Snow Pirates are formidable opposition
The animation of the creatures and how the environment reacts to their presence is one of the highlights of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition. The giant arachnids have the same scuttling movements as their Starship Trooper counterparts, they hunt in packs and the larger ones even have the same manic and furious stomping actions as they attempt to split you in two with the pneumatic drill movements of their spiky talons. Gigantic worms create a snow storm, as the deep rumbling sounds under your feet indicate that their presence is imminent, before they explode from the bowels of the planet and tower above you as they snap ferociously with their sharp teeth. Glance up to the skies above and you'll see what resemble skeletal trilobites that swoop down as you to attack whilst rotating rapidly before they deliver their sharp sting and soar back to the relative safety of the heavens.
If you're going to take out these creatures and the snow pirates that stand in your way, you're going to need an arsenal of weapons at your disposal. There's a huge selection of weapons on offer, all of which have their own unique feel, sound and visual impact. Initially you'll start off with a the trusty machine gun, with plenty of ammo; ideal for killing the hordes of small Akrid who pour out of the hives and scuttle around looking to bury their sharp talons through your warm, woolly sheepskin coat. We had barrels of fun testing out as many of the weapons as we could get our hands on and whether we were blasting away with the more basic weapons such as the shotgun, which provides a short sharp and powerful blast sending Akrid flying backwards squealing with agony, the plasma gun, energy gun or sniper rifle were just as effective when used in the right circumstances.
Click for larger imageThere is also plenty of heavy weaponry on offer and the rocket launcher for one is a formidable weapon and certainly worth keeping until you bump into one of the larger Akrid. Equip it using your d-pad; lock, load and blast a creature or enemy mech into smithereens. Sit back and watch as a huge cloud of thick smoke emerges like a nuclear explosion and turns the artic white skies a deathly black. The grenades available also offer plenty of ways to dispose of enemies. Gum grenades stick to enemies and explode after a few seconds, which is extremely amusing to watch, plasma grenades are great for tossing into an Akrid hive where you can stand back and watch the fireworks, but our favourite is the disc grenades. On our way to the Crimson fortress to tackle a band of snow pirates we stumbled across a giant snapping lobsters, but before he had the chance to curl up into a ball and launch himself at us like the ball-bearing from a pinball machine, we threw a couple of disc grenades into each of its claws and watched him explode like...errï...an exploding lobster.
Click for larger imageThe most effective and safest of all the weapons on offer are the VS (Vital Suits) that provide significantly more fire power and enhanced protection against attack. We had plenty of opportunity to hop into one of these mechanical shells and utilise the ferocious gattling gun to take out swarms of bugs, flying trilobites, lobsters or Starship Trooper-inspired bugs. The VS Suits are fairly slow so we were back-peddling as the creatures rapidly approached, keeping our fingers firmly on the trigger until they exploded just before they had the chance to get their sharp claws on us...phew that was close!