There have been a lot of third person games that incorporate first person aspects and Lost Planet borrows a lot from this concept. I was able to see and play a lot of games on the first day of E3, but Lost Planet was one of the most impressive games at the show.

Lost Planet is a new game from Capcom coming exclusively for the Xbox 360. The title is one of the prettiest upcoming games for the next generation consoles and really showcases the 360's raw power when it comes to graphics. The demo itself does not present a lot of story elements, but it does put the player right into the action from the get-go.

A lot of this game's appeal comes from the amazing graphics it is able to produce from the hardware on the 360. While playing the snow level, the sheer amount of detail in the environment is phenomenal. Lost Planet actually makes you feel like you're physically walking through the heavy snow. While the levels themselves are somewhat linear, the environment in the game makes up for this. After walking for a bit, players encounter the first enemy of the game that consists of a spider-like creature. These creatures aren't exactly hard to beat but they do re-spawn from an alcove continuously. In order to defeat the creatures completely, you must destroy the alcove while fighting for your life.

The tools of the trade for fighting enemies in Lost Planet are quite plentiful. The weapons available in the demo consist of a shotgun, a machine gun, a gatling gun, rocket launchers, grenades and even energy-based guns. Most of these work pretty much as expected except for the latter. This gun has unlimited ammo but depending on how you use it, overheating may occur and you will have to wait a short time before using it again. What also makes this weapon so special is the fact that players can choose to charge the shot before firing at an enemy. While this may seem amazing, it's fairly easy to overheat, and therefore, it should only be used during special occasions. The machine gun however is very versatile; it has a good firing rate and it's one of the easiest weapons to find ammunition for in the game. The shotgun is a good for close range combat and can make the "alcove destroying" task a bit less painful, since it has a wide shooting range. For platforming sections however, the best choice for your character is a sort of hook that can attach to walls and pull the player towards a given location. You can also jump up from the wall after you get pulled so the tool becomes quite useful when going up tall ledges.

The game also has vehicles and the one present in the demo is a mech robot. The player can actually get into the mech and use it for extra firepower. It is equipped with dual gatling guns on its back, which can be controlled with the normal fire button and the grenade throwing button. The mech is also able to jump fairly high and can hover for a while thanks to jet boosters at the back. Not only that, but the it can also use the boosters to dash while on the ground. This makes using the this unique vehicle for combat very exciting, practical, and quite a change of pace from the usual mech-less gameplay. The mech also protects you from damage but this feature comes at a price. If the mech takes maximum damage, the player must eject by repeatedly pressing the escape button or risk being killed by the imminent explosion.

The snow stage is quite varied and makes good use of all the weapons available. There are various environments in the stage such as old buildings filled with enemies and even caves crawling with flying bugs. But the real highlight of the game are the boss type enemies the player encounters along the way. One example is a creature with an extremely tough shell and spikes all over. This creature can roll itself and start spinning while on the ground, proceeding to go up a wall and come back down on the other side. Not only that, but it also has fierce normal attacks that are extremely hard to avoid. Conveniently, the game seems to place mechs within a lot of boss areas, which can help a great deal when facing these tough enemies. There is however, an easy way to tell where the boss's weak point is; it's usually colored orange on the body.

Lost Planet is easily one of the most visually impressive games of the show. The fun gameplay is definitely present and the main challenge for the developers is to produce a large enough variety of enemies and great environments to fully immerse the player in the experience. Even so, the current product is quite amazing and may easily be one of the best shooters for the 360.