When the biggest selling action games of recent memory include lengthy solo-campaign and expansive multiplayer experiences, the pressure on developers to release similarly well featured packages must be huge.

In theory, a cooperative online shooter on the PC should be relatively easy to pull off. After all, the FPS genre was honed to perfection on the PC and the whole online multiplayer FPS craze was pioneered by PC games like Unreal and Quake.

The first ' Lost Planet ' was a fantastic looking game, with an interesting single player, and some great team-based multiplayer- how does the sequel compare? All the previews have certainly made the game seem like it will be far more varied, and certainly even more epic than the first game, which...

game was released back in early 2008 and, despite receiving only moderate praise from reviewers, the game sold well enough that a sequel was inevitable (I actually quite enjoyed the game - Dave).

Interesting game.

In the demo, I was absorb in the experience of killing large creatures and it was so much fun, especially with friends. But when I got the actual game, it got frustrating alot of the time.

Sequels are supposed to take a game franchise forward, building on their predecessors' strengths, shoring up their weaknesses, and adding new features to enhance the gameplay. Unfortunately, that's not the case with Lost Planet 2, a sequel that manages to be a step backward from the original game.

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition was a game that nearly had it all. Designed as a flagship title for the Xbox 360, Capcom's game was a conscious effort to marry the dynamics of a Western shooter with the style of a Japanese action game, meaning that on top of the usual blasting, sniping and...

Great boss battles; great co-op action

AI can forget about teamwork; not great playing single player

I've not played through the entire campaign but so far I've enjoyed every minute of it. I can't understand why the reviewers rate it so low. OK yeah the AI is not the best but it is at it's best when playing the campaign with other people online.

Lost Planet 2 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 was a good example of how messing up gameplay basics can render a gorgeous and full-bodied third-person shooter hopelessly un-fun.

Stunning and varied visual design; Fun shoot-outs versus giant creatures; Lots of ways to play online; A number of small but meaningful improvements over the console versions

Relies on frequent knockbacks instead of an actual challenge; Shrug-worthy story; Useless persistent rewards