QJ.net Reviews Lost Planet Extreme Condition

The long-awaited game, Lost Planet, has finally hit the shelves all over the planet, but is this long-anticipated game all that it’s been hyped up to be? After having a downloadable demo after E3 last year, many Xbox 360 owners fell in love with the game (especially the grappling hook), and many have been awaiting its arrival for several months now. Lost Planet is a wonderfully crafted game, but – like all other games – has mild annoyances that are enough to drive a sane person crazy within seconds.

As Gears of War still remains number 1 on Xbox Live, can Lost Planet take its spot in this bragging-right list? That question is all up to you people to decide as the holiday season dies down and we enter the period of “ok” games. Will Lost Planet fulfill what all the hype has given it, or will it fail miserably?

Take a look at the entire review after the jump!

The long-awaited game, Lost Planet, has finally hit the shelves all over the planet, but is this long-anticipated game all that it’s been hyped up to be? After having a downloadable demo after E3 last year, many Xbox 360 owners fell in love with the game (especially the grappling hook), and many have been awaiting its arrival for several months now. Lost Planet is a wonderfully crafted game, but – like all other games – has mild annoyances that are enough to drive a sane person crazy within seconds.

As Gears of War still remains number 1 on Xbox Live, can Lost Planet take its spot in this bragging-right list? That question is all up to you people to decide as the holiday season dies down and we enter the period of “ok” games. Will Lost Planet fulfill what all the hype has given it, or will it fail miserably? Take a look at the entire review below.

Lost Planet Extreme Condition Review

Following in the footsteps of one of 360’s universally-acclaimed great game, Gears of War, Lost Planet has some big shoes to fill – snow shoes to be accurate. There will be plenty more games attempting to fulfill this monstrous task this year, one of which will be none other than the most-anticipated next generation game, Halo 3. Emerging after the holiday season, Capcom is taking a rather large risk with the game; however it’s in perfect timing as January is usually void of consumer-worthy video games.

As the world experiences issues of global warming, and even a lack of “good” games, Lost Planet drags you into one of the coldest environments one could think of: a newly discovered Planet named E.D.N. III. As humans attempt to inhabit this new planet, they’re greeted by local “aliens“, bug-like creatures known as the Akrid.

With the human’s puny weapons standing no chance (think “Starship Troopers”), they form a defensive weapon known as VS’s (Vital Suits) against these creatures. However, most of the humans have abandoned the planet due to their fear of these aliens, leaving a small denomination left to fight for their very own survival.

Those who remained on the planet have taken on the title of “Snow Pirates”, of which you, the main protagonist Wayne, are associated with. As your father is killed by a giant Akrid known as “Green Eye”, you are discovered in a coma in your VS. A group takes you in, and you end up having your adventures with the group. Eventually, you, along with your partners in crime Luka and Rikki (others come and go), attempt to get rid of the Akrid that took your father’s life. The story advances after each level, and the end’s both a sad and happy one.

The game revolves around massive open environments of snowy hills, indoor structures, and underground Akrid havens. In these massive environments, the game maintains a linear direction well, and with few places to hide, it’s either kill or be killed. The snow, when stepped on, is “half-done” with just identical clumps of snow appearing at your feet. It’s important to take note that when you and other characters in the game step on the snow, no footprints are shown. With an entire game focused on snowy environments, I was expecting some nice environmental interaction, but that was not delivered here.

The music of the game is generally drained out by the massive gun battles and explosions – of which, even when heard, seemed to be the same music all the time. However, you’ll be too blind to notice these small details as you throw a simple hand grenade, and produce the best explosions man has ever witnessed in a video game (blinding and deafening)!

The graphics are no shortcoming of this game either, even with a few details (snow) being repeated. It may not be noticeably brilliant due to the camera angles, but they are indeed stunning. The Akrid are just as extraordinary with their gigantic size and varying physical qualities; all rendered seamlessly by the Xbox 360.

Better find a weak spot, or you’ll get squashed!

These “varying” physical qualities of the Akrid allow for different tactics to be used against each as their weak points change with each creature. However, they maintain the same concept: hit the big red spot!

The Akrid drop something known as Thermal Energy, the precious energy that snow pirates rely on. This thermal energy is needed in order for you to survive on this planet due to a special gift you have. This “gift” of yours can either save you or kill you. If you do not have enough of this T-Eng, you will die within seconds. If you have zero T-Eng, your life meter slowly drains and you’ll be unable to power a Vital Suit; which makes it extremely vital that you stay up on your T-Eng kids!

This is where the game gets different than other standard shooters as you attempt to find the best way to defeat individual enemies, sometimes allowing for two or three options to kill the enemy; all of which are more or less effective for different situations. Grapple the enemy, blow them up, or shoot their weak spot – all nice options to kill your average Akrid. Akrid are not the only “things” you fight as you fight against VS’s and even snow pirates as well (a single man against an entire planet).

The numerous methods of killing enemies are effectively achieved by a responsive control system delivered by the Xbox 360’s controller and Capcom’s use of it. Capcom even added a rare (something I have never seen before) button action that turns the camera 90 degrees one way or the other, depending on which trigger you press. This comes extremely handy when you have to turn around quickly to assault a pursuing enemy. However, the use of all the buttons on the controller can come to bite you back as you attempt to perform one action but it finds another action to perform.

The game is plagued by mistakes caused by these controls that could easily swipe your life from underneath you. The zoom button for a sniper rifle is the same as the standard zoom for the camera. As you switch out of the zoomed mode for the sniper rifle, you are greeted with a semi-first person view of the world. This slightly slows down the game, and in some vital situations can cost you your life. Removing a VS’s weapon instead of getting in it, or even getting out instead of picking up a weapon (all controlled by same button) plague the game, which can be frustrating to the player.

Even more frustrating is the blinding smoke that renders you incapable of seeing an enemy for several seconds before the smoke disperses, but in that time you are being constantly pounded by gunfire (usually VS gunfire in these situations). The save system is just as bad, only “saving” if you quit the game and no simple restart from last checkpoint command. If you want to restart, you’ll have to do the entire level over up to the point where you either got stuck or made a bad move.

Big worm vs an average VS, who will win?

Even with these frustrating game concepts, the single player still succeeds in keeping your interest from one point to the next. Even with a slow walk speed, there is something always awaiting you in the next area. Sometimes there are even several VS’s just walking around as you walk on foot while you hope not to get squashed or seen.

The boss battles are where this game shows its true light, of which are reminiscent of Metroid Prime boss battles. As you attack the weak points of the boss, there are several different strategies and weapons you can use to combat it; each of which are fairly effective and comes down to the gamers’ personal opinion.

Capcom was able to find new non-boss situations to put you in. Sadly, you are only able to use the sniper rifle a few times in the entire game (and this can also be said about many other weapons). You’ll mainly find yourself shooting down snow pirates or other human enemies with the machine gun that ages quickly, making you wish you had other more powerful weapons at your disposal. With a little under nine hours of single player experience, you’ll be getting an average FPS game length.

In multiplayer, the action is less intense as you struggle to get across the map to the action or to return fire to an enemy who saw you first. The slowness of the game adjusts with each level, some of which even have several mechs for all players to ride in. The multiplayer modes vary from a simple deathmatch to some tactical data-post objectives. There’s plenty to do online to keep you over until the next “big” game or game beta (Halo 3 anyone?).

A heated online match in a tight space

Compared to the demo shown at E3 last year (and the downloadable demo on Xbox Live Marketplace), Lost Planet has changed a lot. It has been greatly improved over the time-span of about one year but it still seems that corners were taken and sacrifices were made. With a heroic storyline that could’ve expanded more in terms of depth or elaboration, a slow multiplayer concept and cases of wrong actions, the game still delivers what all “good” games should have – fun.

I enjoyed playing this game and am looking forward to playing through it a second time. There are still plenty of achievements for me to unlock and will be much easier now that I’ve mastered the controls!

Overall Score: 8.0

Presentation: 8 – Interesting storyline that beats many alien-based plots, but has a lack of immersion of the gamer and the main character

Gameplay: 8.5 – Action around every corner, but is plagued with small design mistakes (controls)

Graphics: 9 – Outstanding smoke effects, enemy structure and snowy environments

Sound: 7 – Repetitive background music of which is concealed by constant gun fire and explosions

Replay and Lasting Appeal: 7.5 – Single Player achievements are enough to go back for a second time and multiplayer for up to 16 players in large environments are sure to keep you busy.