You can’t navigate the menus using the keyboard (not even the Escape key works), and it’s the first game we’ve encountered that, bizarrely, requires you to right-click to get back to the main menu. It isn’t often that the pre-game menu system is bad enough to put you off the game itself, but Lost Planet makes a good stab at irritating the hell out of PC players. This is yet another game in the growing roster of titles that were clearly designed for the Xbox first and PC a pretty distant second. The bad news is the game proper doesn’t follow through on its promise and, on top of that, a litany of annoyances tarnish it further. Mostly, you'll be learning the pattern of the enemies and trying to destroy them before they can get their big shots off.The hype surrounding Lost Planet’s graphics engine is true: it’s amazing, and the setting – a frozen, snow-covered planet – is original for this class of game, too. The 3D aspect of the game allows for some background skewing and some intense graphics (more on that later), but it really doesn't affect gameplay much. Bosses are, as they should be, difficult, numerous, and one of the best part of the game.ĭespite being modeled in full 3D, the game actually plays on a flat 2D plane, like your Centipede and Xevious of the past. Thankfully you can change weapons halfway through the level, as certain main bosses require a different weapon combination from the rest of the level.

The weapons are your garden-variety shooter fare, with the obligatory diagonal shots, laser beam, and grenades. Of course you have to choose the correct weapon combination for each section, with new weapons being added at the completion of each level. You see, you have this little ship and you move it from side to side, up and down, and shoot at things. Let's see if I can explain this correctly.

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