Giant robots fighting giant crabs are cool. And so are ice planets.

Very mixed feelings coming into this one. Lost Planet 1 and 2 while both awesome, were both very different games. The 1st being very story based and serious, and the 2nd being very insane and action packed )especially in co-op). In all honesty, I preferred 2 (despite the bafflingly bad review scores it got) so I was a little worried that this one was going back towards the direction of the 1st game. Then I saw the footage of operating a giant robot and was excited again. Then I saw all the bad previews and got apprehensive again. Then I played it and loved it.

For the most part it plays very similar to Lost Planet 2 with your character, Jim, being quite agile and having the same move set. The biggest difference, figuratively and literally, is Gurtie. Your utility rig which is a gigantic suit of power armour used for transport, manipulating the world and awesome hand to hand combat with giant monsters. Most of your time is spent outside of the rig on foot. Giant monsters can still be encountered on foot and are a much more challenging fight this way so getting to take them on on even footing with Gurtie's giant drill arm is a rare treat.

The story is one of a normal guy trying to earn a living for his family that soon turns into a uncovering the hidden mysteries of Edn III and it unfolds in a very well paced and gradual manner introducing you to new people and places. Although what I found most appealing was getting parts that would allow me to upgrade Gertie to be harder, better, faster stronger. I was always glad to get to use Gertie to kick ass. And even though you were forcibly ejected from her in scripted ways quite often, it never felt tiresome and you would always fight eagerly to protect her so she could repair herself and continue the fight or hurry to complete your on foot objectives and get back to her.

The combat itself, while satisfying with normal enemies and bosses can get quite irritating with the faster and nimbler enemies. Fortunately, this only really happened at the start and you encounter more enjoyable enemies. Lots of icy shooting fun through and through and you really do want to find out what happens to Jim and help him win (and not just because he's called Jim) with a satisfying conclusion that leads well into Lost Planet 1 (this game was a prequel). Personally, I would have preferred another game in the vein of Lost Planet 2 where it was mad cap insanity on an enormous scale and at a blistering pace, but this was still a very worthy entry in the series and fine successor to the first game. And it has many gorgeous icy vistas which look even better in DirectX 11. Let's see more of what happens on Edn III, Capcom.

And yet another Unreal engine game. Seems almost every game I play lately uses it. It's getting very very common these days.