Lost Planet: Extreme Condition is an interesting mix of third-person combat, mech battles and a unique health system that blends together nicely to create a fun run and gun experience. The combat is fast paced, the multiplayer is pretty satisfying and the weapon variety and load-outs are balanced nicely to make the game fun. The prologue to the story, or the opening storyline if you will, is that you are a soldier in the service of Earth's colonization force as they explore the planet E.D.N. III, a frozen planet that looks like it is capable of supporting life. Things seem to be going well for Earth's finest until a major obstacle rears its collective and ugly head - an insectoid race on the planet called the Akrid. These monsters take the fight to the humans and bring them nearly to the brink of destruction, but even the darkest cloud has a silver lining. The humans learn that these creatures possess a special thermal energy source that can be harnessed with the right technology. This fact play a major part in the gameplay later on.

The story goes that you are Wayne, a snow pirate who was frozen in the artic wasteland and sometime later retrieved by a band of pirates scavenging the landscape. It is many years later and Wayne doesn't recall much of his past at first, save that he was some type of soldier and that his father was killed by a giant monster called Green Eye. With that little knowledge Wayne decides to get back on his feet and go on the hunt for this foozle of epic proportions. Sure, the plot for this story is convoluted and thin at best but it ultimately won't matter. What's great about Lost Planet is the gameplay. As the story gets weird and twists and turns in the winds of confusion like a hangman's noose, you'll ignore it and focus on battling tons of creepy crawlies, humans and more both on foot and inside mech-style combat armor (Vital Suits). Lost Planet's action is almost perfect and the pacing is just wonderful.

Most of the time you will be battling hordes of the insectoid style Akrids, though there are certainly humanoids and mechanical menaces to deal with along the way. There's a nice variety of enemies, from the less harmful spider like creatures to the giant and very lethal creatures that require some serious firepower to take down. This bestiary is bolstered by a cast of good guys and bad guys and takes place above and below a harsh artic world where old cars, explosive drums and dead frozen soldiers litter the landscape.

The first thing that will catch your eye about Lost Planet is the world itself. As you traverse this frozen wasteland you'll find the hints of human civilization abandoned at every turn - from the corpses to the cars and to structures now left to stand as a testament to the fury and the power of this frozen and alien world. The effects in Lost Planet are beautiful - from the wind blowing snow drifts in your face to the layers of snow that obscure the landscape and bury the secrets of those that didn't manage to survive. The environments are simply beautiful.

Your basic set of skills in the game are pretty straightforward. You move with the left analog stick and aim with the right stick; You can carry up to two weapons at a time and can switch between them on the fly at any time by hitting your Y button; to use a grenade simply click the left trigger, to shoot your press the right trigger. R3 serves as your reload button, while the left and right shoulder buttons allow you to quickly turn left or right. But one of the more thrilling items at your disposal is a grapple that allows you to aim, shoot and climb rapidly kind of like Spider-Man. When grappling downward you can use the left analog stick to use it like a zip line and avoid dangerous falls; Finally there's the d-pad, which lets you zoom in your character's perspective - from far behind all the way up to a first-person mode. Honestly, first-person doesn't work very well with the game's controls in their default settings..

Our hero use a very special power that most others on the planet don't have. A special device attached to his arm allows him to gather thermal energy from a variety of sources and convert it into health or as ammo for certain types of special weapons. This allows Wayne to have a reserve amount of energy to rely on when those extra dangerous events occur. Energy depletes itself naturally with the progression of time and goes even faster in the most harrowing situations, so it is important to collect as much as you can.. Lost Planet really is run-and-gun game, and it is very important to explore, but with expedience. That's because your energy is constantly depleting itself making survival your most important objective. After that, of course, is the hunt itself. And hunt you will as you explore the planet's surface, invade more tropical underground areas and take on thousands of creepy insects. You'll do this using conventional weapons like rocket launchers, thermal grenades, machine guns, shotguns and oversized gatling guns to experimental energy based weaponry and Vital Suits. The vital suits, which are mechanized mobile suits, are also another tool you can use to take down the extra large Akrid you'll come across. Besides giving you a faster mode of transportation in open areas, the Vital Suit can be armed with assortment of weapons like the aforementioned gatling gun and a nifty chainsaw. Many of the more difficult battles in the game revolve around these suits, so it's pretty important to get a handle on how they operate.