Lost Planet is a series in flux. The first game stole my heart with its lonely atmosphere, its icy locale, and its abundance of interesting weapons, vital suits, and ideas. When the series changed hands for the sequel, things got a bit messy. There was no shortage of crazy ideas, but the increased roughness of its edges became harder to ignore than ever. It’s for this reason that I didn’t mind hearing that Lost Planet 3 would be outsourced to another developer.

Immediately, I noticed one aspect of the series that seemed fixed: the story. Rather than the cliché amnesia of the first game or the nonsensical protagonist shifting of the second, Lost Planet 3 feels instantly relatable. You control Jim, a man with a wife and kid who just needs to make a living. Unfortunately for him, that means taking on hazardous jobs on an incredibly uninviting planet.

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The original Dead Space is one of my favorite games to be released this generation, for good reason. It was a unique IP with an the interesting concept. Strategic dismemberment. The best way to kill Dead Space’s grisly, blades-for-arms space monsters was to shoot their limbs off.

It was gory, violent, and a hell of a lot of fun. Coupled the dark, foreboding corridors of the Ishimura and deadly, upgradable arsenal of industrial tools, everything came together perfectly to form a spine-chilling, adrenaline-fueled ride like no other.

Dead Space 2 sets out to build on all of this and manages to improve just about everything in the process. On top of that adds online multiplayer.

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"The Internet... The Final Frontier"

Space… how many of these beta impression posts on various gaming blogs will start out with the “…the final frontier” line? While I don’t consider myself either a Trekkie or a Trekker, I do love science fiction and have seen my fair share of Star Trek related shows, movies, and games.

The full retail version of Star Trek Online launches February 2nd. Having pre-ordered the game, I have been in the beta for the past week. The game has had several patches in the meantime and a lot of downtime. This is not intended to serve as a review of the game, but as a quick write-up of my initial impressions of the Beta and what I’m looking forward to in the full game.

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