Lost Planet: Extreme Condition
January 21,2007 - “In a world covered in snow, one man will stop for nothing to take down an evil organization and unwanted pests.”

Imagine hearing that in the movie trailer voice of Don LaFontaine. That would sum up Capcom’s 2007 entry, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition. Gamers are put into the boots of Wayne, a snow pirate suffering from amnesia, remembering only his father Gale and the monstrous Akrid that killed him. Trapped in a frozen Mech-like Vital Suit, Wayne is saved by a small band of snow pirates who are fighting to rid E.D.N. III of the Akrid so that humans can inhabit the planet.

In addition to the insect-like Akrid, an evil corporation called NEVEC is taking over the planet for all the wrong reasons. Now not only do you have to do battle with swarms of Akrid, but you also need to take on NEVEC troops. Ideally, the two together would make formidable enemies, but the problem is that they get old relatively quick. The story has no substance, in place only to provide an excuse for baddie-blasting.

Lost Planet’s control scheme is one of its major flaws, and it’s one that is quickly apparent. Normally, this sort of issue is something that might be overlooked. In this case, it causes major blows to the gameplay experience. While enemies are able to deftly swarm upon you, gamers themselves will move obnoxiously slow. Even turning to see the enemy becomes a hassle. Wayne moves as gracefully as a brick, both on foot and in Vital Suits.

The Vital Suits act similarly to Mechs from MechAssault, and are your main defense against the Akrid. Making matters worse, the enemies seem to time their attacks right as you’re ready for battle, so you’ll be constantly bombarded. Left with mostly smoke and explosions all about the screen, you’ll spend too much time trying to see what you’re supposed to be shooting. The sluggishness of the character makes one yearn for a more in-depth move set, or a well-implemented cover-and-run system à la Gears of War. There are, however, some features included that do make the game stand apart.

The first of these is the anchor, a grappling hook that gives you the Batman-like agility to scale tall fixtures. It helps with mobility, but unfortunately, it’s limited. Also limited, which could have been another great feature, is the camera control. Unlike most shooters, where the camera is fixed (i.e.: First Person, Third Person, etc.), Lost Planet allows you to change it up a bit with the D-pad. Simply press the up/down directions and you’ll switch to another viewpoint. With most weapons the default is an over the shoulder third person camera, then a first person mode.

What makes Lost Planet stand out the most is the use of thermal energy, referred to as T-ENG. It’s the equivalent of health points in other games, but in this case it feeds the harmonizer on Wayne’s arm, a device outfitted by his father. The harmonizer quickly replenishes your health, but if the health bar is fully drained by damage or lack of T-ENG, you’ll flat-line.

Graphically, this game is gorgeous. On either an HD or SDTV, any gamer can appreciate how great it looks. In a (justified) second comparison to Gears of War, Lost Planet has a very cinematic quality throughout, and gameplay is nearly identical to that in the cut-scenes. Unfortunately, you’ll be rushing though too simple and fast a game to fully appreciate the visual candy. 

There are no side missions in the game, target markers not being too interesting, and past normal there isn’t a huge difference between difficulties. Rapid thermal energy loss is the only main problem on extreme difficulty, bosses not being too difficult. However, Lost Planet’s multiplayer does manage to boost its fun-factor.

Since the game currently only offers the standard online modes of death match, team death match, CTF, and all-vs.-one, multiplayer has only so much depth. The maps tend to be large, which can hinder the player ratio slightly, but they’re still enjoyable, and match options are pretty well laid out. Character customization is scarce, gamers starting with only four character models and two design patterns to choose from. However, gamers are rewarded with more character models and designs through leveling up. As for leveling, it’s quite a simple process: in ranked matches, kill people (or activate Data Posts) for points, and those points will be applied and saved to your rank in the post-game lobby. With the XBL Marketplace, it’s almost certain gamers will be seeing more maps and options coming their way in the future.

In the end, Lost Planet’s major issue lies in its execution, and in theory, it seems really great. The hype over this game was noticeably large, as the demo released over the Xbox Live Marketplace topped over 1 million in downloads, but Capcom’s final product falls considerably short. It’s great for a while, and then takes a steep nosedive into the realm of mediocre shooters. The potential was there, but the sloppy implementation of features is ultimately Lost Planet’s downfall.

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