Lost: Via Domus

"A game that'll get LOST in the crowd of fan service video games"

Sorry for the title, but I needed a LOST pun. That should be it for now.

LOST: Via Domus, in short, lets you play as a never-before seen character on the LOST island. He is a survivor of Oceanic Flight 815. You start off right where the show does, with the plane breaking apart in mid-air. Because the character is created just for the game, don't expect any of it to tie in to the show, except for some of the major events (like the hatch exploding). It is nice to play as a new character and experience things not seen in the TV series, but most of it just comes off as half-baked.

GRAPHICS: 8/10
The graphics are probably the best part of the game. Forests are beautiful, the ocean is calming. The graphics are pretty much what you'd expect from a 360 game. Nothing spectacular, but nothing wrong either. Character models are realistic, although facial expressions don't really seem that accurate. For the most part, the character models look like their television counterparts.

MUSIC: 8/10
The music is very LOST-like. It gets stressful in stressful parts and slow in slow parts. It does very much remind me of LOST. The only complaint is that the opening logo - where LOST flies in - doesn't seem right.

VOICES: 5/10
Some of the characters in the game got their real-life actors to come in and do voice-work. However, most of their voices aren't used. Seriously, Claire's actor came in, and Claire is in the game once in the very beginning. Other characters are used more often with stand-ins. Most of them do an okay job, like Jack and Kate, but Locke sounds like a tribal chief and Sawyer just sounds southern. It seems like they could have tried harder? Hurley is mediocre.

GAMEPLAY: 6/10
Most of the game consists of you walking around. You'll find yourself in the forest quite often, following signs and flags posted in the ground to the next location while avoiding people shooting and the smoke monster. Not as fun as it sounds, especially around the third time. There are a few "action" parts, like a running and jumping portion of the game, but it doesn't happen enough. The rest of the game is filled with completely the same confusing and illogical puzzle over and over again with slight variations.

The game is very linear, so don't expect do be able to explore much of anything. All in all, it's an okay game that should only be played by LOST fans. And only LOST fans that really really want it. It's not even canon.

The story is the only part that saves the game. It's interesting and compelling. No spoilers, but the end, while worthy of LOST, ruins a lot of it. Unlike the TV series, the game doesn't continue next week, so it just leaves us with a bunch of unanswered questions. Questions that can't even be speculated on very well, since it doesn't make any sense.

Rent the game if you want. I'd say don't waste your money buying it.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/24/08

Game Release: Lost: Via Domus (US, 02/26/08)