Lost Planet: Extreme Condition

"Live is the only thing that saves this game"

Lost Planet was the first hyped game in 2007 for the 360. Is it worthy of the hype or just another lackluster gaming experience from the folks at Capcom? Sadly, I think the entire package is a mixed bag.

Lost Planet tells the tale of Wayne, a young Japanese man who ventures off to some planet that is covered in ice. His father is killed by some giant monster so he joins up with a team of pirates and sets off to kill these giant bugs and harvest their heat source and at the same time kill the rival team of pirates. Yeah, the plot isn't that good but I guess they did try and it's a better effort than what they tried with Dead Rising.

Graphic wise Lost Planet is a stunner. Not Gears of War stunning but damn good none the less. Character models are nicely detailed and their deaths are interesting but most end up turning into ice and then you can smash them. The locations look good as well but it's the snow and ice effects that really make this game look amazing. From the shattering of the ice to the snow blowing in the wind. My problem however is with the explosions in the game. Yes, they are big and look awesome. Sadly, they tend to happen a lot and when they do you really can't see what is happening and it lead to a few deaths for me...

Sound wise the game is nice. Music was forgettable but it wasn't offensive. The sound effects are very good. From the mecha sounds to the guns to the creatures. Voice acting seemed to be decent as well but I wouldn't brag about it.

Lost Planet offers some of the oddest controls. Left analog moves you around while the right aims. This is fine but the right one moves kind of sluggish and it just feels awkward with the way the character moves. Shooting and jumping were easy enough but I found jumping to be useless. Wayne can't grab onto ledge or anything and you rarely find small things to jump on. However Wayne has a grappling hook which to be had crappy ways of working and was just a poor game play choice. It works better online than it does in the single player.

Lost Planet takes place over 11 missions. 11 of the most linear and bland missions ever. Want to know how it works? Walk, shoot some bugs in their weak spot (the glowing orange thing), kill more, and kill some humans, entire time you're walking along a linear path. Reach large boss; shoot it in its orange spot. Things freshen up later with mecha suits to use but it's like a weak version of Zone of the Enders.

It's hard to put a finger on it but I think my biggest problem is just how bland the levels are. There's nothing interesting going on. The few interesting level designs require the crappy mecha game play or the even worse grappling thing. Both feel out of place and it seems that Capcom should have just stuck with the game being a third person shooter.

I had a few other problems with the game as well. The AI seems very focused on one thing. As in it doesn't think but it just does. I found that while the weapon selection had fun and digging items out of the snow interesting, the machine gun was the only one worth carrying around.

Hidden in the stages are medals. They aren't really hidden, just look around and you'll usually see them. It's not like they are hidden down some barely visible path or anything. Aside from that and three difficulty settings the game does offer online play. I only played 2 matches online, both of which were team based and I must say it is also a mixed bag. First you have kids singing, blasting music, and cursing like sailors, screaming, loud static and other things going on which gave me a headache listening to that crap. The game does offer a few different types of modes but most are the same except a hunter one which I guess plays kind of like tag or something.

The online maps are pretty decent. They feel a little big at times but with the inclusion of the mechas I guess it is needed. I found that the game can be very cheap. If you grab the homing laser large blast area weapon and hide out you can grab a crap load of kills. Not really fair that it's the strongest gun in the game (1 hit kill) but it also homes in and has a large blast radius. This is just sloppy programming and to be honest most weapons kill in one hit. Oh and want to know the best part, if someone is shooting you, you can't move or fire back. Wow, that makes it fun. Quick lesson is to throw a grenade before you start firing and you can usually score the kill.

So the online is a bit cheap and full of annoying teens. The single player itself isn't horrible. It just wasn't that fun. The single player took me less than 3 and a half hours which is sad for any game. I wish Capcom would stop releasing crap that teens eat up. I don't mean lost Planet is pure crap but at $60 it isn't worth it. This is a total rental.

Story - 5/10
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 8/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay value - 8/10

Final Score - 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/21/07