The development pedigree is enough to get us excited over Lost Planet. Keiji Inafune and Jun Takeuchi, two of the creative minds behind Mega Man, Onimusha and Resident Evil have put their weight behind the game and there is also the addition of the popular (mainly in Japan) Korean actor, Byung Hun Lee, who lends his likeness to the game’s lead. However, it’s not their input that disappoints, it’s the port job to the PS3. It’s particularly disappointing given that Capcom’s last venture, Devil May Cry 4, was almost perfect on both platforms. Thankfully, it doesn’t ruin the game, but we’re still left to wonder what could have been.
The story in Lost Planet can be somewhat confusing, due to what seems some weak translation and a few disjointed points. However, it made sense to us as a whole, though that might just be because we watch a lot of anime as well. Set in a fictional future, humanity has left Earth in search of other inhabitable planets, only to find one that’s inhabitable but completely snow-bound and occupied by large aliens known as Akrid. You play Wayne, a mysterious young man, who is rescued by snow pirates at the beginning of the game. Suffering amnesia, he begins his fight against the aliens, only to later find out who his true target is.
That bug spray might not be enough.
As is the case in most action games, particularly from Capcom, these story sequences are really there to link each of the action sequences and levels. And the action sequences in Lost Planet are easily the highlight of the game. As a general standard, you’ll be running and gunning your way through masses of Akrid, which range from small, annoying flying bugs to grossly oversized insects to gargantuan beasts, as well as a smattering of human and mech enemies. You have a relatively standard weapons range of machine guns, shotguns, rockets and a few futuristic ones. There is a twist to the action though, where it is mandatory to kill in order to survive.
Your environments are bitterly cold, so you need to collect ‘Thermal Energy’ to stay alive. So long as you have Thermal Energy, your health will regenerate every time that you’re hit. You collect it every time you beat an enemy or by blowing up certain structures. It’s a mechanic that works very well, and fits in with the story. You also have an anchor that will help you with the limited amount of platforming, and grabbing onto objects. It’s a great idea but one that hasn’t been fully utilized.
The other aspect to the gameplay that sets Lost Planet apart is the use of mechs know as Vital Suits, or VS. At any point that you see a VS standing in the game, you can board it and use it for yourself. VS weaponry is much more powerful then standard weaponry and is almost essential for boss battles. However, unlike mechs in other games, the VS in Lost Planet don’t need a degree in mech operation to be fairly seamlessly used. VS battles can get very tense and exciting, once you’ve tuned yourself to their movements and capabilities.
Mech Combat 101.
The single player lasts 11 missions and depending on which difficulty you play on, will take anywhere between 6-12 hours the first time through. There is a multiplayer mode that you can partake in as well. You can competitively play with up to sixteen other players, and there is some limited ‘leveling up’ to be done. The modes that you can play through are Team Elimination, Elimination, Post Grab and Fugitive. The first two are points-based derivative of Deathmatch while the third is essentially “capture several flags”. It’s a solid offering, and while nothing revelation, can be a bit of different fun. Generally speaking, the standards aren’t as high as they were over Xbox Live.
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition for the PS3 is virtually a direct port of the Xbox 360, with very few minor additions. These additions are mainly characters for the multiplayer, but otherwise, the games are identical content wise. Unforutanely, Capcom haven't implemented an ‘accomplishment system’ as they did in DMC4. Furthermore, the port is weak, in that the controls have been slightly compromised. They are slower to respond on the PS3 pad then on the Xbox 360 pad. It’s only really noticeable though in very tight spots, such as difficult boss battles. While no new content is one thing, it’s also disappointing that nothing has been fixed. Admittedly, we liked Lost Planet the way it was, but flaws such as the way your are ruthlessly tossed around at times is not only annoying to play through, but annoying that they haven’t been made more playable.
The weakness in the port comes through most of all in the graphics. On the Xbox 360 (and even on a good PC), Lost Planet was one of the most immaculately polished and good looking titles around. In some places the PS3 version has sharper snow textures, though that only serves to make the snowy environment and surroundings to look icier, rather then cushiony. That being said, the Xbox 360 version leaves the PS3 version for dead in terms of overall polish and running speed, though the difference is primarily noticeable when you put the two next to each other. This is very disappointing, given that it’s come out a year later.
Explosions are still awesome.
Still, that doesn’t mean that the PS3 version looks bad. It’s still a rather good-looking game, as the Akrid models are some of the best of the current generation, as are the VS. The game has a wonderful sense of scope, with some awe-filled sunsets and foreboding night scenes. And the game still contains some of the best explosions to be seen in video games. Sound-wise, the effects of the Akrid, the VS, the weaponry and the explosions are all spot-on and sound great. The voicing for the characters is reasonable as well. Surprisingly, there isn’t much music throughout the game, as it’s saved for the big moments and menu interludes. The music is quite good, but it’s just been put too far into the background.
Even as a weak port, we still had a lot of fun with Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, as it provides a focused and no-nonsense kind of action. Furthermore, we can forgive it a little more for being released in Australia at a lower then retail price. Given this and the technical aspects, it’s still worth looking at if you haven’t played it on the Xbox 360. However, we’d hate for more such ports to come to the PS3. We’ve seen (and Capcom themselves have shown) that it can do much better and good games like this deserve better.
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