Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions - 8/10
Capcom have always been known for the top quality action adventure/survival horror titles. They have birthed some class titles over the last few years, such as ever growing franchises such as Onimusha, Resident Evil and Devil May Cry, they are on a role this gen as well it seems with the big impact releases of Dead Rising and the recent brilliant Devil May Cry 4. Having a gander at Capcoms release schedule also makes one lick the lips somewhat with games such as Dead Rising 2, Onimusha 5 and Resident Evil 5 all still yet to come. Capcoms current success run has continued to an extent, with the release of Lost Planet. This snow covered, alien infested blaster first appeared on the Xbox 360 early last year, and did very well in the sales ratio. So a port from Capcom was a pretty good idea considering the game was a pretty solid fare in its own right.
The storyline is a fairly straightforward affair, you probably wont even care about the plot while splattering the green blood of giant insects all over the snowy vistas or causing avalanches with your rocket launcher equipped walking mech! You play the role of Wayne, a young snow pirate suffering from amnesia, whose found himself on the snow filled planet known as E.D.N.III which is a human colony struggling to stay alive as one as the planet is overtaken by the Akrid, a fancy name for a species of giant insects *no giant enemy crabs in this one however* Like i mentioned earlier, the story is nothing special and nothing we havent really heard before, but when were the guys at Capcom ever good story tellers? and when did it matter? It hardly mattered in a game like Devil May Cry 4 thats for sure.
Most action titles delivered by Capcom usually give the player a set path to run through, like Onimusha and Devil May Cry, Lost Planet on the other hand allows optional ways of approach, you can take the standard, somewhat boring on-foot approach through missions or you can jump yourself inside the metallic clutches of VS suit, which is pretty much a walking mech robot capable of putting enemies to bed with its plethora of arsenal options from bullet peppering chainguns to snow melting lasers to avalanche hungry grenade shells. The greatest part of being inside a VS suit is obviously the arsenal you have avaialble to you as well as increase in health when you're controlling one of these ice melting death mobiles, the freezing cold ice storms and blanketing blizzard wont be a bother when you're making the planet your own in one of these bipedal beasties, they're great fun to man-handle as you trudge through the snowy dunes looking for a purpose to kill. And if you dont like the heat you're packing, you can also customise your mech with gattling guns, homing lasers, shotguns and so on, so the action always feels fresh.
Then there is the lesser exciting approach, when you're not causing mech mayhem havok in the vistas, you're on foot, assault rifle in hand, relying too much on shooting those distant explosive barrels to kill off your enemies. The grappling hook becomes your best compainion to swing over large crevices, or to climb massive mountains, leap frog between cliff faces, icey caves and so on. So fun wise is at a big disadvantage when on-foot, when you could be crushing big bad bugs with your man made mech. Another slight disadvantage to being on foot is that your health gauge will rapidly increase due to the harsh climate, Wayne will freeze to death if he doesnt kill enough Akrid and absorb there energy *think Onimusha when Samonusuke had to absorb fallen enemies orbs with his trusty arm gauntlet*, this energy is known as T-ENG *Thermal Energy* which is the key to survival and the very reason the Akrid race exists. This is a smart way of encouraging the player to eliminate every enemy on screen, as killing pretty much keeps Wayne standing and breathing, its great that Capcom have added this realism to survival, but surely there were other options to consider instead of forcing the player to start a fracas in every area and to harness every ounce of enegry dropped from a fallen Akrid.
There is not alot to boast about in the scheme of enemies, what you see is what you get, which is a race of species known as Akrid, they come in all shapes and sizes, thousands of flying centipede like creatures flock through the skies in swarms and look amazing from the distance as they circle the area and begin their cycle of death, then their is the HUGE snow worms that penetrate underground snow before bursting out of the ground like a giant catapillar, some other classic monsters include the big bulking crab/lobster like bugs that roll up into a ball and roll down the hill like an avalanche, and dont get me started on the giant wasps! Its the typical capcom trend on delivering big end level bosses into the fray which are great fun to fight against, these arent small insects that require a small can of mortein to put down, these are gigantic bugs, and they're not particularly pleased seeing humans making a mockery of there landscape. Overall though, the Akrid close could have been much better with much more variety in beasties, if RFOM could come up with some of the Chimera bosses that they did, why couldnt Lost Planet?
Visually, the game is spectacular in parts and average in parts, the characters are heavily detailed and some of the effects need to be seen to be believed, the explosions look lava hot brilliant, the blizzard storm effects, endless drops of snow all fit the ice cube, but some of the textures can look a tad sparse and dull, its almost as if capcom couldnt be bothered painting the rest of the game and were happy to just leave things in an unfinished ported state. Cityscapes and snowy vistas look sharp, clean and eye catching but are hardly anything that will be taking your breath away. Its a pretty game in parts, but far from Capcoms best, especially after playing the gorgeous looking Devil May Cry 4.
Once you have completed the campaign mode you can grab a few mates, and cause some mayhem in the multiplayer mode which can provide a few solid hours of mindless fun, deathmatch games will most likely turn into racing games as you all try and scout out the first VS suit mech to kill in. Multiplayer doesnt do enough when compared to say RFOM and Warhawk, but a game like Lost Planet certainly needed it to keep the majority interested and entertained.
Overall, Lost Planet is a fairly solid action title, it was fun to play, the switch between on foot action to mech walking was a refreshing approach as it mixed the action up abit, and visually it is a good looking game, although not mind blowing. As a port of an xbox 360 game, i feel more could have been added for this chilly frosty action title, ports can be brilliant, just look at Ninja Gaiden Sigma, so why is it that Lost Planet cant do more? Maybe a few more extra modes, some new enemies or an extra playable character, something to make it more than just a standard port of a game thats already one year old. In the end, as sad as it seems, i cant see too many gamers buying Lost Planet, there just isnt enough on offer after the campaign mode to warrant anymore fun out of it, it is definitely worth a rent for sure, but when you see the retail price of $89.00, $99,00 and in some places $110, it really isnt worth the notes, especially when you could buy two great laucnh titles like RFOM and VF5 for roughly the same price. Lost Planet is a solid game that has its moments and highlights, but there just isnt enough in this ice cold package to appeal to the masses, leaving most gamers feeling cold.
Submitted by callan5
02/03/2008
15
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