SDCC '09: Lost Planet 2 Panel

Producer Jun Takeuchi discusses the finer points of being excreted from a giant Salamander at the Lost Planet 2 panel.

The first Lost Planet was a decent hit on the Xbox 360, but took some flak when it was ported to the PS3 because of it's "dated" visuals. Hey, at least it was ported and was enough of a hit for Capcom to make a sequel. I had played the demo down at the Capcom booth a few times before the panel and was quite impressed. Also, my unbridled fervor for a Lost Planet 2 Salamander plush demanded that I attend the panel. The panel was basically producer Jun Takeuchi speaking through a translator about the game. The panel was moderated by Francis Mao, the senior director of creative services for Capcom. An essentially one-man panel can be a tricky thing if the panelist isn't that interesting, but Takeuchi was funny and kept everyone interested. Right from the start of the panel he joked that there was such a big diversity in the United States, but until he came to Comic-con he didn't know that it included aliens, which got a nice laugh out of the crowd.

The E3 trailer for Lost Planet 2 was shown. Those who attended the Capcom 2009 Line-up panel the day before got to see it again, but it's a good trailer so I'm sure no one minded. Takeuchi explained that the game will be split into six episodes, with each episode containing a giant Akrid boss. The Salamander boss of the demo at the Capcom booth is the boss for the first episode and one of the smaller bosses of the game. A thought had crossed my mind; if Capcom was willing to let players fight and potentially defeat the first boss of the game in the demo, then the other bosses must be so much more immense and impressive.

Takeuchi continued. The game is set ten years after the events of Lost Planet and, yes, it is the same planet as the first game. The planet, E.D.N. 3, is going through a big climate change, with jungle and city stages (and apparently desert from the trailer) in the game. The hero of the first game will not be in LP2. Instead, players will control different groups of snow pirates in each episode. The game allows for four-player co-op, but if a player wants to play the game by themselves, they can fight the bosses with bot-controlled teammates. It also sounded like players could fight a boss without any kind of teammates and just tackle it alone.

Takeuchi stated a few times that the bosses each have their own A.I. and don't follow a set script. He mentioned that because of this, he noticed that the Salamander boss likes to go into areas of the stage that it probably shouldn't be able to go into. Lost Planet 2 uses Capcom's MT Framework 2.0, which is the next version of what they used to make Resident Evil 5.

It was time for the live demo of the game, which was the same demo that was running at the Capcom booth. The demo, however, was being played by more expertly-trained Capcom members. They showed off a few of the weapons, like the plasma, disk, and gum grenades and the two mech suits in the stage. There was a smaller, more personal mech suit and a three-person mech. One player would pilot and fire the forward cannon while the other two would sit in the turrets on either side. One player then let himself get swallowed by the Salamander to show off battling from inside the beast. After a while of battling the Salamander's insides and the smaller Akrid that lived inside it, the player was shot out of the ass-end of the Salamander. As the crowed cheered (being shat out of a giant Salamander is funny) Mao commented, "Let's see Halo do that."

After the Salamander was killed, it was time for some questions from the audience. One question was about the story being accessible to those who hadn't played the first game. Takeuchi replied that there will actually be an Episode 0 that will bring players up to speed. With all the various characters in the game, one fan asked if they would be as involved with the story as the hero from the first game. Takeuchi stated that the characters in each episode will come together at the end of the game to tie together the story. One fan asked about other co-op vehicles in the game, such as the three-man walker in the demo. Takeuchi said there would be more and flying vehicles. I heard one of the Capcom people say that that probably shouldn't have been said since it hasn't been announced yet. Whoops. Takeuchi was unable to disclose what other multiplayer gameplay modes there would be in the game, only that there would be more.

Each person that Takeuchi called on to ask a question received a 16-inch Salamander plush. Unfortunately, I didn't get called on and three of the questions were essentially the same exact question (it was three versions of the different multiplayer modes question). My quest for a Salamander plush would have to continue, but the panel was good and Takeuchi did a great job helming it. After playing the demo four times at the show, I am eagerly awaiting the release of Lost Planet 2.