Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition has gone gold. Capcom announces that the new release of their third-person action shooter will carry everything the original had, plus a little bit more for both Xbox 360 and Windows gamers.

Colonies Edition hopes to provide an edgier competitive challenge for gamers, something short of a full multiplayer experience. By using the leaderboard features of Microsoft's LIVE services (both Windows and Xbox), Capcom's newly added modes offers gamers a chance to compete in fast time completion and marksmanship:

• Score Attack: kill enemies with a corresponding amount of points assigned to each type, and try to net the highest score possible. Upload them to LIVE leaderboards and watch egos flow and tempers flare.
• Trial Battle Mode: a mode that'll serve you boss after boss, in some likeness to Warning Forever, though this one only measure how much time yo take to bring them all down.
• Off Limit Mode: a keeper of its namesake. This mode will grant players super-charged weapons and even a powered grappling hook to combat the baddies in the campaign.

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition will also cram in 4 new maps, 5 new characters to toy with, and 10 spankin' new weapons to brandish, and an additional 7 multiplayer modes.

Unfortunately, as the new content would require access to Windows LIVE, users on Windows XP won't exactly be happy with the need to install support on their systems just to play it. Of course, those who've managed past the hiccups in Gears of War for Windows and haven't undone the fix might give this a try.

Buy: [ Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition (Windows), (Xbox 360) ]