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GameSpot editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Excellent
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 01/12/2007
- Released on: 01/12/2007
- Originally published on GameSpot: Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (Xbox 360) Review
With a game like Lost Planet, in which you do nothing but shoot giant insects in a snow-covered wasteland, you'd almost expect publisher Capcom to come up with a tagline like, "The world is covered in ice, but the action is just heating up!" But Lost Planet: Extreme Condition takes itself more seriously than that, despite having a distinct Starship Troopers-on-ice feel to it. The exaggerated, almost campy sci-fi theme works well for this game, though, because while it is a very simple, straightforward shooter, the action moves at a brisk pace, there are always plenty of things to shoot and blow up, and the larger-than-life enemies are incredibly fun to fight. As Lost Planet skillfully proves, you don't need much else to make a great game.
With a name like Wayne, this guy might not have much of a shot at becoming the next iconic video game hero, but at least his game is a lot of fun.
The game takes place in the distant future, when humans have left Earth in an attempt to colonize other planets. On the frozen planet known as E.D.N. III, the colonization efforts seemed to meet with some success, but eventually the humans ran up against some strong opposition in the form of massive insectlike aliens known as Akrid. In battling the hostile Akrid the humans figured out that the creatures contained within their bodies a thermal energy source that could be gathered and used as a source of heat and energy--two vital components of a comfortable life on a barren, snow-covered wasteland. Instead of fleeing the planet in search of, say, someplace not frozen, the humans decided to stay on E.D.N. III and develop heavily armed mechs known as Vital Suits with which to fight the Akrid and hoard as much of their precious thermal goo as possible. But the humans aren't just fighting the Akrid--they're also fighting each other. Groups of outlaws known as snow pirates roam around in their Vital Suits collecting thermal energy and generally causing trouble.
You play the game as Wayne, a snow pirate who was discovered buried under the snow and ice. He has little memory of his past, but he does remember that his father was killed by a large Akrid known as Green Eye. So Wayne sets out to hunt the Green Eye and avenge his father's death. The story gets more convoluted and weird from there, as oddball characters are introduced and abruptly go away and nonsensical plot twists get the story all tangled up. There are some lengthy cutscenes between each mission, but they aren't the least bit compelling; you can easily skip every one without missing much.
The weak characters and confounding plot don't derail the game, though, because like those of most action movies, the story in Lost Planet is completely disposable. It serves its purpose in that it sets you up to fight lots and lots of aliens and humans using a wide variety of superpowerful weaponry, and that's all it needs to do. You play from a third-person perspective, controlling your movement with the left analog stick and your aim with the right. The default control scheme does take a few moments to get used to, simply because your character moves and aims slowly, and rather than remaining fixed in the center of the screen like most shooters, the targeting reticule moves around independent of the camera. Again, it doesn't take long to get used to, but it is a bit off-putting at first. There is also an aim assist that will snap your fire to nearby targets, but you can turn it off if you don't want the help. The controls for doing things like dodging or crouching are also awkward. Performing such a simple action requires you to push in the left analog stick and hit a button, or hold in the stick as you move around, which just feels cumbersome and slow. There are alternate control schemes, though, and even though you might not find one to be perfectly ideal, all of the most important actions are intuitive, quick, and easy to perform, which means the control issues rarely get in the way of the game.
As Wayne, you're dropped into a variety of environments in which you have to wade through scores of enemies to get to a boss at the end. The bosses range from massive spiderlike creatures that dwarf your character, shake the screen, and cause huge chunks of snow and ice to rain down from above, to nimble enemy mechs that attempt to pulverize you with ceaseless volleys of rockets and lasers. The boss battles are the highlight of the single-player game, and they rarely disappoint, even though their patterns and weaknesses are very plainly spelled out for you.
Between boss battles you'll fight scads of smaller aliens, many of which are simply scaled-down versions of bosses you've previously defeated. You don't have to actually kill any of these enemies; if you want, you can just sprint through each level to get to the boss. You are given some incentive to fight, though, in the form of thermal energy. Wayne has a special device on his arm that collects thermal energy and uses it to replenish his health and keep him alive in harsh conditions. Your thermal-energy supply is constantly drained, and when it's gone your health will quickly start to deteriorate, until you eventually die. Conveniently, all of the enemies you kill drop blobs of thermal energy that you can collect and store. You can also find data posts throughout each level that will refill your thermal energy as well as activate a map to point you in the right direction.
The Vital Suits might be a bit slow and cumbersome, but their heavy weaponry more than makes up for it.
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