Xboxist

Three Things Capcom Needs to Fix in Lost Planet 2

Japanese publisher Capcom surprised many today by announcing a (so far) Xbox 360 exclusive follow-up to Lost Planet. The Lost Planet sequel will feature the familiar snowy environments from the original game, but will find a way to include some all-new jungle environments as well. As far as multiplayer shooters go, Lost Planet was a pretty good first attempt by Capcom, particularly considering that Japanese developers have not had much experience with the genre. The anime-inspired storyline and characters were a little bit hackneyed, to be sure, and these will likely return in the sequel. However, we hope that Capcom has learned a thing or two about making a successful shooter after their first attempt, and make some changes to the basic gameplay. Here are some things we hope they fix in the sequel.

1. Strange Controls
Japanese action games often suffer from wacky control schemes that part ways from the system we are used to here in the west. Lost Planet had some very awkward controls that took getting used to. Even towards the end of the game, we found ourselves stumbling to find the right button, when it should have been natural. For some reason, your hero Wayne also couldn’t shoot straight up. This became a problem when you wanted to attack the weak underbelly of a huge monster for massive damage. Give us a more logical control scheme that makes weapon swapping, firing, and grappling that much easier.

2. Sluggish Character Animations
As one of the first showcases of game design for this console generation, Lost Planet featured some impressive character animations. The problem was that it took time for your main character to change directions or get up from the ground – precious time that enemies could exploit by filling you with holes. Along with the controls, animation needs to be tightened up so that control is fluid and responsive.

3. The Grapple
The automatic grappling hook was a gameplay mechanic that didn’t quite impress us in the first title. We couldn’t exactly swing through levels like spiderman, and the device was mainly relegated to a sort of gimmick that was required to advance through certain portions of each level. Sure you could fight monsters with it, but with the aforementioned control issues, that was often more tricky to pull off than simply shooting them at range.

Despite these small complaints, Lost Planet still managed to be a standout launch title for the Xbox 360. One surprising standout was the online multiplayer. Sure, we didn’t have Halo 3 or Call of Duty 4 back then, but the game definitely held its own with some well-designed multiplayer maps and an innovative persistent leveling mechanic. We are looking forward to seeing what Capcom will add to the multiplayer component this time around.

[Update: Thanks to readers who pointed out that Lost Planet: Colonies Edition could be played entirely in the first-person view if the player wanted. This might be another good addition to make to the sequel. Also, the main character's name was Wayne, a detail easily forgotten considering the throw-away story. ]

What surprises does Capcom have in store for us with Lost Planet 2?