I'm not sure many people shared my anticipation for Lost Planet 2, but I have been wanting this game since before it was announced. Having said that, I ran out and got it on release day. After playing for about 3 hours, I feel like I have a good understanding of what the game is like.

Long story short, its like the first one with some slight improvements. For me, this is perfectly fine, but for people who were hoping the series would adapt for them, you're out of luck. It is what it is.

Currently I'm playing through on Normal with my brother. Since I'm playing the second player, I don't get the achievements (which I think is a little bogus). The main game on this title feels less like the campaign on the first and more like the multiplayer. I am pretty sure that is the idea, but I still think something was lost there. It feels really choppy, having a chapter broken into three missions instead of just playing straight through. Also, they somehow made the actual story worse, but my opinion has always been that the original would have been better without the story and I don't mind if its true on this one.

The game is actually very hard. I'm happy with that because I loved the first for this reason. Lost Planet is a modern Mega Man and the game doesn't take it easy on you. The goal is to recognize the patterns of the enemies and dodge their attacks while attacking yourself. Just like the first one, the objective is to not get hit. As long as you can do that you're golden. The co-op can actually make the game more difficult. Normally, it helps to have some extra guns on your side, but since a whole team shares extra lives, if one player on your team is terrible and dies constantly, all players will lose. Consequently, I am a little leery to try this game online with random players.

I haven't got to play the multiplayer yet, but from my experience so far, it will be as good as the first. The campaign mode and multiplayer are tied together really well. You play the same character in both and your levels and customizations all carry over. There are perks to unlock, and you can get them while playing through the story. Since you start with two very good perks it doesn't screw the game like Call of Duty. It might be a while before I get to try it, but I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy this one online.

Again, to summarize, the game is very similar to the first. Its disappointing that there weren't more improvements made in the way of the story, but for me co-op makes up for that easy. I don't think this game is for everyone though. You have to be willing to sit down for an hour or more to expect to progress in the campaign and the enemies repeatedly knocking you down for a cheap kill is frustrating for anyone. Still, if find the game rewarding. There isn't much as satisfying as shooting your way through 50+ enemies, all of which could kill you if not careful. Its crazy!