Game 145 - Crawl - Week X - June 24

rawl's graphics, music, VO, intro and premise, everything about this game slaps soooo hard. Easily one of the best introduction to a game I've ever seen. From the gorgeous pixel art, to the ominous deep voice of the narrator, to the perfect way to tutorial a game. Everything about it (and the game I would later find out) is 10/10. Crawl is a dungeon crawling roguelite with couch coop, hence the name. The game introduces as to four characters, wrought with insanity and fed up with the dungeon, and only one can live. The survivor becomes the hero and the other three the spectres. As you move through the level the spectres must kill the hero by using traps, slimes and summoning demons via pentagrams. The hero must slay through the dungeon, levelling up with each skull as they do, before finally reach level 10 and are able to face their boss. If they slay the boss they're victorious and escape a legend. If they fail the spectres get another turn and eventually the monstrosity is unleashed. 

The game has couch co-op which I'll certainly be playing in the future but the AI is no slouch and hard to beat. I really struggled at first on normal difficulty that I had to put it down to easy. It can be very hard to get that finally strike on the hero, and assume control, and the AI are pretty good at the coup de grace. The game has a perfectly system of heroes get XP, levelling hero gives enemies wrath so they can evolve and catch up, and doing more damage on a hero gets gold allowing you to buy the best weapons even if you do get kill stolen (ughh this can be infuriating in such a good way). Once ready the hero travels through a slick portal animation to face the boss and the other 3 players must control the boss together to defeat the hero. A viable tactic would be to sit as a monster most the game, wrack up gold and wrath, them swoop in mid to late game and buy everything to power level you way to the top. But you'd also risk the RNG not going your way and you want have as much opportunity to buy potions, the main source of stat increase and it's limited to two per level. You might also struggle to get the last hit in towards the end. So there's some interesting risk-reward dynamics here. The meta game is also really cool where you unlock new weapons, items, traps and most importantly monster evolutions. But the extra cool part is choosing a monster god to worship which gives a variety of perks or starting bonuses. It has a very eldritch and Victorian era horror element to it. 

Beyond the gameplay the pixel art and animation is the star of the show and has soooo much character. From the individual "gobliny" enemies and how they evolve into absolute monsters to the final boss and their terrifying "RAWR!". Every aspect of them is animated so well, whether it be the Aztec statue with its voodoo priest. The tentacle bubble monster spitting venom and explosive goblets you can knock back into its mouth to attack it's bubble brain. Or the three headed hydra that is awoken by a wannabe adventure who quick realises his mistake and hides in the corner occasionally heals you. Even the smaller details like effects from monster abilities, or when you  choose to evolve a monster with the two options sitting in the dual palms of your monster god, blessings upon you, or the win screen showing the victorious hero escaping the dungeon or the envious spirits successful in unleashing the beast. Everything about this game is charming and satisfying to play and I'll certainly be returning to play it with a few extra friends. 

Game 144 - Shadow Warrior 3 - Week X - June 24

hadow Warrior 3 did not hit the mark for me. The second game I enjoyed thoroughly, even though I missed the stellar story and straight forward shooter mechanics of the first game I appreciated what was. So I was saddened to hear that they decided not to improve some of the lacking aspects of the game such as repetitive weapons and grindy enemies. The story was subpar especially in its confusing ending. Shadow Warrior 3 does not start off strong. Wang is the riding the dragon that seemed to eat him in 2, which serves as the tutorial. This is interspersed with cutscenes of him in his tighty whities, in his destroyed hideout, awkwardly talking to the mask of his dead friend and god Hoji. In his explanation of how he's a failure who couldn't stop the dragon, lost his favourite ramen shop and mojo, something felt off. This didn't feel like the same Wang, and it wasn't because he had a new character arc of losing is mojo. Wang is somehow even more tacky, the joke being he lost his Mojo after he failed to save and indirectly destroyed the world at the end of 2. It's clear its going for tacky in a cute humorous way, but it just ends up being tacky. I would later find out that they changed voice actors to someone who was more "ethnically appropriate" which makes zero sense for a voice actor.  I'm not sure if this is what I want out of Shadow Warrior, an awkwardly self-aware Lo Wang. I just want campy corny jokes and the occasional "Fuck yeah" as I blow up the head of a demon. Also Shadow Warrior never had a stellar story except reboot which had some excellent twists and turns. Similar to the cousin it imitates it's always been about slaying demons with one-liners. I'm not sure high end cutscenes was the right choice here. 

I know a lot of people didn't like SW2 but I thought the unique blend of Diablo meets Doom, while providing a more action focus as apposed to Borderlands floaty mechanics, was a cool way to set it apart. Yet again this feels this feels like it's aping Doom Eternal entirely with its linear levels, tight arenas, push forward mechanics and most importantly a grappling hook. None of these are a bad thing individually (except the linear levels) but why you couldn't have all that along with  more robust weapon and enemy design and level RNG. I feel like the Qi powers are a lot more paired back here as well with far less combos available for your weapons and skills to unlock. Part way through the story you and Zilla and some sorcerer who's barely seen again revive Hoji. Eventually he helps you take down the dragon (not before attempting to consume it, as its the source of the Yoki Godhood). That's pretty much the story, and it felt pretty one-note and bland. Hoji comes back, has a turn of heart and helps Wang gets his mojo back and saving humanity once again. There was a huge opportunity missed with Hoji not giving you new sorcery power. He's the Yoki of trickery right? Where's the illusion powers? It goes perfect with the whole neo-ninja theme... Shadow warrior with shadow magic?

Sometimes the levels feel very crowded. Like Serious Sam level of enemies with a very small arena and limited way to recoup health recharging pickups or executing enemies. It's terrible and unlike Doom enemies don't glow when low, you need to wait for a special meter to execute the grunts for health. Levels design often makes it impossible to back peddle from these cramped hordes. Its water and flowing Zen temples are pretty, but FUCK it to death when you're trying to strafe and backpedal a mob of serious same exploding enemies. If I have to compare all the games 1 felt the most balanced and well rounded, but also most derivate. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it still felt like it separated itself enough even more so than the original. And the demons and Hoji were great. In 2 Story is incredibly convoluted but the gameplay had exceptional replayability and set itself apart. In 3 core gameplay mechanics and enemy design (not modifiers) improved but everything else is gone. Story is no less convoluted and diminishes what little lore the previous games had. Kamiko is gone and never mentioned again, unleashing a dragon of chaos. If Hoji's mask could destroy the dragon, Wang's one remaining purpose why would he sacrifice it for an inanimate object he's not even sure is "Hoji" any more. It could just be residual energy. Why didn't we revive Hoji earlier if it was this easy? You know, the entire reason for the villain and destruction of the world in the second game? It's as if the second game never even happened and I could spend all day dissecting the story so I won't. 

The game is absolutely breathtaking at times. Whether it be the warm Japanese autumn vistas full of temples or the inside of a dragons body, where we can scale his rib cages, bones and different objects of Earth he's swallowed. The game does start to kick into gear at the zenith. Thee platforming is uninspired and done better by many games, but the platforming in the ice surfing is fantastic. You need to maintain pace with the sliding platform, wall running and grappling hook to to avoid enemies and obstacles. Entering the maw of the dragon is also a highlight with plenty of great fights. Unfortunately the game ends just when its about to kick into gear, with only 6 hours playtime its way too short to justify its price tag. The criticisms were certainly valid, I mean only two boss fights the entire game. It makes it feel like they were tacked on or the game was cut short. 

The horde made is fantastic with rounds iterating and giving you three weapons and upgrades to choose from after each round. This is exactly what the game was meant to be and I wish every arena was this open and it makes me miss the open levels of SW2 (albeit minus the unbalanced bull sponge enemies and constant backpedalling across the map). Everything that was once good about the franchise is gone in SW3, the potential to evolve upon the formula of tight arena shooter meets looter shooter has been tossed aside, replaced by a lacklustre imitation of Doom Eternal. The story is about as bad as the second game, but now Wang has lost any of the campy charm that might have once made you smirk. I might come back for the horde mode, but I think it's more likely that I just move on. I'm glad I got to see where the story went after the second game, I just wish it went in a direction that left me feeling like it was all unnecessary and hoping that they don't continue the series. 

Game 143 - Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk - Week X - June 24

ilk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk is another rung on the avatar sim that started with Emily is Away. Although this one certainly sits more in the psychological horror department with DDLC and Nerdy Streamer. In the beginning we're introduced to a girl on the road attempting to go to the shops and buy milk. She's surprised by our presence, setting us up as her inner monologue. Something is clearly off about the game and the girl only sees large shades of red. Its clear that his is no easy task for her to buy milk, a grand quest for her to achieve. Much like even the simplest task are mountains to those with chronic depression and anxiety. She begins by struggling to even walk, one foot on the road and another on the footpath. At this point we can help guide and encourage her, show her how to walk or dismiss her. As the game goes on this shifts from dismissing to insulting. Representing an increasing level of self-doubt the further she gets from her home. The game over state occurs if we insult her too harshly, in essence she gives up on herself and goes home. As you continue she begins to reveal more about herself, or perhaps acknowledges repressed memories? 

She reveals how holes disturb her and shows us a vision of what is perhaps a blackhole with an unsettling sound to convey the dread she feels. As she navigates the store she'll encounter people who speak gibberish and we must help her interact. The cashier wants the money but it comes out as nothingness and we must intuit, so she can proceed. If we succeed in helping her navigate the store and buy the milk she'll tell us more about her life. She'll show us the last memory of her father, a splattering of red across the ground. Is this why she only sees red? Finally we get home and see her mum... WTF is that. An alien looking creature that speaks in an ominous and assertive voice, almost abusive in its feeling. Is this why she's so mentally crippled. Is this why her dad committed suicide, to escape her mum? Oh remember what she said at the start. "If I don't buy milk my mum will throw me out the window". All within 30 minutes the game conveys a perfect and horrifying story. I must say the game is perfect in conveying its story and what I can only assume it feels like to have this level of depression. Its an example of what only this interactive medium can do as art. By involving you in her journey and giving you a failure state. 

She's so concerned about what her mother will do if she can't get the milk she doesn't understand they're just asking for the money required for the milk. 

Game 142 - SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech - Week X - June 24

teamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech has the perfect name. It's a reference to a Demigod who possessed of super-human strength. Gilgamech is not only a fantastic pun, but the character is an ancient hero with the primary attribute of strength. Finally Quest has the obvious connotation of being a fantasy setting. The inspiration doesn't stop there. The game is clearly inspired by Chrono Trigger with the Frog character, combo moves with allies (which you can now stack up as individuals). The gameplay itself is a simple premise, JRPG meets card builder. The battlefields are set out like a typical JRPG, and stat increases are predetermined for us, but there is plenty of customization in how you build your deck and I'm all for it. Each character has a limit to the cards they can each pool into the total deck. As you fight you draw from the same pool, and you can play up to 3 cards. If you play 3 from the same character they do a combo move as determined by their weapon. This can be anything from an extra swing, to providing a small shield or defence buff for the team, to letting you play an extra card on your next turn. 

There is an elemental system with vulnerability, resistance and immunity like D&D. Lastly you can spec your characters with weapons and trinkets to give them various buffs. Anything from a state increase to increasing damage of an element to more unique abilities like reviving once when close to death or immunity to poison. All this absolutely shattered what I expected to be a generic JRPG based on the screens I saw. I enjoy mix and matching but in the end I settled in to my ideal party, which to my surprise was not two of my original characters. My perfect party was Orik who maximized lightning damage and used excess gears (the resource used to play strong cards) to a continuous strike, combining this with Tarah and Thayne's doom that added extra damage to each hit, finally my good friend Galleo for the heals and survivability, allowing me to build up the combos. Everything else I pulled off was gravy. When you did pull off that combo and Orik does 2000-3000 damage in one hit my god does it feel good, his blades of thunderous wind flourishing. Although I did appreciate Armilly's straightforward sword buster move set and Copernica the frost queen, supporting with magical overshields. 

A thing of beauty.

The levels have a bit of darkest dungeon and dark souls to them. The levels move from room to room, finding loot, buffs and encountering goblin mechs and dark knightoids, but there are far less traps, basically a casual version. As you progress you can heal at statues, but this resets enemies, making you backtrack and explore every nook before you do. 

The art style is perfect, everything it needs to be. A simple watercolour backdrop with plenty of detail. The setting is full of magic, castles and farmlands but still scifi with a magitech feeling. The frog shoots water jets from its hands, the robots bleed oil, Armilly is a warrior who fires off on all cylinders, burning enemies from her exhaust.  

The story is generic fantasy and that's all it needs to be. Stop the Dark Lord and fulfil the party leaders lifelong dream of joining the Heroes Guild. It starts off with Gabriel "Seabrass" Stubb telling a story to his child of the "ancient times". A really call way to allude to both the continuation of a story and setup a prequel to Heist. Also it makes the reality of the story open to interpretation, was it a tale of a begone error or an exaggerated fairy tale. As I mentioned all the abilities fit the world and I love the idea of a post-human world where the robots adopt a mediaeval fantasy culture by choice. 

The character are all fantastic. Our original party includes. Armilly the Knight - I wasn't sure about the gender but was awesome to find out she was a girl. She's a massive fangirl of the heroes guild, its her dream to join. At milestones of the adventure she narrates their Fanboy of the guild. Narrates their next direction in 3rd person Copernica the Wizard - a typical smarts a polymath who wants to venture into the world to learn more about it. Generic in premise but executed really well. I love this idea for a Wizard as well, adventure sparked by natural curiosity. Galleo the Frog - Just like in Chrono our Frog friend is an absolute Chad. Except here he has more in coming with an El Luchador that doubles as the party chef and provides healing, buffs, debuffs and of course can tank.

Orik the Ronin - The first to join our band and the edge lord of the group, except he's not exactly... He's an almost satirical enigma, found locked in a cage with an unknown past. You break him out and he constantly gets locked up again. We find out later the Dark Lord is Gilgamech and they're friends, whom he's trying to stop, hence the lockup. He carries a katana, is as swift as the wind and has a really cool mechanic where he changes masks which both has an active ability and passive buff, increasing arcane or lightning damage, dodge, etc. The mysterious Ronin who wears a mask is sounding pretty edgy. Except the character is very feminine, like many of the characters breaking the trope for the archetype. Tarah & Thayne the Thieves - are the last to join. Our twin brothers who are basically children, from the cursed lands, an unfortunate stereotypical name for their homelands as they'll explain to you. They're survivalists, pure and simple and  they join the party for good loot. They're a play on the Greek Muses Thalia and Melpomene, Comedy and Tragedy. It's not the typical character I gravitate towards in both character and combat, but I love them for it. They were the biggest surprise and they complimented my party really well. 

What a wonderful journey...

Game 141 - Shuyan Saga - Week X - June 24

huyan Saga is a game I came across and didn't expect to play. But it looked intriguing with its focus on Ancient Chinese culture, it was short coming in at 3 hours, and off the back of my visual novel run it fit the bill for what I was playing. The art style is very good and captures ancient China very well, from my limited knowledge anyway. The game itself is still images depicting scenes with a variety voiced characters, often giving you a choice that doesn't really lead to much other than you can occasionally choose who lives or dies, which also has little bearing on the game. The transition is a bit abrupt but eventually you get sucked in the slideshow as the phenomenal artwork wins you over. 

The gameplay feels very PS2 era to begin with, as you awkwardly move your character around the arena and fight groups of enemies from a top down perspective. The animations are slow and clumsy and the buttons are very non-responsive. Like the artwork the gameplay turns around when the fighting shifts from multiple enemies to one-on-one. The game feels more like God Hand with a surprising amount of depth. There's a block parry system with intricate timing. As you fight you build up your QI which can let you do a powerful combo or later can buff you. Then there's your gong, a more peaceful path and the Way of the Phoenix. It involves dodge and counter attacking, eventually let you perform moves such as a flurry of blows striking pressurise points similar to Neji or adopting a water flow stance where you move with your enemy and use their movements against them. All this becomes more evident as you go up in difficulty and enemies require more combinations. My end game was dodge, counter, repeat until I fill up my gong. Then as the enemy takes a defensive stance I'll get a punch, punch, kick, kick, punch combo in. Before they can attack I trigger the gong I've built up and unleash a flurry of blows. Then repeat. Sometimes it can feel a bit jank though, either blocks or dodges are non-responsive, or enemies stun lock you in a combo with no escape or ability to dodge/block follow up strikes. The animations close up look fantastic, and really give a feeling of Kung Fu with all the different stances and strikes. 

Music is great, repetitive but doesn't become annoying. Voices range from okay to very horrible. Shuyan sounds like a city girl, Long your mentor sounds like he'd rather be anywhere else. It doesn't achieve the illusion of "Chinese" accents that a movie like Mulan does. Thankfully (yet again) this turns around once you leave the city and reach the temple in act 2. All the students and master have Jackie Chan cartoon vibes. Very enjoyable.  The final act was a little short and the Guer boss Ganbaatar, master of the Red Dragon was an easy QTE and over way too soon, fairly disappointing. Then there's Jade's temple adventure. This is pointless. Little cutscenes with terrible puzzles and arena combat, the worst part of the game. This should have been part of Chapter 3. The story is pretty much Mulan. The Mongols take China and you must take back your kingdom. The spiritual aspect on the other hand is pretty awesome. I love the idea that each kingdom has a guardian spirit which a champion can summon, usually the King as their nobility was blessed by the heavens. Through training, meditation and fining inner piece they can remove locks to the gate and unleash the Phoenix, White Tiger, Yellow Dragon and much more. There are also evil spirits like Ganbaatar's Red Dragon, or the Viper which takes a hold of the vengeful Jade. The master who trains you and his students gives a great feeling of become a monk learning martial arts; very reminiscent of The Last Air Bender. Shuyan Saga was a nice short adventure into a story about Ancient Chinese mythology and culture. 

Game 140 - Game of Thrones: A Telltale Series - Week X - June 24

ame of Thrones. After playing Batman I still had a craving for some visual novel goodness. Considering House of Dragons season 2 is right around the corner (I'm yet to watch the first) and I'm introducing my partner to the original show, I thought it'd be a great time to get back into it. I remember playing the first episode when it originally came it, but I never got around to the follow up episodes. It reminds me of why I hate episodic content for games so much and just started to wait for the final game. Especially considering how episode 1 ends with Ramsay shafting the current Lord Forrester, the second youngest son, Ethan. As for the game itself, the characters are very well written for Game of Thrones standards, which is a tall order. I enjoyed all the characters and their performance. Rodrik Forrester who survived the Red Wedding; in whom the noble Forrester legacy survives. You must balance the survival of your family and house. Will you be a broken bird trying to survive the new world under the Boltons are hold on to the proud and honourable tradition of your house. I did a good job playing the Game of Thrones; and once recovered from the Red Wedding Rodrik has his badass moment sacrificing himself to save Asher and the house. Asher is a little bit more of a loose gun; exiled to Essos for his risky behaviour on the Forrester name. He's been asked to recruit a new army and ends up in the same camp as the one and only Daenerys Targaryen. He doesn't get his mercenary company from her, but he does get some blood thirsty newly freed pit fighters. Mira was also cool, watching her interact with Sera, her hand maid as well as old favourites like Tyrion, Cersei, Margery, and presumably Varys through the coal boy Tom. They do a good job of making King's Landing feel civilized, and yet more dangerous than House Forrester or Essos at times. 

Garret killed men who killed his family; bannerman of the Boltons; and as a result must be sent to the Wall as he's a risk to House Forrester. In doing so he's given a mission to find the Northern Grove; the dying which of Lord Forrester who died at the red wedding. The Northern Grove is protector by two of the Lord's bastards. One is a warg with a polar bear called, Shadow. Name is pretty lame but everything else about him is cool. The sister also has the ability to control undead via the Northen Grove, an interesting power and secret. The side characters are also fantastic; especially Sera Flowers in how you navigate your relationship with her and you maintain he as a loyal and useful friend, while you both balance your favour with Margery Tyrell. She is a bastard with her own agenda, to find a husband and not remain nameless "trash" forever. Finn and Cotter, brothers of the night watch are fantastic. Initially antagonistic you can win them over. The one man who survived that murdered Garret's family is sent to the night's watch and tries to get revenge on Garret for snitching. Garret kills him, and as a result is imprisoned pending his execution under order of Ice Fingers. So Cotter and Finn help break him out and the go to the North Grove. Turns out Cotter is a wilding and has a sister, who is also on of my favourite characters, especially in her design with her ashen her. She's a young wildling who's very capable and has survived on her own even amongst White Walkers. 

The art is absolutely breathtaking with its water colour style. 

They do a good job intertwining actual characters like Dany, Margery, Jon, Tyrion, Cersei without them getting in the way.  Sometimes it does feel hopeless with characters like Ramsay Snow just around the corner. But at the same time they do a reasonable job balancing it. Ramsay clearly a sadist, would be happy to see the houses kill each other and to the victor go the spoils. Basically removing the unkillable boogieman from the equation, a smart move. But it still presents the problem of the show's canon. Why wouldn't I be subservient to Ramsay, I know I can't win. Why wouldn't I manipulate Tyrion for Cersei, I know the outcome. Luckily these are few and far between with focus on the new characters and smaller houses, which is a fantastic angle. All in all it's a mini Game of Thrones, and you feel like you're moving the chess pieces to assemble forces, acquire funds and favour, marrying houses, etc. This approach could have easily carried through the show with a new season following every season of the show. Especially with 5 seasons (should have been more) to follow after the first game season started. We could have seen Forresters join the watch and eventually Jon Stark in the battle of the bastard, restoring his name. 

Speaking of characters the villains are equally well written. The White Hill are proud, arrogant and warlike. They use to have a forest of their own but they're poor craftsman and they wasted all their Ironwood, hence the name White Hill. Ludd and his 4th son Gryff are both arrogant pieces of scum who get off on power tripping and antagonizing anyone they can. They do a good job of making you hate them just as much as Joffery, Ramsay and the worst of Game of Thrones. Making it all the more harder when the option for peace comes. Towards the end of the game Rodrik had died and I was beyond caring. Asher was a killer and all I could see was red. Nevermind that his childhood love proposed another way, to wed the houses and undermine his father, Ludd needed to die. Unfortunately this does not happen but I did get to kill Gryff and Ludd's commander who got the final blow on Rodrik. Rodrik, Elissa, Ethan, Mira and Asher on the doorstep all dead and for nothing as Ludd lives on. I would have been okay if we got the sequel it was trying to setup where Asher gets revenge and takes back his house. Also with Garret and the bastards marching south. But I'll never get that. Oh well I suppose no happy ending. 

You're dead you son of a...

The biggest criticism and only major one I have of this game is perfectly shown in Asher or Rodrik, you get to choose who lives and dies. And here in lies the problem, your choices up until this point have no bearing and don't matter, there is no outcome in which both live. Characters will say something like "Mira failed to stop the sellswords" but that's a lie and it all comes down to the final choices. I have no issue with that, just stop pretending like they do matter. To add insult to injury characters have the exact same lines and animations in how they die. No individual character, just swap the models. We have the same issue with Duncan (or Royland) betraying you and leaking information to the White Hill's to "save House Forrester" because you didn't make him the Sentinel. Nothing will change this. And no matter which sentinel you choose it has no actual consequence other than who betrays you. Or if Asher you choose to wed Gwyn, Ludd won't listen to reason and everything occurs as it did. The only difference is she picks you up instead of Elissa in the end. In the end I enjoyed the story and characters for what it was, even if the ending left a sour taste in my mouth. It's pretty clear the outdated "your choices matter" speech bubbles illusion had started to fade and people were getting sick of it. 

A sequel would have been nice.

Game 139 - Dyad - Week X - June 24

yad asks the question what if Wipeout met a bunch of psychedelic drugs. The game has you follow a linear cylinder path as you perform various challenges using all the mechanics the game throws out you. Along the way the game has some great visuals that change dynamically. The core of the game has a slingshot mechanic. 

As you race through the level you can connect to nodes that will propel you forward. This then gets changed; now you need to combine the same colour. Now combining the same colour also create a path you can race along. Now there are enemy nodes that you want to avoid hooking onto. You unlock a lance ability later on that's a boost which lets you pierce through nodes and enemies. Nodes develop wings that you can crossover to charge the lance and paths created also do the same. Often you can charge your lance while mid lance; this leads to a snowball speed affect as you accelerate and the world blurs behind you as you go full NOS. Dyad does a great job of introducing new mechanics all the way through the game to mix it up. I'm not sure if the ending had any meaning to it, but it was nice visual display. Overall Dyad was a very enjoyable 2 hours. 

Game 138 - Lost Planet Extreme Condition - Week X - June 24

ost Planet is a game that I played in a special time in my life. The PS2 generation was wrapping up and the Xbox 360 was the first to hit the market. TVs began moving to high definition and we save the biggest leap in visuals that we'd ever seen on the console market. I heard stories from and eventually go to play several games at my cousins including BioShock, Gears of War, Fallout 3, Crackdown and Lost Planet. Many of which we would go to the nearby Video Ezy, another major source of nostalgia, and hire out the game for the weekend. Lost Planet was one of those games; it was on the top of the list of games that made me want to get an Xbox 360 (in addition to my PS3). But I never got around to playing it again. 

I absolute adore the theme and lore of this world. The snowy planet full of Akrid bugs that humanity is attempting to colonize, using the thermal energy within these aliens. The grappling hooks, the mechs and the gunplay overall. The dialogue is corny in the typical sense like Vanquish or Resident Evil 4, but who cares, I'm purely along for the ride. The short version is you are Wayne Holden, you your father and others defend the colony against the Akrid threat and others like Snow Pirates. Your father dies to the super Akrid called green eye, defending you in his highly advanced mech. You're recruited by a group Yuri, Luka and that one tech guy who is the most cheesy teenage "cool dude" in the entire game... They want to exterminate the Akrid and terraform the planet, also known as the Frontier Project. NEVEC, a super evil corporation plan to steal all that energy and terraform another planet, abandoning all the snow pirates. Luka doesn't trust you, you earn that trust. Yuri betrays you to NEVEC and then redeems himself. Wayne kills the green eye and avenges his father; then he takes down NEVEC. There are some gems in the corny dialogue. Like when Yuri attempts to explain who the snow pirates are to Wayne: "In the first attempt to colonise the planet we failed the middle class was left behind. They survived and after we returned the became known as Snow pirates". That's it... now you immediately process to kill all of them LOL. 

Overall that's the weakest part of the game. Mechs aren't too bad but for the most part all the humans just stand there as you shoot the bullet sponges. The Akrid on the other hand are far cooler; with different move sets. From enemies that tunnel up; to some that curl into a ball and charge you. Floating jelly fish and bird like creatures that swoop you. It's super satisfying to find and exploit their weak spots as well. T-ENG is a really cool mechanic that consistently immerses you in the frozen wasteland of this planet. It's the energy harvested from the indigenous Akrid and without you'll die. You can collect a surplus and when you take damage it will heal you. So in reality you can carry like 30+ med kits with you. There are several ways to harvest it as well; other than the obvious you can steal it from other people, mechs, destroy storage containers or find beacons that carry about a thousand. They serve as a checkpoint in a lot of ways. Mechs drain more than on-foot so you need to balance when to use it or travel, encouraging a balance in gameplay. I would often scavenge on foot or ditch a mech if my T-ENG was too low. The mechs themselves are awesome and the animations are superb. I've never been a big mech guy, especially Gundams, but here I absolutely adore the designs. Bulky and functional, as you'd expect for colonizing a new world. 

For example on mech doesn't have much armour, and it can go from a mobile gun platform to a snowmobile in a seamless transformation. The animations are very slick. All this culminates perfectly in Mission 7. Where you're non-stop fighting Akrid and Mechs in an open area that feels like all out war as you make your way to a facility. It's a shame more missions weren't like this. The ending also was a bit of a let down. After you upgrade your father's mech it becomes a cliche Gundam and you proceed to fight the big bad of NEVEC in his own Gundam. Not only does it feel very out of place in everything that came before, the boss fight is horrendous. There's no tactics in this fight, you just go in and spam your laser sword and hope for the best. It's terrible. 

The levels are fantastic, you can even rappel down the side of ramps and snipe foes. 

I'm not sure what the sequel holds, from what I've seen it looks more like a cover shooter. But I would have loved to see a more TF2 style story, where you have relationship with YOUR mech. There is so much potential to modernize this as Bionic Commando meets Armored Core. Use your grappling hook to pin to Akrid backs and shoot weak spots. Use on off items to subdue and ride them. Grapple enemies, there weapons and attach stuff Just Cause style. Steal guns off mechs or launch to them and hijack them. It would be cool if there was a way to make your mech more durable; instead of just ditching it and finding a new one. Jumping out of a mech, detaching a weapon, then lugging a new one over and reattaching it is an awesome feeling. It makes me want more of a scavenger experience with a mech workshop experience. But what I did get other than the final moments was an absolute joy.