Lost Planet: Extreme Condition

Review from Oracle - Wednesday, 31 January 2007 @ 12:00am

One of the reasons the Xbox 360 is successful today is the brand new exclusive titles which will predictably open up a great series. One great example is Gears of War. It was announced recently that it has sold up to 3 million copies world wide since its launch in November and has created a solid and hyperactive fan base. Lost Planet is one of those games, being exclusive to the 360 and with some of the best action gamers can enjoy. That clearly makes this game an instant winner but unfortunately delivers a few let downs with it.

You play as Wayne, a typical heroic sci-fi guy who watches his father die during a battle with a giant slug known as the Green Eye. After the battle, Wayne loses his memory and wakes up to the people who rescued him. He sets out his journey to find his father’s killer, recover his past and to save the planet known as E.D.N III from the evil corporation, NEVAC, who plan to wipe the Akrid off the face of the planet. Akrid are those huge, orange glowing enemies you’ve probably seen in the screenshots. They are nasty critters but I’ll explain that later.

---

Note the wording ‘Extreme Condition’ in the title? E.D.N III is a frozen planet with constant blizzards and huge ice storms, making it hard for humans to survive on. So because of the ungodly weather, all humans must be equipped with a thermal gatherer to help them survive. You must fuel your TG by collecting the heat after killing Akrid, Snow Pirates or even NEVAC soldiers. Every second your TG is dropping, once it runs out you must rely on your health and once that has depleted.. you’re a frosty snowman. As tricky as it sounds , the system balances out very well. The harder and bigger the enemies the more heat you collect.

After living on the planet for a while, the humans came up with a very useful machine to help fight off the Akrid - Vital Suits (VS). VS are much like mechs. Players climb into them and can operate these machine with fluent control. You’re able to equip up to two different weapons to your VS by walking up to a weapon lying on the ground and pressing B. The weapons are very cool, you can equip gattling guns, rocket launches, laser turrets, grenade launches, EP laser turrets (stronger than standard laser), a massive shotgun, the list goes on. Now VSs come in different mobility and sizes too, you can get ones that walk, jump, hover, high jump, 2 legged VS, 8 legged VS, .. you can also get ones that transform into a snow bike or a drilling machine to blast your way through rubble.

Now don’t think you’re left with nothing in your hands while on foot. You can collect up to 20 weapons which involve rocket blasting, plasma shooting, auto rifles, and snip..er..ing. You can also collect hand grenades, plasma grenades, gum mine and my absolute favourite, a disc grenade which can be thrown like a Frisbee and attach itself to anything.. VS, soldiers, crates, etc. Wayne also comes equipped with a grappling hook to help get him up to high places. Much like the clawshot from Legend of Zelda, you’re unable to use this item while falling in the air, which is a huge let down in multiplayer. Once again the controls of the character while on foot works and feels well, some may prefer to speed up the aiming which you can adjust under options.

---

The gameplay of Lost Planet is unreal, you are constantly being bombarded with tons of enemies. There’s nothing sweeter than strapping yourself in a VS and preparing yourself for a rush of Akrid or an army of VSs. The action is just always there, which is where this game stands out. You’d be walking along a narrow path covered in snow and out would jump this massive 6 legged Akrid, smashing all in its path, just take aim of the fuel tanks next to his legs and watch the fireworks baby. There are many breeds of Akrid that want you dead, you’ll see tiny skeleton-like ones that will attack you in large numbers, 4 legged crab-like Akrid which will attack you by vomiting poison onto you and massive 6 legged ones that can easily be taken down by VSs. Each mission will throw different Akrid at you, so expect the unexpected.

There are 12 short missions in the game and at the beginning and ending of each you will be shown a cinematic scene of the characters and story progressing. The cinematic scenes are gorgeous, crisp and clear visuals with talented voice actors. The only downside to the cinematic clips is the slight pause when the characters are talking to each other.. the game must be loading, or something. Speaking about loading, there is practically none for loading the missions. Capcom have once again mastered the hidden loading screens throwing the player into the game as soon as possible.

Also, at the end of each mission is a giant boss just waiting for your flesh to turn up. These boss battles are just out of this world, they are massively huge! You’ll be face to face with a giant spider Akrid, or a moth the size of a rocket ship, and a VS that dwarves you completely. The boss battles are just incredibly fun. I’ve never experienced this kind of enjoyment in a very long time, since Resident Evil 4. Prepare to die a few times too, these giant planet roaming creatures are looking for some serious action and they won’t let you claim the cake that easily.

---

Notice how I said 12 short missions before, this game will last no one any longer than 10 hours. It is a shame that Lost Planet couldn’t be rocking for 10 more but I guess the game would then begin to drag. But funny enough, even though the game took me 7 hours to complete, it did feel epic. I’m not sure if it was the boss battles or the winding paths up a mountain but overall I feel very impressed with the game and to top it off the game comes equipped with some very entertaining online modes.

The online mode will grab 16 players and give you the option of Death Match, Team Death Match or Hunter. Death match is a free for all brawl, it can get very nasty very fast so be careful where you walk. Team death match will split the 16 players into 4 teams, this was ultimately my favourite mode where only a limited of you are given VSs to battle it out on. And hunter is the typical ‘He’s the one! Let’s all go for him! Yarrrrrgh!’ mode.

Summary

Lost Planet is a fast paced, constant action, beautiful looking and quite simply the best third person action shooter to experience on your 360 today. The single player will be enjoyable while it lasts but it’s a good thing this game came with some entertaining online modes. I strongly recommend this game to players who enjoyed Resident Evil 4, the Mech Warrior series, or who will find aiming and shooting at massive and fearless targets pleasurable. Capcom, please release a Lost Planet 2!

Pros

Huge boss battles, large arenas, lengthy missions, fantastic cinematic clips, great voice acting, the save system works flawlessly, no loading screens, awesome multiplayer modes to enjoy (until the next big thing comes out), 17 VS’s to tear it up and 20 weapons to select from.

Cons

Single player is over within 10 hours, slight pauses during cinematic scenes, there’s no latency metre in online server selection, online could have used more modes.