For those who haven’t had a crack at Lost Planet, think of it as Starship Troopers in the snow. You are fighting against a huge army of giant insects who have a serious issue with your intentions on the planet. You are a lone soldier that has been separated from his unit because of an attack by one of the bigger threats of the planet. During the attack your father is killed, and your memories are wiped almost clean. You are left for dead in the frozen tundra of the planet surface inside of your Vital Suit, or VS, which is an armored mech that you use to fight against the alien threat. You are recovered by a group of snow pirates, whose intentions towards you are unclear. One thing is certain, your memory of how to fight efficiently has remained intact, which is all you’ll need against the challenges that this game will throw at you.

This game uses an interesting mechanic to keep you alive. Rather than simply relying on the health bar to assess your vitals, the thermal gauge is the true determining factor. For example, if you are shot in the face with a rocket launcher, you will not die. This is because, as long as you have sufficient thermal power, your health will be fully restored by the system attached to your body. While convenient, this makes battle with all lesser enemies an exercise in futility for all those that oppose you. You can run into oncoming enemy fire and bug attacks with little worry for your personal welfare. While you can’t do this with all enemies, as some are large enough that they can simply eat you, it is a good rule of thumb in the game to simply charge at anything that is moving with guns blazing and they will die before you even break a sweat.

This makes the bulk of the levels you rampage through rather easy, and sort of ruins any sense of challenge you may be seeking. That being said, the boss fights are a big pain in the ass, especially when compared to the relative ease of which you can blaze through the levels leading up to them. Some of the bugs that you encounter are big enough that they can use a ridiculously powerful move to destroy both the vehicle you are piloting and all of your energy. This is especially frustrating since trying to move your character is rather slow compared to how fast all of these enemies move. You are unable to perform any sort of a dodge or dash unless you are in a certain type of VS. This makes some combat sections really drag since you have to trudge along like a drunken armadillo while all of your enemies attack you with cat-like speed.

The gameplay is a nice throwback to some of the classic arcade games of old. All the big enemies have a big red target somewhere on them, so you know where to focus your attacks. The rival snow pirates are all easily dispatched as long as you maintain a constant stream of fire on them, and any enemy mech can be destroyed with this same method. It reminds you of the run and gun days instead of the focus most games take today, forcing you to rely on cover and strategy over being the human tank.