By Kevin "Berserker" Hall
Player(s): 1
Memory: 124KB
Extra Support: Online multiplayer (2-16), Leaderboards
Very early last year, the original Lost Planet made its debut on the Xbox 360
providing a very unique and quite challenging single player experience along
with a few additional online multiplayer modes. Later that year, the PC received
an enhanced version with a few extra unlockable characters, then near the
beginning of this year, the PS3 got its own exclusive version of Lost Planet
with even more enhanced features. The recently released Lost Planet: Colonies
for Xbox 360 and PC adds in some of the unlockable characters from the other
versions along with new character models, 3 new extra single player modes, 7 new
online multiplayer modes and a variety of other enhancements making it the new
ultimate version of Lost Planet.
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The main single player story mode of Lost Planet remains unchanged in this
new version. The action can still get just as intense as you raise the
difficulty and, for those wondering, all target marks are still in the same
locations. A new single player mode entitled "Trial Battle" leads you through a
series of boss battles (a boss rush) from the main game that will change
depending on how well you do in each boss battle. If you beat a boss within a
specific time limit, you'll be taken to a different boss then would have been
faced if more time was taken. The stage bosses and paths are labeled in grids
along a diagram in between fights. Trial Battle may be played on any difficulty
from Easy to Extreme from the get go. The rise in difficulty never does get
truly as hard as the main game difficulties, but it certainly isn't easy. Those
that have played through Extreme difficulty on Lost Planet will have the most
fun with this mode since it isn't exactly easy on any difficulty thanks to the
constant pressure of survival through dodging boss attacks and maintaining
thermal energy.
The new "Score Attack" takes the player on a journey through any of the 11
missions from the single player campaign once again but adds in a combo
multiplier that will display after destroying an object or enemy. Each object is
worth a certain amount of points and the overall score received will increase
depending on how many objects or enemies are shot in a row within a give amount
of time before the combo gauge falls. This mode finally puts some use into the
seemingly useless scattered objects and debris that may be shot around the
various missions.
A new "Unlimited mode" allows one to play through any completed story
missions with unlimited ammo for each weapon and an overall faster gameplay
speed - think Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition on the turbo mode. This mode
provides some excellent stress relief and may spoil your attitude toward other
modes once you see how much faster the character controls. The main character
does not even have any recovery time while shooting a rocket and he doesn't
pause long when throwing grenades. There is also no reason to reload. Even
though the mode takes much of the challenge away from the game it is a good way
to go back and search for the target marks in the higher difficulties.
The extra single player modes are merely a single layer of icing on the cake
however since the main attraction is now in the online multiplayer. A total of
10 new weapons, 5 new playable characters, 4 new maps (total of 2 now), and 7
new multiplayer modes have now been added to the multiplayer portion of Lost
Planet to go along with the features already in the original Xbox 360 release.
Both PC and Xbox 360 version may also play together in cross-platform combat
making the player pool even greater online.
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