By Jim Rossignol on March 9th, 2010 at 9:12 pm.
Capcom’s grapple-tastic science fictional shooter Lost Planet 2 is coming out on the console toys around May 18th and apparently it’s coming out on the Windows too, but we’ve not got a date confirmed for PC as far as my investigations are able to uncover. Nevertheless there’s reasons to be excited, which come in the form of giant alien mega-monsters being splatted in constituent gore-chunks by space-dudes who are playing army with fast-firing future-weapons. I mean it: the latest trailer (below, clearly) is hyperbole like they used to make back when I was a boy.
“FULL-SCALE COMBAT.” What. Is. That.
09/03/2010 at 21:14 GT3000 says:
Space Pirates? I’m down.
09/03/2010 at 21:23 OutOfExile says:
I could’ve sworn Windows release was confirmed at May 18th
09/03/2010 at 21:27 David says:
Nobody in their right mind would give the RE5 producer acclaim. Awful game. Lost Planet was rather uninteresting if I remember correctly.
09/03/2010 at 21:46 TotalBiscuit says:
Yeah man, all those good reviews, good sales and acclaim are just smoke and mirrors amirite?
09/03/2010 at 22:12 Alexander Norris says:
RE5 remains one of the games I’m least dissatisfied with; which is to say, I usually find stupid things that annoy me in games, but I found none in RE5. RE4 is still pretty much my favourite console game ever (behind Eternal Darkness and in front of Perfect Dark); RE5 on PC is great fun, though it loses the novelty factor.
09/03/2010 at 23:04 Psychopomp says:
This Why RE5 is awesome
09/03/2010 at 23:43 Bonedwarf says:
Total: Yeah, because stuff getting good reviews and sales actually means QUALITY.
09/03/2010 at 23:47 Psychopomp says:
I’m more inclined to believe a reviewer, than the hordes of hyperbolic men on the internet. It was RE4, with *fantastic* co-op, albeit shit single player.
10/03/2010 at 02:31 JKjoker says:
yeah, and who cares about single player in a sequel of a game franchise that has always been single player ?
10/03/2010 at 15:47 Psychopomp says:
Someone who was impressed enough with the co-op to not give a fuck?
10/03/2010 at 23:06 PHeMoX says:
“Total: Yeah, because stuff getting good reviews and sales actually means QUALITY.”
Actually nope not at all, it means the marketing campaign has been very successful.
It says zero about actual quality.
Take for example World of Warcraft, Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3. They’ve sold many copies, got great reviews, but compared to other games they are really totally overrated. There are much higher quality games out there, that have sold less copies.
09/03/2010 at 21:29 Heliosicle says:
Tried the demo on console when it came out like 4 months ago
wasnt impressed at all.
09/03/2010 at 21:29 Diogo Ribeiro says:
Cannons mounted on trains. NOT OVERKILL.
The first game was pretty average, though. If not outright bad.
09/03/2010 at 21:33 Dominic White says:
I am the one person in the western world who actually liked both Lost Planet and RE5. The former because it was old-school arcade stuff for the most part, with a garunteed multi-stage showdown at the end of each level, and the latter because it’s amazingly fun in co-op, and was clearly designed to be played that way from the ground up.
09/03/2010 at 21:47 pkt-zer0 says:
Well, if by “oldschool arcade style”, you simply mean primitive mechanics, but not necessarily well-designed ones, then sure, I guess that could work. Otherwise, it still makes no sense. It’s much closer to newschool cinematic experiences, focusing on the spectacle rather than the substance.
09/03/2010 at 21:59 Heliosicle says:
John and Nick would be dissapointed in you…
09/03/2010 at 22:44 Jesse says:
“Primitive mechanics” as in what?
Jumping, shooting, having ammo? Being a third-person shooter? Having bosses at the end of each level?
10/03/2010 at 23:12 PHeMoX says:
I hope not ‘old-school arcade’ as in dumbed down for the casual crowd. :-p
Seems to be the new trend in games these days.
Games should be challenging and not feature a ‘press this button to skip to something even easier’ kind of thing.
09/03/2010 at 21:38 jameskond says:
Am I like the only person in the western world who likes RE5 and Lost Planet (and liked Dead Rising but then hated it) oh no wait! this dude above me likes them to, so yay, I’m going to get this on my Xbox because it’s third person and you have to be a wanker to buy a third person games on PC :D
10/03/2010 at 09:34 MarkSide says:
Dude, I totally buy 3rd person for PC cos it’s all I gots. But I was wondering: what’s the difference? Especially if you’ve got a gamepad – which I think most people do now? Isn’t it basically the same on PC? Only possibly with better graphics? Or worse playability if is a Bad Port : ( ?
10/03/2010 at 09:52 Rich says:
Do most people have game pads?
I’m pretty sure most people who favour first person shooters still stick with the mouse and keyboard combo. Also, some third person games like Mass Effect were retooled for the PC, with the expectation that you’d be using a mouse and keyboard.
10/03/2010 at 13:05 Vandelay says:
Spend £20 on pad and you can play all the third person games you want on your PC. I see absolutely no reason why you would really want to buy a console (excluding split-screen gaming, which seems to be dying out in this gen.)
If you game primarily on you PC, then a pad is verging on an essential purchase. So, unless you have zero interest in the genres that would benefit from a pad, I think you are probably likely to own one.
As for bad ports, the usual reason a port is bad is because of the keyboard + mouse controls. Again, buy a pad and there is no problem. One of the great things about the PC is that it is so flexible. Of course, it is nice when a game works well with any control scheme, but when it has been designed from the ground up with a particular set of controls in mind it is always best to use them (e.g. Resident Evil is obviously a game designed for a pad and would lose a lot in the translation to keyboard and mouse, no matter how well they were done.)
Also, Max Payne is one of the best third person games ever created and was built for the PC.
10/03/2010 at 23:15 PHeMoX says:
@Vandelay: You’re making an argument in favor of the consoles and you don’t even notice it. :p
“If you game primarily on you PC, then a pad is verging on an essential purchase.”
I totally disagree with you there though. PC’s are best for FPS games because the mouse and keyboard combo is stíll the most accurate and flexible method of control when quick response and accuracy are vital.
Yeah, sure go play PC games that are stuffed with auto-aim help, ultimately it’s not the same thing. PC games have in a lot of ways become way too casual.
Almost as if developers realize that’s the only way to kill the platform. :-p
09/03/2010 at 21:40 Xocrates says:
A bit off topic, but is Earth the only planet in the universe without building sized worms living in the desert?
09/03/2010 at 22:00 Okami says:
I’m afraid they’re here on earth as well…..
09/03/2010 at 22:50 GT3000 says:
Damn graboids.
10/03/2010 at 23:17 PHeMoX says:
Tremors? Excellent movie. Still among my favorites when it comes to the classics.
10/03/2010 at 23:27 Oak says:
Lest we forget.
09/03/2010 at 21:45 Spoon says:
This game has all of the standard Japanese fantasy/scifi elements.
Huge cannons on trains? Check.
Helicopter-esque flying machines with more than two rotors? Check.
Sand worm type creatures that jump 100ft into the air? Check.
Mecha? Check.
Some kind of pirates? Check.
Did I miss any?
09/03/2010 at 22:13 Dominic White says:
Given that the first two of those things you listed are real weapons of war, and giant sandworms aren’t a Japanese creation, last time I checked. The mechs are more akin to the power-loaders from Aliens, and pirates are just universally cool. And also real.
09/03/2010 at 22:28 Spoon says:
The comment was more focused on the fact that the Japanese seem to put all of those in games TOGETHER rather than wondering where they came from. Sure, alone they are not particularly special or unique, but together it is certainly a formula for Japanese games, especially jrpg settings.
09/03/2010 at 22:28 Melloj says:
Hmmm….dune dune dune Dune.
09/03/2010 at 22:42 Dagda says:
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
09/03/2010 at 22:54 Spoon says:
@ Melloj: I suppose I should have just written that, shouldn’t I have? “The Japanese sure like making games that are Dune without the sand.”
Oh, and despite my writings, I never said I disliked it :)
09/03/2010 at 23:03 invisiblejesus says:
I need to play more Japanese games, then. I read down Spoon’s list and thought “AWESOME!” After watching the trailer, I suspect I may like this game. I mean, seriously… best sand worm critter ever.
10/03/2010 at 07:17 Mr_Day says:
@Spoon
You forgot female characters in armour which offers as much protection as the armour men wear, despite covering 90% less skin.
Actually, that is unfair. Western developers do that too.
10/03/2010 at 09:58 Rich says:
You also missed:
- Pointy ears
- Sailor/school girl outfits
- Stupidly large swords that couldn’t possibly be lifted by anyone
- The need for your main character to do the V sign every five minutes
- Snot bubbles when a character sleeps
Also, I suppose now is as good a time as any to ask. Is Dead or Alive just a game about half naked chicks playing beach volleyball? Or is there more to it that never makes it to screenshots?
10/03/2010 at 16:20 Jad says:
Dead or Alive is actually a fighting game series, the volleyball stuff was just an embarrassing spin-off. The logic was that the Dead or Alive games have a good number of well-endowed female fighters, so lets drop all the difficult-to-balance fighting system stuff and put them in a bunch of minigames. And tiny bikinis.
I never really liked the main Dead or Alive games, preferring Soul Calibur or Tekken, but they are legitimate games.
09/03/2010 at 21:45 M says:
None of this 12:1 scale factor here, Jim. The guns are proper-size and everything.
10/03/2010 at 09:59 Rich says:
NOT TO SCALE COMBAT
09/03/2010 at 21:53 CMaster says:
The thing I never quite get about Lost Planet (mostly based on the demo, it has to be said, but also this trailer) is that the writing, music etc all tell you this is supposed to be very serious business. However at the end of the day the monsters, enemies (space pirates!), and weaponry are all very, very silly.
09/03/2010 at 22:26 Jesse says:
Welcome to Japan!
I just want to self-identify as one of the pro-Lost Planet people. I still play the first one from time to time. The boss battles really are epic and challenging – it’s that old Capcom magic, and I don’t know quite how to quantify it. The mechs – what do they call them in Lost Planet? – sound great. Really, you wouldn’t think that alone would add so much to a game, but it does. They sound great when they take a step. Ree-CLUNK, ree-CLUNK, ree-CLUNK. Then you reload: wa-reeeeee-chiCLUNK. Love it.
One hates to resort to the vague terminology of ‘gameplay’, but the gameplay is solid. It just feels right to me. The control is tight and the avatar (WAYNE, of all possible names) feels competent and skilled. He animates and reacts as if he’s operating at the very edge of his ability and is just barely surviving by the skin of his teeth. I particularly like the way he stumbles away from a near miss explosion, which, by the way, always sounds and looks awesome. The only thing I could really ask of it is that it could be longer. Sequel? Great! Customizable character? Great! I can play online with my brother? Unexpectedly double-great!
09/03/2010 at 21:58 WilPal says:
DO WANT.
09/03/2010 at 22:01 Dood says:
Well, I guess scaled down combat would be strategy games.
09/03/2010 at 22:07 Okami says:
It’s nice to know that we’re living in a world where a person can pay his rent by coming up with the term “Full Scale Combat”.
09/03/2010 at 22:13 Reverend Speed says:
kill
BIG
…Well alrighty. I rather like the MT Framework and it’s always nice to see Capcom serving their primary target platform well.
Actually, Japanese designers finally – successfully – wrapping their heads around recent Western gameplay mechanic advances could lead to some REALLY interesting, beautiful games…
09/03/2010 at 22:19 Reverend Speed says:
…and I imagine that ‘full scale combat’ refers to the fact that players will start in buildings, head into massive environments, encounter GIGANTIC CREATURES, use robotic suits to compensate while fighting them, opening up EVEN LARGER EXPERIENCES–
–but always with the option (penalty?) of leaving the suits and having to survive against enemies on a much larger scale than you’d normally have to deal with on your own. Like, you know, Shadow of the Colossus. Or God of War.
Not a great description in the video, I’ll grant you, but a laudable goal for the game design. And in co-op? Running in my mech suit to save my comrade unceremoniously dumped out of hers and about to be devoured by old big-scaled-and-grumpy? Hell yes.
(Apologies for double post, mumble mutter no edit function)
09/03/2010 at 22:15 Jesse says:
Prior to 2009, video game sequels were always worse than the originals.
Then, something happened.
Surrounding the advent of the Norway Sky Spiral on Dec. 9, 2009, video game sequels suddenly became awesome. With few exceptions (Army of Two: the 40th Day – throwback/cover-up? more research needed…), sequels routinely began to show radical improvements over their progenitors. A noticeable spike in mini-mission variety (AC 2) became perceptible; awkward cover systems became more polished and fluid, while superfluous, cluttered inventory systems became vestigial or were stripped away entirely (ME 2); melee weapons appeared where none had existed before (L4D2); combat options increased even in cases when combat had already been pretty decent to start with (Bioshock 2); quantity of grappling hooks increased to infinity, became double-headed, and were paired with a permanently dedicated key (JC 2); linear games expanded exponentially in size, becoming open world (Red Dead Redemption); and others, previously single-player, gained full featured multiplayer co-op (Lost Planet 2, Portal 2).
Clearly, some sort of world-wide or even cosmic event had caused mainstream developers everywhere to grow some balls. But why? Was the effect reproducible? Could it be controlled and somehow directed toward the historically loathsome, notoriously puerile population of online FPS-playing pubbies? Only time would tell. But no, probably not.
09/03/2010 at 23:03 Springy says:
I don’t agree. Games aren’t movies: a sequel is an opportunity for a developer to improve game play, throw out ideas that didn’t work and incorporate new ones based on public reaction and to tweak their tech. If the original sold well, it also gives them some cash to put back into development. I think there’s a long history of sequels improving upon their predecessors.
09/03/2010 at 23:10 Psychopomp says:
Uh, Street Fighter 2? Resident Evil 2? Silent Hill 2? Banjo Tooie? Hitman 2? TF2? Diablo 2? Super Metroid? Castlevania: SOTN? Red Alert 2?
09/03/2010 at 23:13 Springy says:
Red Alert 2 is definitely not better than the first. You’re doing it wrong. >:(
Have Doom 2 to make up the numbers again.
10/03/2010 at 05:45 Jad says:
While I hear you that companies have been doing really well updating their games with sequels lately, I can’t help but continue Psychopomp’s list:
Warcraft II? Mechwarrior 2? Jagged Alliance 2? Dune II? Mega Man 2? Baldur’s Gate 2? Various sequels to Ultima and King’s Quest and Elder Scrolls: Arena and Zelda and Civilization and Mario and Final Fantasy (won’t start a debate of which sequel from those series is the “best”)?
09/03/2010 at 22:18 Halfthought says:
Hmmm.
I like japans take on the Space Marine Shooter genre.
Gears of war with jigabachi’s? I’m down.
09/03/2010 at 22:19 ErikM says:
Very excited for this! Here’s to hoping it turns out to be a Monster Hunter in disguise!
09/03/2010 at 22:48 Psychopomp says:
Monster Hunter with gigantic mechs, and shootybang?
Sign me up right now.
10/03/2010 at 00:32 Dominic White says:
The demo on XBL/PS3 is pretty much Lost Planet spliced with Monster Hunter. Get together with three other people for a knock-down-drag-out brawl with an enormous space salamander. Singleplayer doesn’t quite seem to have the same hook (the boss is actually designed to be attacked from multiple sides and WITHIN at the same time), but I can see myself playing this a lot online.
I just hope they do what they did with the Lost Planet re-release version and allow cross-platform play. The more people, the better!
09/03/2010 at 22:40 Dagda says:
And what a delicious formula it is.
09/03/2010 at 23:12 EthZee says:
It says something that I got most excited at the “endless customisation options” bit. LOTS OF AESTHETIC ARMOUR OPTIONS YAAAY
Still. Awesome. Looks utterly insane. I like.
09/03/2010 at 23:12 mrrobsa says:
If it had the orchestral music from the trailer in the game while you play, that would be epic.
09/03/2010 at 23:13 Tunips says:
So long as it doesn’t comprise 80% cutscenes or QTEs, this may well be the first Japanese computer game I actually enjoy. How was the ratio in the first game?
09/03/2010 at 23:16 Psychopomp says:
30% shooting giant bugs, 30% shooting giant bugs in mechs, 30% shooting people (which was no fun), and 10% hilariously bad cutscenes.
They seem to have realized that we just want to shoot giant bugs.
09/03/2010 at 23:18 fulis says:
The first one is my most hated game of all time
09/03/2010 at 23:21 terry says:
I think I need a bigger monitor for such size of combat :-(
09/03/2010 at 23:42 Radiant says:
That trailer hits so many of my buttons it’s unlocked some kind of infinite lives cheat.
10/03/2010 at 12:49 Severian says:
yeah, i felt like i was being force-fed ice cream while arabian belly-dancers injected me with meth.
09/03/2010 at 23:46 Kunal says:
This trailer is a perfect example of how games don’t know if they want to be software products or movies. “Utilizing the latest in MT Framework 2.0 Tech.” ??!
Having said that, this looks awesome .
10/03/2010 at 00:34 Dominic White says:
MT Framework is Capcoms own proprietary multiplatform engine. It’s what was behind RE5, Dead Rising, Street Fighter 4, Lost Planet, Devil May Cry 4, etc. Everything they’ve done on the 360/PS3/PC. Very scaleable, very well optimized. I can understand them promoting the tech.
09/03/2010 at 23:47 Radiant says:
I love Japan.
“What do games not have enough of now a days?”
“Hundred foot monsters and things that go boom”
“Cool, lets throw in a thing where you hit X and your character does a little ‘check me out’ dance”
“Done”
10/03/2010 at 00:52 Tull. says:
Well, that was… uh… that was really quite… er…
ugh. X(
But, hell, according to people in this comment-section, the original got good reviews. And if it’s one thing that history has thought us, it’s that every game or movie that has ever gotten rave reviews did automatically turn out to be good in real life! Right? Right? Woohoo!
10/03/2010 at 01:17 JuJuCam says:
I was pretty underwhelmed by the original. Maybe I just didn’t give it enough of a chance but I just didn’t find it fun…
10/03/2010 at 01:47 disperse says:
I would totally play this… if I could be the gigantic creatures swatting annoying space marines.
10/03/2010 at 02:04 Spod says:
Just me or was that trailer one big compression artefact even at 720p?
10/03/2010 at 05:10 Gabe says:
I tried the demo of the first LP game, and it asked me to press the (xbox green A button) etc etc
For Fugs Sake,
If you can’t be bothered to do even the absolute bare minimum in porting your game for my PC,
then I can’t be bothered to buy it.
I did however, spend the money on other games. Your loss Capcom.
Dicks.
10/03/2010 at 06:59 c-Row says:
The first game never wanted to be anything but a classical third person run & gun game, and I think it pretty much succeeded at it. And ultra huge monsters FTW!
10/03/2010 at 08:14 robrob says:
Finally! A game about space marines with machine guns.
10/03/2010 at 09:30 Hmm-Hmm. says:
In the future, everyone will wear freaky headgear. Everyone. Apparently it’s compulsive or something.
Oh, yes, and kill big.
10/03/2010 at 10:47 Metal_Circus says:
Ugh, Lost planet? The first was a monotonous slug fest to be honest. Incredibly repetitive and incredibly BORING. I’m sure the second will be more of the same depressing bullshit.
10/03/2010 at 12:02 oceanclub says:
I only tried to the demo of the first game, but if there was a dictionary definition of “generic console third-person actioner”, I think there would be a “See:” reference to it.
OK, I’m willing to go as far as “generic console third-person actioner + COLD”.
P.
10/03/2010 at 12:21 poop says:
finally, a game where my glowy armored space marine can fight aliens while incredibly generic war movie music plays, why hasnt someone made this before????? simply amazing.
10/03/2010 at 12:37 squirrel says:
Some publishers delay releases of their masterpieces on PC, then when they finally reach the PC market publishers charge the same full price of USD50… no, maybe higher, USD60 because this is AAA game. Then unsurprisingly they get poor sale for PC version, and they say, hey, PC gamers dont care about our games, or screw them they pirate our games. Let’s abandon those stupid gamers.
Well, I am not saying Capcom, as least the outcome is not here yet. But Lost Planet 2 is a Third Person Shooter. This remains me of the sad marketing story of Gears of War. How I long for playing Gears of War 2 on my PC, sigh.
10/03/2010 at 14:45 Al3xand3r says:
The customisation and the bosses are like sci-fi Monster Hunter. That’s a good thing. Hopefully the rest of the game is good too. If not, I’ll always have Monster Hunter 3 I guess…
10/03/2010 at 17:08 westyfield says:
Nothing compared to the majesty of HARD SURFACE.
10/03/2010 at 21:36 yourgrandma says:
Sue me but i really enjoyed the first game… but it wasnt that great of a port. “IF” this one comes to pc most likely the port won’t be much better.
11/03/2010 at 00:11 Dominic White says:
Lost Planet was the very first game Capcom developed using the MT Framework engine – their PC side of things wasn’t quite up to speed at the time.
Since then, they ported Devil May Cry 4 and Resident Evil 5 to the PC, and they even have more content/features than their console bretheren. Much better graphics, too.
They then re-released Lost Planet under the ‘Colonies Edition’ title, generally porting it a lot better, adding new features/playmodes, and allowing cross-platform play.