Arachnophobia

Of all the early 360 games I played, none surprised and blew me away more than Lost Planet. It wasn't trying to be the best game in the world, but it was definitely shooting for the most fun. The story was ridiculous, the acting was questionable, but the combination of a huge weapon selection (including mechs and other vehicles!), old school shoot 'em up feel, and some MASSIVE bosses won me over in the end.

I know I didn't mention the graphics.

They were awesome. Fucking awesome.




Everything that Lost Planet was admittedly wouldn't have succeeded without the awe-inspiring visuals. Textures were clean and sharp, effects like smoke and particles were fluid and in abundance, and it was all tied together with some of the most tangible and convincing animation I still have yet to see matched in another game outside Capcom. Their internal game engine, MT Framework is one of the best "next-gen" middleware platforms, right up there in my book with Unreal Engine 3 (Gears of War 2, Bioshock), and the COD4 Engine (Call of Duty 4/World At War) in terms of delivering eye candy on all fronts. Also With titles like Devil May Cry 4 and Resident Evil releasing in Lost Planet's wake and looking better and better, it shows no signs of slowing down.



Now, Lost Planet 2 is on its way, and everyone involved are hard at work upping the ante in every way possible. More players, bigger creatures, bigger weapons, and somehow, even better visuals (if it's even possible), courtesy of MT Framework 2.0 .

I'm not one for hype, but I'd be remiss if I said I wasn't excited, even if the setting doesn't make much sense to me (yet). Exactly HOW did EDN-3 melt down, and why didn't it's diverse, cold loving insect population go with it?..

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Director Kenji Oguro speaks a bit on the new gameplay direction, improvements, and even online co-op in the below vid. Enjoy =)