Lost Planet® 2 Jungles, Mechs, Giant Aliens

The frozen world from the first game is gone. Terraforming worked, the ice melted, and E.D.N. III now swings between lush tropical jungle and harsh desert. Mankind fought a civil war over Thermal Energy, the resource that powers every weapon and vehicle, and split into factions in the process.

You play heroes from each faction across six interconnected episodes, so the war keeps changing shape depending on whose eyes you see it through. A plot thread that starts in one episode returns later from another side's perspective. The story is told in big, film-styled cutscenes, and the tone stays serious and grim: this is a planet where the fight for warmth is a fight to survive.

The Akrid are the reason to be here. These giant alien creatures show up as bosses that dwarf your character, and taking one down is less about twitch reflexes and more about coordination: where you shoot, when you move, who draws its attention. One moment you might be sitting in the seat of a massive cannon trying to stop a giant worm, one shot at a time, while a teammate runs interference on foot.

The campaign throws these fights at you regularly, and they scale up with the idea that a team is facing them together. Solo, they demand patience and careful use of your lives, because losing them all restarts the mission. With a group, they turn into the kind of loud, chaotic set pieces the game is built around.

The biggest guns in Lost Planet 2 come on two legs. Vital Suits, the armed robotic mechs from the first game, return in greater numbers and variety, and some of them change how you fight entirely: there are VS that transform into other vehicles, VS that hold up to three players, and some that need several people just to operate. Repairing one instead of losing it matters now.

On foot, the arsenal runs from machine guns, shotguns and sniper rifles to rocket launchers, lasers and grenades, scattered across the battlefield. The grappling hook is back too, and it changes the shape of a fight: hook up to a high ledge and you gain a firing position the enemy has to climb toward.

Teamwork is not optional flavor: the game depends on it, with rewards for assisting teammates and contributing to the group's success, and boss fights designed so everyone has a job.

There is also competitive multiplayer for up to 16 players across nine maps and five modes, including Data Post Battle, Akrid Egg Battle, Fugitive and Elimination, each with your own customizable avatar. The game was made for a lobby full of friends, and that part is worth knowing before you commit.