Lost Planet takes place in an alternate future, where humans have abandoned an overpolluted Earth in search of a new planet for habitation. They stumble an icy, desolate but liveable planet, only to be chased away again by a mysterious and vicious alien form known as the Akrid, but not before leaving behind an number of disgruntled survivors (who eventually become Snow Pirates). They return with bigger guns and the will to harvest the vital thermal energy that the creatures hold. You and Mr. Lee are given the role of Wayne, a young man who has lost his father to one of the larger Akrid known as Green-eye and along the way you come across a rather insidious plot to “terraform” the plant and some rather shocking secrets about your past. The overall story has an anime/action feel to it and a few holes that are deepened by some disjointed cutscenes. Most of it comes together by the end of the game but not before a couple of puzzling moments and omission of details.
Houston... we're screwed
As is the case with these kinds of games, the story is merely an excuse to go and destroy things and cause havoc. Thankfully, there is plenty of action in the game through out the game’s eleven levels. For those who don’t already know, Lost Planet is a 3rd person shooter but not your run-of-the-mill shooter. Not only is it one of the tightest and polished experiences on the Xbox 360, but puts together an number of elements from other types of games to make this game unique enough to stand on it’s own. That, and you’re a one-man army up against a slew of Snow Pirates and massive insectoid aliens.
You are on an icy and desolate planet, so your character has been fitted with a device that keeps him alive. However, that device needs to constantly be filled with “Thermal Energy”. It can be attained by killing enemies and destroying fixtures. It’s a good little system because it will heal you when you’re damaged but it also needs you to be on your toes. Furthermore, it gives something of an arcadey feel to the game. Throughout the game, there are data points that give you an energy boost, as well as open up the map of the area and point to your next objective. You also have an anchor that allows you to hook onto and pull yourself towards surfaces. It’s quite useful for climbing up structures and hanging off large drops, but it’s a little short and not flexible enough to be used as an escape measure.
The core of the game lies in the action between you and the Snow Pirates, the Akrid and sometimes, both at once. You start off by invading an Akrid hive and are quickly introduced to the large and aggressive bestiary that you’ll be dealing with. Though there are some small, annoying ones, the Akrid only get bigger and meaner as you play through the game, especially the bosses. All of them have weak spots that need to be targeted, sometimes in hard to reach areas. It adds an extra dimension to the game, as you often need to have a bit of skill, precision and thought to get through these beasts. Not to be outdone, the Snow Pirates band together behind a huge artillery (to compensate for their lack of brains) and will hack away at the one-man army with everything that they have. Even though they can be a bit cheeky with their distance hits, its very satisfying to wipe through their bases.
Wayne can carry two weapons at a time and there are a standard number of big and explosive weapons at your disposal. Throughout the game, you’ll be leaving massive stages in ruin and enemies in your wake. Still, there is method behind the madness, as the explosions aren’t always as encompassing or damaging as you’d like, so you need to be accurate. The best addition to the game is that of the mech units known as the Vital Suits (VS). There are a great variety of these mountable robots, ranging from walking gattling-gun totters, to transforming speeders and spider/tank units. Once you’re out of ammo, you can pick up more weapons on the go. Not only are they durable and great for taking down enemy VS and large akrid, the controls are sublime in their execution, making movement and long battles a pleasure, where other games would have made it a chore.
Use everything at your disposal to destroy every frickin' thing that moves!
Even though it is somewhat obvious that there are going to moments where you are walking through nothingness, simply because of the landscape, it is good to see that the developers have actually sat down and though about the design of their landscapes. The battles with the Snow Pirates in particular, have a number of handy features to help give you the upper hand. The boss battles are massive and epic, which helps make them satisfying. The game controls a little differently than most other 3rd person shooters and there are a number of little intricacies that will be discovered as you play but for the most part, they’re intuitive, solid and easy enough to learn. We still would have liked a dodge or roll button though.
Apart from our minor disappointments, there are two things that stand out in the game for the wrong reasons. For the most part, the game is at a fair difficulty but there are a handful of occasions where you will be thrown around like a rag-doll by explosions, unable to move around or get to cover and on top of that, you’ll be hit while you’re on the ground. This leads to some cheap deaths and hard parts but these can be sometimes attributed to poor execution. Also, the single player is VERY short. There are eleven, reasonably sized levels but our game clocked in at six hours. That’s including restarts from checkpoints – and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Even though previous Capcom efforts have been good with unlockables, it seems that most of that effort has been put into making the achievements. Still, for those achievement hunters, there are two in particular that relate to two of the biggest, meanest optional bosses that you’ll ever come across. They make some of the colossi from Shadow of the Colossus look unimpressive and are hard as heck to defeat.
In the substantial multiplayer mode you can play with up to sixteen players over Xbox Live over several different Icy and indoor maps and four modes. The game has very limited customization options but a few are unlocked as you play and there is the chance to “level-up” but neither feature is as detailed as a game like Rainbow Six Vegas. 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”.
Lost Planet is more action than tactics, so while the multiplayer isn’t revelation or any better than other Live offerings, its still enjoyable and somewhat unique. It’s not hectic action thanks to large maps but you still need to be sharp. It helps that a lot of the good aspects of the single player have come through, in particular the controls and a level of design that make up for the other deficiencies. The level design makes for a lot of minor intricacies and secret places for variety. Unfortunately a few aspects, such as the anchor are relegated to almost being redundant and close combat can be less effective than ranged. It can be annoying when you're hit and you have no idea where i came from though. Technically, the multiplayer is rock-solid, even if we experienced some minor lag but we attributed it to the fact that we were playing off foreign servers. Again, while not as substantial as other offerings, the multiplayer here is unique and enjoyable enough to warrant a look in.
Multiplayer can bring up some very curly situations
Graphically, it is a little difficult at the start to distinguish this game. However, as you play you’ll find that the game is full of vivid details and effects that elevate it to great levels. The smoke effects are some of the best that we’ve seen, the explosions need to be seen to be believed, almost anything can be destroyed and its particularly endearing to see how the fog will sometimes affect the multiplayer proceedings. On top of that, when you’re not looking at snow or rocks, you’re looking at incredibly detailed fixtures. The animations and details of the Akrid are unsurpassed and the VS are the most superbly detailed and fluidly animated mechs ever created in a game. Not to mention, the game has an excellent art direction. A few little things don’t always fit and once you get past the fact that there is a lot of snow covering most things, you’ll see a brilliant looking game.
Sound-wise, the effects of the Akrid, the VS, the weaponry and the explosions is 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. These big moments come off as attempting to relive moments that you had in Shadow of the Colossus but it doesn’t really compare. The music isn’t bad, it’s been put too far into the background.
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition is an intense and enjoyable shooter from the reliable Capcom stables. The single player, while a little too short by modern standards is an absolute blast. The multiplayer is a little different, fun and likely to be popular until the next big Live game is released. In particular, the VS are some of the best additions as they don’t hinder the game, they make it better. A few things didn’t come through and a few little aspects are disappointing but overall, the good far outweighs the bad. All Xbox 360 owners ought to check this out, at the least as a rent. Unlike with other consoles, this is one game that is worth playing during this dead period.
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And the review actually says it's good...I don't know where you got 'rubbish' from? Ah well each to their own....I know i'll be having an absolute blast!
(apart from RE4)
But like you said, I can definately see you loving Lost Planet.
Lost Planet better not be like that or I'll cry.
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