Lost Planet
© Capcom

Mania Grade: B+
Platform: X-Box 360
ESRB: T
Genre: Shooter
Players: 1-16
Online: Yes
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Suggested Retail: $59.99
Graphics: A-
Sound: A
Gameplay: B+
Replay: B-
Fun Factor: B
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5

"Lost Planet: Extreme Condition"

A world of ice awaits you in Lost Planet. Frozen in time by the galaxy, a frigid wasteland awaits all that wish to step forth onto the tundra. The world is known as E.D.N. III, and was a site hoping to be colonized by humans, though unfortunately upon arrival there were more problems than originally thought. In addition to the freezing temperature, a volatile and violent species known as the Akrid fight their every advance. It appears that their weapons have little affect on these creatures, meaning that this world could not be turned for colonization. As such any humans that could abandon the planet attempted to, though there were many more that were left behind. These left behind created rival factions, grouping together so that they could hope to carve out a piece of this planet for their own, even if it meant stealing it from someone else. Such is the work of desperate people, though they have little choice. 

Eventually people came back, after finding out that if they are able to defeat these Akrid, they are able to use their essence to generate energy. You could think this is a little like clinging to the insides of a slain camel to try and survive the nights in a desert, but the thermal energy that is taken from these creatures is absorbed via a vital suit, allowing the wearer to continue venturing around. Wayne, the main character, starts off on this planet with his father on an expedition for energy. As luck would have it one of the most dangerous Akrid nicknamed the Green Eye attacks them in the complex, eventually forcing the father to sacrifice his life to save his son. The aftermath leaves Wayne crawling through the tundra, trying to find a piece of civilization, only to have his energy reserves fall to nothing. Frozen in his current spot, he is eventually saved by a group of snow pirates, but being frozen has had the affect amnesia on the boy’s mind. All he can remember is that his name is Wayne, and he is a soldier. These pirates put this training to good use, using him to collect energy for them. 

Moving on to the mechanics of the game, of course you will be venturing through the snow. You will have a life bar, as well as a meter telling you how much energy you have. When you get damaged your life bar will be refilled by this energy. If you run out of this energy, which is possible since it slowly ticks down as time passes, your life bar will slowly be drained until you die. You can refill this energy by killing Akrid creatures and harvesting their warmth, activating data posts that also show you the direction you need to go in, or absorbing heat from explosions. The general way to absorb this energy is just by walking over it, where it will then flow into your character’s body. 

For navigation you have the choice of walking around either in the third person view, or the first person view. You can either walk or you can use your grappling hook to jump to local areas or repel down ledges. There will be a target in front of your screen for the general direction of firing or targeting. This allows you to move in one direction and shoot in another, which means that you can strafe out of danger’s way. Overall the third person view is best, unless you armed by the sniper rifle. Aiming with your weapon provides a minor lock-on feature, where if you aim in the general direction of an enemy you can connect with them easily. This allows you to shoot down enemies left and right, and often in clusters. There are plenty of weapons for you to use as well, which range from your classic types, to your moderately unique. 

Starting with your classic, you have a machine gun, grenades, and a shotgun. These will be your all purpose weapons that can handle most situations. Of course you have the sniper rifle, which was referred to just a moment ago. There is energy gun that uses your own energy force, which means you will always have ammunition for it. Your best weapon will be Mech suits though, also labelled as VS, which will allow you to navigate the world. These suits have different abilities, where some can hover in the air, jump, or even race like a bike. Some can transform, but all of them have the option of using weapons.  

This is where the second set of weapons is used, where there are specific ones designed for use on these mechanical beasts. These mechanical suits present their own life bar, and if diminished they will explode. If you exit them though, you can rip off their weapons and wander around with them. Normally you are able to carry two weapons, being able to swap them around at any time, though if you are carrying one of the mechanical weapons, if you try and swap to your regular weapon you must drop it all together. Another interesting thing that you can do is that you can attach these weapons onto another mechanical suit, so that you can diversify their destructive capabilities. Some suits will only allow you to use one weapon though, though some use two. These suits can be your best friend, but be advised that they severally chew up your energy. If you are not fond of using a Mech suit, you can occasionally use the environment to damage your opponents. By shooting cars, exploding barrels, or things like boulders, you can have them decimate your enemies without a second thought. 

The creatures that you battle against are quite unique, though they are not exactly smart. Many of them, even the humans, you can walk up to and melee attack. Most Akrid have a vulnerable area that must be hit to damage them. Put enough bullets into them and they will go down for the count. This is where the difficulty settings could have added a bit more to the game, but ramping up the difficulty only seems to drain your life force quicker, and allow the enemies to survive a few extra shots from your weapons. The creatures are beautifully designed, which makes it a shame that you have to kill them all. You will see several creatures over and over again though, so at least you can be reunited with them. 

The game fails a bit in two areas. Like most “shooter” games the gameplay lasts for about 10 hours, depending on how quickly you go through the game. It is satisfying for how long it lasts, mainly due to the graphics, but I would have liked to see more. The second part is the multiplayer, which leaves a lot to be desired. An example of where the game failed is how you have two options for selecting your teams, where it could auto-balance and put friends on opposite teams. With this feature off, depending on the players in the room, you could end up with a 12 on 4 battle. It does not happen often, but it happens every once in a while. I would have loved to see more options here, but it is a little too late to change that now. 

In the end, this is a fun game to play through. The levels are fairly massive, and in perspective with the creatures you will feel like an insect. It gives you an open feeling, something that games like Gears of War or Prey are missing. There are also plenty of destructible environments, and they even encourage you to strip the world down piece by piece. The sounds that join the graphics are great, and help create a fantastic world. Even if it is just the sound of the shotgun, you will find much to enjoy in this area. The main thing that would have helped this game though is the multiplayer, though while not exactly horrible, it could use a bit of work to keep you coming back for more. I just hope that a patch can fix this problem. It is a good alternative to Gears of War. Wrapping up, Captain Gordon gives Lost Planet: Extreme Condition a B+. 

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? CaptainGordonEdward@Gmail.com