Lost Planet has a great concept – you can imagine what it was like at the Capcom offices the day the design team pitched their idea to the board of directors:

Head Honcho: So, Lost Planet, eh? What’s it about?
Designer: Umm. Well, there’s this frozen planet where humans are locked in battle with a deadly alien race that look a bit like insects.
Head Honcho: Sort of like Starship Troopers on Ice, then?
Designer: (Hangs head in shame) Yes.

Ultimately, a lot of the enjoyment to be found in Lost Planet will be depend on whether you think Starship Troopers on Ice sounds like a good idea or a load of rubbish. The gameplay won’t particularly surprise anyone – it’s a fairly standard third person action game where you run around a variety of sub-zero environments battling your carnivorous alien enemies. Your arsenal consists of The Usual Suspects (machinegun, shotgun, rocket launcher), but with the addition of Vital Suits, which are basically identical to those big walking tanks you’ve seen in just about every Japanese cartoon since you were a kid.

The useful thing about your alien enemies is the heat energy that’s released when they die – an incredibly lucky coincidence considering the game’s icy setting. What this means in gameplay terms is you’re given a limited amount of Thermal Energy, which depletes from walking around and needs to be replenished by killing baddies. If you think all this sounds like a lame excuse for gunning down alien aggressors, you’d be right; but you’d also be missing the point, which is that blowing stuff up is fun.

Wafer-thin storyline aside, the most striking thing about Lost Planet is the graphics. Visually, this is exactly what Microsoft’s vision of ‘next-generation’ is all about: huge explosions, beautifully realised environments and cataclysmic boss battles. It’s clear the game has been written with graphics as the top priority, and it’s easily up there with Gears of War and Oblivion as one of the best examples of Xbox 360 visuals to date.

The only gripe you could level at Lost Planet is the lack of depth in its gameplay. Even though the levels are nice and long, you’ll generally find yourself grinding from A to B as quickly as possible, without feeling like you’re making any real impact. The boss battles are visually superb but don’t really offer much of a challenge once you’ve sussed out their attack patterns. It’s fun for a while, but you’ll start to wish there was a little bit more than flashy graphics to keep your attention going.

Lost Planet isn’t a bad game at all – there’s plenty to like for action fans and casual gamers, and the cinematic grandeur on show is a consistent pleasure. Having said that it’s far from perfect, and the shallow action means it’s more of a fun diversion than a life-changing experience. Just don’t expect too much.