Release: 2007
Also on: X360, PS3, PC

The lost planet in question is a frozen wasteland inhabited by giant bugs. Soldiers are sent to terraform the planet and make it habitable. But giant bugs are giant, so the soldiers have mechs to save them. 

When the most basic of your weapons is an assault rifle, you know the game is going to be action packed. Conservation isn't the norm in this game where each grenade pickup means five to ten grenades. And you'll rarely run short on ammunition.

There's a generous amount of mech use and the controls are very instinctive. Probably not as much as surgeon simulator though. Still, it's very easy to get about and I imagine multiplayer mode would be very competitive.

When recommending this game to others, I refer to it as a "3D Metal Slug" and if you play it, you'd understand why that is a conceivable comparison. It's easier but also more fast-paced. It will always keep you on the edge and have you plan on the go because your heat energy (which you need to regenerate health) is constantly running out, even when you're surrounded by lava. That doesn't make much sense, but the gameplay's better off for it so I can't complain.

Lost Planet's story is a boring but thankfully it's also simple to the point of being weak and doesn't take up as much time as Assassin's Creed's. You won't be forced to swallow the story and can just skip it, which is not bad advice.

Controls, when they are explained, are only explained in terms of the X360 controller. You'll be learning your controls from the options menu if you use the keyboard like me.

You can't run. You go through each level, each stretch of terrain, with the same speed. So forward progress is sometimes a bit slow. This usually doesn't cause too much of a problem unless, God forbid, you decide to backtrack. To counter this, you'll have to remember that the grappling hook is your friend.

The last boss takes the well-established control and combat system of the game and throws it out the window when it decides your mech can fly now and your weapons of choice are slow laser swords and ineffectual laser beams. Yes, actually fly and not the elongated hovering. It opens the third dimension for traversal. It takes some getting used to. You'll die several times learning the controls and then you might finally be able to finish the game. Try using a controller if you find yourself at an impasse.

The game is worth several playthroughs (with some break in between). But then when you fight the final boss again in hard mode, you'll probably just uninstall it like I did.

Lost Planet 2 is, from what I hear, a disappointment. Lost Planet 3 was sentenced to an early uninstallation. The only notable feature was that your character has facial features reminiscent of Nicholas Cage's. In short, Colonies is the best of the bunch.