Title: Lost Planet: Extreme Condition
Genre: Action/Shooter
Platform: Xbox 360
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Release Date: 12th January 2007
Image Gallery
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition is the story of a war lost in time and space, fought on alien worlds and with the only goal to gain power. This time, the power is represented by a source of energy and the set is a far away planet, completely submerged by snow and where colonizing humans and native aliens will contend the precious resource.
Our story is that of a man, Wayne (interpreted by the South-Korean actor Lee Byung-Hun), unaware of what the fate has put aside him... Are you ready to start fighting?
The story: that far away planet...
Lost Planet story develops on two parallel lines: on the one hand there is the epic element, with 2 different arrays - humans and Akrids -, while on the other there is the individual story of the game main character, Wayne Holden, who has lost his memories after having been rescued by a group of snow pirates (Yuri, Luka and Rick). The only thing he can remember, except for his name, is that his father has been killed by a giant Akrid called "The Green Eye".
There is no need to say that, going on with the game, those two lines will cross each other while approaching the gorgeous ending. The game is divided into chapters - or missions - linked by cut-scenes that are in charge of telling us Wayne's and his friends' stories.
However, even if this narrative technique has some points in common with the one of Metal Gear Solid, this is also, in our opinion, the reason why the gamer won't be able to give himself up completely to the game: every cut-scene seems maybe too rigid and too linked to the beginning of the next mission.
The game-play: the highlight...
Lost Planet is a third-person-shooter (TPS) structured in missions. There are a total of 11 chapters and at the end of everyone there will be the classic boss-fight: everything make us remember of some beautiful old games such as Bionic Commando.
The main character will have to fight dozens, hundreds of enemies ready to kill him. You won't find riddles to solve, but there are so many explosions, shootings and battles that we won't feel the need for anything else. Capcom has surely taken inspiration from several other games, but has also certainly put in the title its own style.
The game screen has 5 main elements: in its up-left part we can find the life bar and the EN-T bar (Thermal ENergy). This latter element is extremely important because when hit, the life bar will be re-filled by the EN-T one, at least as long as some thermal energy is available. Thus, it can be easily said that thermal energy is the most important thing in Lost Planet: it will give us the possibility to restore our health, survive to frozen areas and activate / use Vital Suits (or even weapons).
Fortunately the EN-T is very easy to re-fill: we will be able to do it both defeating enemies / destroying structures (EN-T orange spheres will appear on screen) and activating PADs present on the map.
Going back to the game HUD, the radar is positioned in the right part of it, while the screen bottom line will give us info on our right and left trigger weapons. The fifth and last thing we'll see on our panels is the foresight which will become green when pointing an area accessible with the hook and red when aiming to an enemy.
Some one has criticised the choice to use FPS commands in a game based on the TPS mechanics. On the contrary, we're pretty enthusiastic of the way the Wayne moves in the adventure, limiting our only critic to the weapon zoom assigned to the D-pad: not really intuitive!
One of the most interesting aspects of the game is the possibility to use Vital Suits (VS). As already written, VSs are mechs and their presence remembers us of games as Zone of the Enders, Phantom Crash, Gundam or ChromeHounds. However, the only important thing is that Lost Planet is worth a full mark when coming to mechs because there are almost 20 different of them and every VS has its own features and commands.
Furthermore, in Lost Planet the weaponry at our disposal is really various; in fact, we can use both "guns" and grenades, among which there are also disk grenades, able to fly toward the whole map exploding only after having hit a target. Hence, Lost Planet can be considered a complete modern shooter and, even if our thoughts go immediately to Gears of War, the game is, as we've already seen, extremely different from Epic Game's masterpiece.
The game longevity is discrete as we've been able to see the "The End" screen in about 12 hours (comprehending also the time spent re-playing failed missions). However, once you've completed the game, the "impossible" difficulty will be unlocked and you'll have at least one reason to re-play the title: show the CPU you're the best!
Unfortunately, the game has also several defects that mostly affect AI and saves. While Akrids are reasonable in their "un-intelligent" way to attack, humans are really annoying: we'll find them almost always still in their position, without cover and waiting to be killed. As said, also game saves can be frustrating as it is based on checkpoints and they are not frequent: fortunately, there is always one just before a boss-fight.
Graphics: an incredible game
It's easy to comment the graphic aspect of a game like Lost Planet. Everything can be summarised in a lonely word: superb.
The first thing worth mentioning is the variety and size of sets. Just to provide an example, try to give a look to the ruined city, to Akrids' caves or, better, try remaining indifferent to the dozens of on screen enemies during the last chapters battles. Lost Planet is a top-notch title from the visual point of view.
Besides sets, also graphic effects are well-realised elements. Explosions, lights, blurring and reflections completely fill the title and are realised with passion and devotion. Moreover, the overall effect is guaranteed by the absence of aliasing, high-quality textures and a stable frame-rate (30fps).
The technical realisation of characters is excellent and you'll always have the feeling of viewing a CG video; on the contrary, enemies are not so well-rendered and, except for the bosses, there is not a great variety of them and their design is not really original.
The Sound: good, even if not excellent
The game supports Dolby Digital and who can take advantage from it will definitely enjoy the title much more. The symphonic music is able to emphasise in the right way the right situations but, differently from a Metal Gear Solid or a Silent Hill soundtrack, it won't be able to "enter into our hearts".
Sound effects are good, even if not excellent. Character dubbing is always in English, but there are subtitles that will help non-native speakers.
Xbox Live: a never-ending war
Lost Planet on Xbox Live is amusing. Very amusing. Clearly, it has some defects but, generally speaking, it's...amusing.
There are 4 on-line modes: "Elimination" (the classic death-match), "Team Elimination" (the classic team death-match), "Post Grab" (a "territory" mode) and "Fox Hunt" (where a gamer has to escape and all the others have to kill him).
Fortunately there are several maps (8 in the standard edition, 9 in the collectors' one) and they all are complex, big and graphically appealing with a graphical level comparable to the single-player sets. Among them there is a map worth mentioning, "Purple River", which is so beautiful and "different" that it's one of the most played.
Eventually, the almost complete absence of lag and a multi-player up to 16 players (probably 32 in the near future) makes Lost Planet online modes a real "must" for every LIVE "lover".
Final Comment
Just, buy it! The game is amusing, technically perfect, style-driven and with a good and immediate game-play. Have you ever dreamt of a mech-game with such features? Well, maybe it's time for you to start the journey to Lost Planet...
Evaluation
Presentation: 7
Good intro. Clear and simple menus. The Limited Edition version is cool.
Game-play: 8.5
Amusing. There are no real defects, maybe it only lacks innovation.
Graphics: 9
Simply astonishing! You'll remain with your mouth open looking at Lost Planet snow fields and caves.
Sound: 8
Sounds are well realised and the soundtrack fits the title epic theme.
Longevity: 8
The single-player adventure will last in about 12 hours, but you'll be able to enjoy the title "ad libitum" with the online modes.
Multiplayer factor: 8.5
Excellent. The lobby is well realised, maps are huge, weapons are various and VSs are amusing to use!
Overall Evaluation: 8
Capcom brings to Xbox 360 an excellent, enjoyable and long game. It's not a masterpiece, but it's perfectly able to do its job: keep you glued to the screen. Recommended!