It's been a long time since a TV show has picked up such a large following of dedicated fans since Lost hit the air over three years ago. Centering around the survivors of Flight 815 after they crash-land on a strange island in the middle of nowhere, the show managed to build interesting and unique characters, all of whom have a mysterious past of some sort, as well as surrounding them in extremely odd circumstances on an island filled with polar bears, black smoke, hatches and trigger-happy locals. It's all very confusing on the surface, and the writers pride themselves on setting up twists and turns that we as viewers get to experience, finding out more and more little pieces of the puzzle as the series goes on. Of course, like any popular TV or movie franchise, a video game has been born, and while fans of the show may find a lot to like here, the whole thing will be... well... lost, on everybody else.
The game begins where season one begins - with the plane crash itself. Your introduced to your character as the plane goes down, knocking you unconscious. When you wake up, you're on the island, and already things aren't what they seem. You can't remember who you are or even what you do for a living; you see a ghost-like image of somebody, bump into other survivors from the flight (Kate, Jack, Locke etc) and end up experiencing flashbacks which, hopefully, will explain how you got to this point in the first place. Yes, it's Lost at its very best here folks. Your initial goal is to find out who you are, but obviously as the game goes on, things get a little bit more complicated than just an identity crisis.
Exploring locations from the TV show is awesome, if you're a fan.
The game is broken up into several episodes, each of which designed similarly to the show itself. With the exception of the first one, each episode begins with the usual 'Previously on Lost' that we've become accustomed to over the years. The episode then starts with an interesting moment, let's say the plane crash, before the big floating title of the show comes towards you. Throughout the episode, you'll discover some surprising things about yourself and the other characters via flashbacks, run through the jungle, make a discovery of some sort and then be treated to a 'twist', which will end the episode. While it may be linear by design, as a Lost fan, it's quite fun participating in these interactive episodes, especially considering the storyline here has been plotted out by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, the executive producers of the show.
Over the course of the seven episodes included in Lost, players will recognise a variety of scenes and important plot-lines from the first two seasons of the TV show, although only in very brief detail. On one hand, it's smart of the developers to not spend too much time on points in the narrative that fans of the show will most definitely already be aware of, but in doing so they have almost completely alienated all of the other gamers out there. While the storyline of the main character is interesting and doesn't require previous knowledge of the Lost universe, everything island-based will make almost no sense to non-fans. Nevertheless, without giving it away, the storyline here for your character is good, and would fit very nicely into an episode of the actual show.
Throughout the game, you'll be given many 'quests' to complete, which all usually revolve around discovering new parts of the island and trying to discover your past via a series of flashbacks. In each flashback, you'll take the role of your character from behind a digital camera, and a scene of some sort will play out in front of you. It's then your job to take a photo of a specific moment in the scene that will help jog your memory. Before the flashback begins to play out, you're shown a torn up version of the photo that you're supposed to take, and if you miss the opportunity, the scene will rewind in front of you repeatedly until you get the photo right. You'll need to zoom in with the camera so that everything is framed correctly and also keep the shot in focus before the game will deem your photo as 'correct', which then triggers a cut-scene to help you remember who you are. While it may be a nice idea, it really isn't an effective game mechanic and it's not very exciting, even though it may be a little more interesting than just watching a cut-scene play out with no interaction.
Cave exploration. Not as fun as it should be.
Once you find your camera on the island, you'll be able to take pictures of whatever you like, but there is no real gain in doing this apart from a few key objects which unlock extras and earn you achievements. The meat of the game (if you can call it that) is exploration of the island, and it's handled in a fairly simplistic way. When heading into the jungle, you will notice some tree markings that have been left for you or some flags that you're supposed to follow. By pressing A at each marker, your character will line himself up with the next marker, which leaves these scenes feeling extremely linear. If you don't follow the set path from marker to marker, you'll get lost in the jungle and feel very frustrated.
The same can be said for the cave segments of the game, where you're left on your own in there, and are forced to simply find your way out the other side. It can get confusing, especially considering you'll have to keep a torch or other light source lit the whole time at the risk of being killed by some unknown thing dwelling in the cave. Torches don't have much of a lifespan, and if bats come flying at you or you move underneath some dripping water, they'll go out, leaving you in the dark and forced to relight them again quickly before you get killed. Again, it all feels very linear, and you'll find yourself just running from tunnel to tunnel in desperation, trying to get to the end of it. The intention was probably meant to be to build suspense, but the scenes are more annoying than anything else.
The other major gameplay element in Lost comes from talking to the other survivors. By getting more information from them about the island, and about yourself, you'll be able to further the narrative and get them to help you in certain scenes. While there are plenty of options you can use to 'talk' to the survivors, only one character will usually help you further your position in the game, while the others are there for a fairly basic and uninteresting chit-chat. You can also trade things found on the island for other items, but this isn't ever a necessity unless you run out of torches. The other part of the gameplay is all puzzle based, involving annoying fuse-box puzzles that seem to never end and other location-specific elements you'll have to work out. In terms of gameplay, that's about it. Running around, taking photos, talking to others and doing the odd puzzle. The whole experience probably won't take you longer than five hours as well, which is just the icing on a disappointingly average cake.
Nice gun. Shame you'll only rarely get to actually use it.
One of the highlights of Lost is the graphics, or more specifically, the art style. Everything about the island has been taken directly from the TV show, including the beach filled with survivors trying to make a home for themselves, the massive jungle, the inside of the hatches you'll explore and more. As a Lost fan, it's hard not to get excited about visiting the Black Rock and the lighting effects usually look impressive. Animations, however, aren't as impressive. Characters look strange when they're talking to you, and some of the facial animations just look completely wrong. While there is definitely a likeness for the characters, they move awkwardly and it makes everything feel unnatural, which is disappointing. Voice-overs also miss the mark. While some cast members like Emilie de Ravin and Michael Emerson provide their voices for the game, most other characters are done by different actors, and so Locke, Sawyer, Kate and Jack (among others) sound strange by comparison. The music however is spot on, and is composed by Michael Giacchino who provides the music for the TV show as well, which gives the product an authentic feel that we wish was present with the voice acting.
Lost provides us with an interesting predicament. While the storyline and art direction is quite strong, the gameplay is linear and repetitive at best, which makes the title nearly impossible to recommend to anybody who isn't a fan of the TV series. Even though having a chat with Hurley and enjoying all of the little easter eggs sprinkled throughout the experience just for fans did make us quite giddy at specific moments, the frustrating puzzles and lack of innovative game design left a bad taste in our mouths. Lost fans should definitely give it a play-through, as the story is interesting and the final twist raises some interesting questions about the island itself, but everybody else should steer clear.
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