I found myself intrigued when i found this game on sale, and i instantly remembered the days way back when i played the first Lost Planet game on the xbox 360, and later on the playstation 3. I also remembered that i'd heard a lot of talk about Lost Planet 2, but after that i had not heard anything about the franchise. Looking back at it now, this game might be why, but not only for bad reasons. In this review i'll go over some key points as to how this game changed in the aspects of what i liked about LP 1 and what aspects of it that are different from the rest of the series, both good points and bad.

Contrasting points when compared to the earlier games

• Mobility was one of the things i remembered most from playing LP1. Upon buying this game i remembered the highly mobile Vital Suits and how fighting in them with different weapons was amusing. This however changed completely in this game, seeing as the only Mech you control is a slow Utility Rig.
  
• Combat style has changed, from being focused on mobility to timed dodges and tactical placement when on foot, and timed blocks followed by a short button spam before being allowed to deal some damage while in aforementioned rig.
  
• Immersion was a major improvement in this game for me. The slow paced combat and the change of being inside the rig rather than outside made me feel more immersed in the controlling of a massive hunk of powered metal.

Critique and some nitpicking

• Admitedly this game makes a good example of how a port can mess up, the controls aren't always right and every time the game tells you to turn a wheel you are instructed to turn the controls [W][A][S][D], when what you have to do is spam the action button. Another issue appears in the change of keyboard bindings seeing as you begin with several things tied to the same key, chanching this however disables the ability to keybind several things to one key and you will be told that the key is already being used.
  
• There are some bugs, most notably there will be a cave wherein you'll be fighting a huge crab-like akrid. However for me and many others the akrid was undefeatable, and its shell would not break. This however was fixed by verifying the game cache via steam. Another bug got me stuck on a table when i by mistake tried vaulting it because i was running next to it.
  
• The bug issue highlights another issue within the game, the auto saving is rather random and you can't save manually, this can cause some replaying of rather tedious parts.
  
• Although the slow paced combat was intriguing, the combat won't always be as intuitive or well-instructed. when fighting the scorpion-akrid atop shackleton's peak, the player has to use the rig against this akrid for the first time, but won't be informed that you have to lift the tail when grabbing it to not be sprayed by acid, and to reveal its softspot.
  
• One thing i liked about the game, but at the same time i think was badly integrated, is the albino akrid dna trading system. On top of the 3 other shops containing different items of varying nature, it seemed like a chore not really worth the bother, i found 2 albino akrid and the upgrades were intriguing but not worth the bother, had they made a bigger change it might have been worth the grind. The same issue befalls the Termal Posts which you can plant and gain energy from, it might help and make a slight change, but as it is, it was not worth the grind.

Things i liked

• The previously mentioned changes to mobility and combat might have been a dealbreaker for some, but for me it played a part of the immersion in the cold and unforgiving enviroments.
  
• The plot and story, the integration and introduction to different characters and stories through logs and sidemissions. The game is filled to the brim with notes and audio logs which you can find around the planet, telling the tales of lost lives, hopeless endeavours and accidents.
  
• The whole game began in medias res, jumping straight to the present in which the setup of the game which takes place in the telling of Jim's past. This choice seemed weird at first, but they managed to make it into a unravelling of past secrets, causing parallels between Jim's unravelling of the secrets of Novac while unravelling his own Secrets to his granddaughter. The developers used this storytelling technique well and it managed to keep me intrigued and engaged in the story and how it would go.

When asked if i'd recommend this game or not, i'd say yes, it is a good game on its own, but it advise people to know what they're getting into. If you are looking for something like the previous games, do not buy this one expecting the same as the franchise has given before, if you want highly mobile combat with bulletspraying, do not buy this game . If you are looking for a tale of survival in cold environment with an intriguing story with slightly bad comedy, slow paced combat and an immersive adventure while combatting a rightly cold unforgiving world, then this game might be for you. Having played the game for roughly eleven hours i'd say i got my money's worth.
Overall, i'd give this game 7/10, by itself. It's a good game, but like Bioshock infinite it does not live up to the franchise when compared to its predecessors and the title it bears, although it does make a perfectly good game by itself.