However, that’s not to say the AI is useless, just a little inconsistent. It’s frustrating to donate some T-ENG to a squad mate only to have him run head first into a group of enemies and die immediately afterwards.
While your comrades are pretty good at sticking close to each other, they’re not great at shadowing the player and you’ll frequently find them in battle positions that aren’t exactly what you’d call intelligent. Unfortunately, from our time with the preview build, it became obvious that you’re going to spend an awful lot of T-ENG helping out your squad due to the slightly ropey AI. Understandably, this will come in very handy when playing in co-op and should play an important role if playing solo too. Simply aim at your health-challenged squad mate and hit LT again to fire a ball of T-ENG at them.
Luckily, the game allows you to distribute T-ENG to your team-mates with the aid of a Supplier tool, activated by holding Y and hitting LT. As your Battle Gauge falls when a team-mate dies too, you’ll need to try to keep them alive for as long as possible. However, until it reaches empty, you’ll have as many respawns as you like, giving the campaign in Lost Planet 2 a distinctly multiplayer feel. Every time you, or one of your team-mates, die the Battle Gauge will reduce and you’ll fail your mission when it reaches zero. Operating a little like the ticket system in Battlefield games, the Battle Gauge is basically your ‘game over’ meter. Not only will you have to keep a constant eye on your T-ENG and health levels, you’ll also need to watch the Battle Gauge closely. Of course, you’ll have to be smart about when you use your Harmonizer – balance is another central concept of the gameplay in Lost Planet 2. This is achieved by collecting T-ENG – once you have enough you can activate your Harmonizer at any time by holding the start button, replenishing your health. But, more on that later.Īs we embark on our first mission in the game we’re told we need to go on an Akrid hunt in order to activate our Harmonizers, the new regenerative health equipment in Lost Planet 2. You’ll then find yourself fighting alongside three AI team-mates which, as I’m sure you’ve already guessed, is nowhere near as satisfying as playing the game with friends. Hidden away at the bottom of the list is the option to create your own game (and set the other three player slots to private) which you’ll need to do if you plan to take on Lost Planet 2 alone. This much is obvious from the Campaign menu screen which gives you the option of a Quick Search for co-op partners or a custom session. This is a game geared entirely towards the four player co-op experience. And with a new EDN III comes a new apay in(Capco}’s s ylanet 2c A’d wequel. Either way, snow and ice have, in places, given way to lush, tropical jungles meaning you’ll have a pretty new game world to explore in Lost Planet 2. Some say the enormous Category G Akrid are to blame while others suspect vast underground reservoirs of thermal energy. Once stuck in the middle of a vicious Ice Age, EDN III has been warmed, although how it happened is up for debate. With the Snow Pirates at war with the giant alien beasties over thermal energy (or T-ENG), the effect on the planet has been profound. The conflict between the Snow Pirates and colonial mega-corporationn NEVEC continues, but it’s the battle against the planet’s other inhabitants – the ‘orrible Akrid – that has had the biggest effect on EDN III. Ten years after the events of Lost Planet and apparently it’s all change on the human colony of EDN III.