• January 12, 2007    Home > Game Reviews > Verdict

    Lost Planet: Extreme Condition

    Did expectations for Capcom's latest leave us cold?
    Version
     Xbox 360    		Developer
    Capcom    		Publisher
    Capcom    		Genre
    Third-person shooter

    Page: 1  2 

    Page 2

    That doesn't detract from the quality of the visuals, though, which really do make you feel like you're knee-deep in snow on some godforsaken alien world. Lead character Wayne is modelled on real-life South Korean thirtysomething actor Lee Byung Hun in remarkable fashion, though there's a noticeable drop in the veracity of his compatriots.

    "The snow-white plains stretch out to the horizon, only interrupted by spectacular giant bugs."

    But as touchable as Hun's clothes look it's the environments that win out here. The snow-white plains stretch out to the horizon, only to be interrupted by spectacularly coloured giant bugs and the open design of several of the levels gives you plenty of opportunity to suck it all in.

    As popular as the online demo for Lost Planet has been, the full version is lacklustre. Battles feel as if they carry on longer than they need to and the addition of mechs to the tweaked-but-still-standard deathmatch and capture-the-flag modes of gunplay takes away some of the immediacy.

    The game supports up to 16 players in multiplayer but it starts to lag once you push it that high. And because of the way you pick up guns, by holding down a button for a second, it can sometimes be difficult to properly arm yourself when things start to stutter.

    Lost Planet's biggest flaw, however, is that it's just not compelling. Outside of the gigantic bosses, enemies, whether organic or metallic, are uninspired and lacking in variety, and some levels have snow that just seems to carry on forever.

    It's not quite death by a thousand paper cuts for Lost Planet, but it's not far from it. This is a competent shooter for the Xbox 360, but with heavy-hitters out and more coming soon, that may not be enough.

    Graphics Sound Gameplay Depth Presentation OVERALL
    8.0 8.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0


    THE VERDICT:     Lost Planet is not bad but the problem is that it isn't as good as it could have been. I was quite interested in the story initially. That quickly devolves into the sort of mess you start skipping through to get at the action, yet even that becomes tedious outside of boss battles. Still, Lost Planet does a lot of things well enough that if you can look past its flaws there's a worthwhile dozen hours of gameplay to satisfy you here.

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    Video Coverage
    (Latest Videos & Video FAQ)
    PLEASE DO NOT DIRECT LINK TO ANY MEDIA FILE ON KIKIZO
    DescriptionDur.SizeDetails

    VIDEO INTERVIEW

    Lost Planet Video Interview
    Keiji Inafune in-depth interview
    (High quality version - Download WMV)    		 15:46 296MB ED, 16:9
    856x480/30p
    4Mbps
    Lost Planet Video Interview
    As above - normal quality version (Stream)    		 15:46 52MB SD, 16:9
    640x360/30p
    1Mbps

    Previous Videos

    Lost Planet
    Latest extended trailer (HD quality)       		3:27 120MB DF, HD, 16:9
    1280x720p30
    5.0Mbps
    Lost Planet
    Latest extended trailer (SD quality)       		3:27 28MB DF, SD, 16:9
    640x360p30
    1.7Mbps
    Lost Planet
    Direct feed trailer   (X360 - Capcom)    		 01:14 40MB DF, HD, 16:9
    1280x720p30
    7.0Mbps
    Lost Planet
    Direct feed gameplay   (X360 - Capcom)    		 06:18 136MB DF, SD, 16:9
    640x360p30
    3.2Mbps
    Lost Planet
    Direct feed trailer (regular)   (X360 - Capcom)    		 01:14 13MB DF, SD, 16:9
    640x360p30
    2.3Mbps
    Lost Planet
    Official trailer (hi quality)       		3.02m 26MB HD, 30, DF
    700x400
    1.3Mbps

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