climb inside a large VS (complete with computer startup voice and internal control consoles) for the first time.

And then there are the bosses. The massive bosses.

Perhaps the game’s most talked-about feature, Lost Planet 2 does not skimp when it comes to scale. It’s true what they say, you know: The smallest bosses in this game dwarf almost all of those found in the original. Of course “bigger” doesn’t automatically equal “better,” and some of these gargantuan behemoths (it’s not as redundant as you’d think) border on downright frustrating the first time you face them. But you’ll learn (or should learn) their patterns, expose their weaknesses and eventually kick the crap out of them. And you will love it.

Anyone familiar with the likes of Capcom’s other super-popular in Japan title or that game Atlus released a while back that everyone went nuts for will be familiar with the idea. Believe me, it’s hard to suppress a smile when you’ve beaten the ever-loving crap out of a boss that once gave you severe trouble and achieved an “S” rank at the same time. Even if you somehow managed to hold it back, I’d think the task of picking up special “?” boxes (stuffed with credits and other swag) as they spew forth from that newly-deceased titan would do the trick.

Personally, I’m just confused by all the hate Lost Planet 2 has been getting. It’s just not terrible. It’s quirky and different to be sure, but I can’t find any specific fault that would warrant such a response. Okay, I suppose if someone were to purchase it as a purely single-player affair they’d probably have a good reason to be pissed off, but the focus on co-op is no secret. And as a co-op game, Lost Planet 2 is freaking brilliant.

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Things We Liked: Mechs, mechs and more mechs. Gunsword! Insane amounts of customization, including the silly emotes. Super slick and pretty visuals with jaw-dropping animations. Very silly, but also just serious enough to be cool. Episode 5 (the whole thing). A vast amount of stuff to do and unlock will keep players busy for quite some time.

Things We Disliked: Terrible checkpoint system. Meaningless story. A pointless slot machine for unlocking new gear. Too many emotes and titles to unlock which gets in the way of the real goodies (i.e. weapons and outfits).

Target Audience: Fans of the original Lost Planet. Customization junkies. Monster Hunters.

(Lost Planet 2 – Developer: Capcom. Publisher: Capcom. Available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 – Xbox 360 version reviewed. New to CFD!’s reviews? Read our explanation here.)