Lost Planet 2 — Pass

I put a lot of work into not buying this

So I have talked about Lost Planet 2 a couple of times, here and here.

I liked the 4 player co-op, the mechs and the giant creatures that you battle. I also still remembered the $4.06 that I paid for the first Lost Planet. And it was worth that price.

But I had pretty much decided to pass on Lost Planet 2 as it was originally coming out close to Crackdown 2 (early July) and the official release date ended up one week before Red Dead Redemption.

When was I ever going to play Lost Planet 2?

And then. AND THEN. Coxxorz Bargain Corner posted the Walmart $39.83 deal for Lost Planet 2.

So I spent the last week researching this problem for you. No need to thank me. I do it all for you.

Graybush, Coxxorz and I downloaded the 4 player demo and tried it out. The giant monster had his way with us and we never quite knew what was going on. The controls seemed off and we didn't enjoy ourselves. Despite being three player coop against a giant snow monster using massive machine guns and Mechs.

My comment to Guba after that evening? "I just saved $40 bucks."

But I know this wasn't enough for you. You are discerning ind... discerning gam... well, whatever. You needed more.

So when a free Rogers rental coupon showed up, I saw potential.

Potential that I used.

So with a rented copy of Lost Planet 2 in hand I sat down last night to test out the full game.

I tried the beginners obstacle course and found that I could fail it spectacularly. Was not impressed by the controls or lack of direction.

I could grapple a wall to jump but only standing still. I couldn't grapple anything if I fell off. So the grapple will get you up a cliff but won't save you if you fall off. This may explain the mechanic of an automatic grapple every time I walk of an edge.

I gave up on the obstacle courses and moved onto the single player campaign.

After 30 minutes I got up and walked away to look for something else to do. I even watched some hockey. I read a book.

Eventually I got up and went back to Lost Planet 2. I had rented it to play and had to do my due diligence.

So I suffered through chapter one. It wasn't all suffering. It was playable. I have to assume the game would be more fun with three other people playing the AI characters. I have read that some of the set pieces are spectacular.

But my general consensus?

"I just saved $40 bucks."

I'll probably pick up a copy when it hits the $4.06 price point. Until then I'll save my time for Red Dead Redemption and Crackdown 2.