With all the buzz surrounding Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, I was hesitant to believe that it was “that good.” I’m pleased to say that I actually found it to live up to the hype and then some. As a Capcom fan and a mech game aficionado, Lost Planet strikes all the right chords for me. While there are some rough spots here and there, and beating it clocks in around 8 hours, the eye candy and constant action are well worth it for gamers looking for their action game fix.
Starting from the first cut scene image, Capcom delivers a fantastic looking game. The intro explains the human races colonization of the harsh cold environment of E.D.N. III and is ratcheted up a notch with bone crunching action of a squad that takes on the main foes of the game, the insectoid Akrid. The intro scene does a good job of setting up troop based action and the need for the mechs, or Vital Suits (VS) as they are called in the game. The game drops the player right into the thick of it, moving seamlessly from cut scene to gameplay.
As the colonist Wayne, son of a troop leader and VS pilot, you begin in a cold forbidding hanger bay and start to make your way out along with your troops. Gamers familiar with third person shooters should have no problem picking up the controls. While the aiming controls are a little slower than those seen in Gears of War, the third person feel is similar. However, that is where many of the similarities end. Wayne’s grappling hook for example, adds some neat abilities to the gameplay experience, allowing the players to attach to walls and pull up onto ledges, even pulling closer to enemies to get some extra hits in. However, while playing with the grappling hook, it did make me wish that they had taken it and made it more like one of my favorite Capcom games Bionic Commando. A longer hook that allowed for free swinging and shooting action would have been even cooler. (Psstt! Capcom, if you are listening, a Bionic Commando game is definitely something that would rock!). Weapon collectibles are highlighted with bright surround elements to help them stand out from the backgrounds. This is often very helpful, but it does make them seem more like “power ups” and detracts from the realism a bit. Spotting a slightly hidden weapon because of the bright surround and being able to dig it up out of the snow is a nice touch though.
The intro level provides a short tutorial of sorts, with a sampling of troop combat, grappling hook action, VS suit piloting, and an intro to the data posts that can be activated to reveal a map, guide the player forward, and recharge thermal energy. These data posts are key to later sections of the game where they are placed in advantageous spots when players are likely to have low thermal energy readings. The intro level also teaches the player about when to run and when to fight, as shown by the huge seemingly invincible Akrid, the Green Eye. After a battle with the Green Eye, Wayne wakes up with some memory loss and agrees to join the NEVEC group who has nursed him back to health. From here the game thrusts the player into the cold wasteland of E.D.N. III full of stark blue and grey ruins of human colonies and the alien organic Akrid hives.
To keep the action going, the player is forced to kill enemies so that they release thermal energy (called T-ENG) in the form of bright blobs of red/orange collectibles. This energy keeps Wayne going, and is integral to survival in the harsh snowy landscape. Gameplay-wise it acts as a timer to keep the player moving from one section to the other, looking for new enemies, and it also bolsters the player’s health meter. When a player gets hit, the thermal energy meter counts down at a rapid rate first, then the health bar begins to deplete. Take too many hits with no thermal energy, or spend too much time out in the cold, and you will be staring at the “Mission Failed” screen once again. The game places an emphasis on following your squad mates and not rushing into battle early on. Rushing into a fight, especially early on in the game, will result in Mission Failed more often than not.
The atmospheric effects and realistic environments in Lost Planet are other areas where the game really shines. Drifting snow and ice are prevalent in the outside scenes, and add to the realism and challenge by occasionally obscuring visibility. The stark grey interiors and tech of the human settlements are a definite contrast to the Akrid hives. The hives are full of dark stone passageways highlighted by vibrant colors and effects that dot the walls. The Akrid also show off glowing bodyparts that make them great targets as well as interesting visual elements throughout the hive. Explosions are usually huge and impressive, and are some of the best I’ve seen in console gaming. Since exploding barrels by shooting them and throwing grenades are tactics that are used a lot in the game, the fantastic pyrotechnics are common, but never seem to get old.
There is a lot to destroy in Lost Planet, and the developers have packed in more than enough ammo to make it worthwhile to blow up everything. Rocket trails are bold, bright, and smoky, and all the explosions kick up grey smoke and tons of snow when rockets explode outside. One of the downsides of this amazing eye candy is that it often obscures the view at critical moments in combat, giving the enemies a tactical advantage. However, the fact that the screen is constantly filled with particles and effects, with no slowdown is very impressive. Even when the objectives screen overlay is called up along with the fantastic particle effects, there is no noticeable slowdown. There are also some really neat freezing effects when the Akrid lose their thermal after death. Their crystallization allows them to be broken into pieces with a bullet or two, or by swinging away with the butt of your gun.
The story is perhaps the weakest element in Lost Planet, with some out-of-nowhere twists and some occasionally sub-par voice acting. Although more coherent than some games originating from Japan, Lost Planet moves from a straightforward survival and revenge story and into the land of strange plot twists later in the game. Of course, with all the action, adventure, and mayhem that the game packs in, it is easy to forgive a less than stellar plot. It would have been nice to have a story that holds up to the quality of the rest of the game’s amazing visuals and action.
Replayability is fairly high for those looking to get all the achievements in the game. There is even a sort of treasure hunt aspect to getting the achievements as players must find and shoot coin-like target marks hidden in various nooks and crannies in each level. Once a level is completed, the number of target marks collected is displayed, giving completists a way to gauge how well they did. With the T-ENG gauge always counting down, it may be hard to get every target mark throughout the game, especially since they are located in different places depending on the level of difficulty chosen when starting the game. Casual players may not seize the opportunity, as getting every target mark the game offers is a feat for only the most hardcore achievement hunters.
If you’re still holding out on getting Lost Planet, you are really missing some great action gaming. If games like this are what we can expect from Capcom on the 360, things are looking really good for XBOX owners. This is the shooter that really turned me into a 360 convert. The impressive visuals, mech combat action, and cool style of the game had me really craving more. Luckily there is an array of online play options via XBOX Live (of which I barely scratched the surface) and a healthy array of achievements for the hardcore gamer. Trudging through snow and ice has never been more action packed, and destroying bugs never so intense. Lost Planet remains a satisfying challenge, despite its short play time. To all the action gamers out there who haven’t played Lost Planet yet, suit up in your mechs and bring your long johns to fight off the cold until the action heats up, Lost Planet is a game that delivers!
