Reviews are out of four stars.

'Lost Planet: Extreme Condition'

Years ago while residing in the Deep South, we derived a peculiar pleasure from squashing the heck out of a breed of particularly loathsome bugs that existed for the sole purpose of infiltrating our kitchen pantry and provoking startled screams of disgust.

Never mind that those suckers made a gag-inducing crunch when swatted, or that they emitted a noxious odor rather than a mere dying gasp. It was us against them, baby, in constant battle to keep those stubborn cockroach cousins from establishing beachheads in our boxes of Cheerios and sacks of Softasilk cake flour.

We thought we'd seen the last of those abhorrent arachnids when we moved back to the 'Burg. But now it looks like their seriously bulked-up offspring have found a new world to infest and ravage, and it's as pleasing as ever to obliterate them.

"Lost Planet: Extreme Condition" (Capcom; X360; $59.99; Rated T) will seem slightly familiar right away, thanks to the way it appropriates elements from games, films and books you've already perused. This third-person shooter may not be the freshest game you'll play this year, but it delivers a heap of bug-blasting, stress-busting entertainment.

Take the vicious insects from "Starship Troopers" and pit them against humans in giant armor borrowed from "Mobile Suit Gundam." Throw in some snowy landscapes -- the ice planet Hoth from "Star Wars" comes to mind -- and stir in a son seeking vengeance against his dad's killer. Oh, and don't forget a few roving pirates.

That pretty much sums up the concept of "Lost Planet," which -- shame on us -- we almost wrote off quickly with a ho-hum, played-it-before sigh. But its developers have invigorated its elements by cranking up the tempo and infusing the rapid-fire action with a gleeful sense of fun.

"Lost Planet" unfolds on a frozen world where giant roaches, ticks and silverfish aren't overjoyed by the arrival of humans intent on establishing a colony. The bugs, known as the Akrid, launch their own version of an Orkin operation and do a bang-up job of nearly crushing the human invasion.

The humans do manage to bring down an occasional bug, however, and discover that insect innards emit a glowing energy source that even Al Gore hasn't heard of. That's the kind of thing that comes in handy on a perpetually chilly planet, so the humans renew their efforts to conquer the planet sheathed in armored Vital Suits.

You play as Wayne, who craves revenge on the green-eyed critter that killed his dad. The game is fairly straightforward -- shoot bugs, kill bugs, battle bigger bosses and collect energy from their fallen bodies.

But what escapist, guilt-free fun it is to start blasting away right away, then keep on running and gunning with various weapons through "Lost Planet's" visually attractive levels. Graphics and frame rates are excellent and the action never slows, even when it seems like 100 monsters have swarmed onto the screen.

We hate some aspects of the controls and camera, however, and wonder why controls aren't more sensitive for such a brisk, intense game. It's infuriating to be killed over and over because your controls won't allow you to turn or crouch smoothly and quickly. At least you can change the target camera settings, which helps.

Still, "Lost Planet" hooked us so thoroughly that we finished its single-player campaign in a day, then sulked for more. It has no regular multi-player mode, but offers four online multi-player combat modes for folks with Xbox Live subscriptions.

Still don't have Xbox Live? You're overdue. Just write off the cost to medicinal tension relief. "Lost Planet" is cheaper than therapy and a whole lot more enjoyable.