Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Review

Capcom's portfolio on Xbox 360 certainly kicked off to a great start in 2006 with the now platinum-selling Dead Rising, but can they sustain the momentum with the first 'big' title of 2007, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition. Both the Single- and Multi-player demos of the game have proved to be highly successful in attracting strong levels of anticipation since they arrived on Xbox Live Marketplace, but now gamers can at last get their hands on the final release. Does this sub-zero title deserve a frosty reception (and other such cold temperature-related puns)?

Best described as "Starship Troopers on Ice", Lost Planet is set in the future, and sees players trace the story of Wayne, who loses his father to a rather nasty alien enemy known as Green Eye. Barely escaping from the attack himself, Wayne (in his mechanical 'VS' Vital Suit) collapses in the snow, only to be rescued by a small band of Snow Pirates. Suffering from amnesia and with a thirst for revenge, Wayne decides to join the new group in a bid to track down the giant green-eyed bug and avenge his father's untimely demise. Set across eleven missions on planet EDN III, from cold and barren landscapes to the molten lava in one of EDN III's all-too active volcanoes, the Single-player Campaign is probably just about the right length measuring about eight hours of bug blasting action. Following a traditional format of "Mission-Boss Battle-Cutscene", Lost Planet manages to propel a fairly uninspired storyline along at a decent and engaging pace, though you always get the feeling that both elements could have been developed further.

A third-person shooter with an emphasis on big guns and even bigger explosions, Lost Planet implements a couple of rather neat little dynamics, which helps to lift it a small degree above your average shooter. For starters, the action takes place on an ice world, so staying warm is a priority for Wayne and his band of pirates. Thankfully, the main enemies in the game, the insect-like Akrid, create so-called 'Thermal Energy' (T-Energy) within their shells, which can be retrieved from their ice-shattered corpses, and used in Exposure Suits that keep the humans somewhat frail bodies warm. However, Wayne has his own secret, a 'Harmoniser Life Support' system that absorbs T-Energy, and converts it into life force. In order words, if Wayne keeps collecting T-Energy from the dead Akrids, for the most part, he won't die. If you've played the demo, you'll also have noticed Wayne's grappling hook, enabling him to reach higher ridges and ledges out of arms reach. Any doubts that this could be nothing more than a cheap and underused gimmick can be cast aside, since it's not only used to clamber over the environment, but is a handy gadget to use when dodging some of the Akrid attacks.

Besides trampling through the deep snow, both the Snow Pirates and their nemesis (the shadowy corporation known as NEVEC) use mechs, called Vital Suits, in combat and general transport through the inhospitable landscapes. The sight of mechs in Lost Planet's pre-release trailers created the almost inevitable concerns that the game could end up being the latest in a line of mech-heavy titles to offer a bogged down, sluggish, and dull experience, but for the most part (aside from the very final encounter in the game), there's nothing to worry about. Not only are the VS models a little more nimble than the likes of Mech Warrior, but the fact that one or two have the ability to transform into secondary vehicles such as jet-powered skidoos makes them more practical than we're used to. The VS units are also a natural progression to the ever-increasing size of the Akrids, which can literally dwarf the machines. Armed to the teeth with everything from conventional weapons like Gattling Guns and Rocket Launchers, to sci-fi favourites such as Laser and Energy weapons, Vital Suit armaments can also be carried around (albeit rather cumbersomely) by Wayne himself. However, it's somewhat ironic that the weapons more closely linked to the real world are a damn sight more satisfying to use than their rather lacklustre 'rayguns'.

There's little doubt that we've progressed onto the next level of Xbox 360 titles, with Epic Games' stunning Gears of War pushing the boundaries of next-gen visuals. Now, that boundary has been met by Lost Planet, which offers a visual treat so astounding, that it's going to take a lot to be impressed by another game's graphics. Visuals details from the near whiteout High Dynamic Range lighting effects when Wayne steps into the snow covered planet surface, to heavily volumetric smoke and explosions, and Wayne's animated reactions to shockwaves, all work together to create a deep and intensely cinematic look. The level of destruction in the environment is also something that helps to create a convincing world, with all manner of objects reacting realistically to the laws of physics and grenade explosions. Guard towers are easily dispatched with either a well-placed grenade or a rocket, sending any unfortunate enemy through the ether (along with the building's flying debris); whilst screen filling flames of rolling fire accompany the inevitable shockwave. An incredible looking title pushes all the right buttons if you're a graphics whore, and easily stands as one of the best-looking games of this burgeoning next-generation.

Despite its looks and general gameplay, Lost Planet does suffer from one or two elements, stopping it from reaching the upper echelons set by Epic's record-breaking Gears of War. For starters, enemy AI is about as non-existent as you're ever likely to see. Whilst we never expected the giant bugs to be crack tacticians, the rival band of Snow Pirates manage to let humanity down pretty badly, rarely even moving when a grenade lands at their feet. Dodging Wayne's attacks is a step too far for them to take, allowing players to mow them down indiscriminately without ever feeling like you're under threat and thus providing little more than cannon fodder to pad out the sections between the big scenes. This feeling is exacerbated even further by the T-Energy/Life Meter dynamic, which creates a feeling of near-immortality when facing this rogue human faction. Even groups of some of the grunt Akrids fail to create any sense of peril, though this is thankfully not the case when Wayne faces up to some of the mammoth examples encountered during the game's boss battles. The other criticism is levelled towards the regularly occurring instances where the near-immortal Wayne is relentlessly blasted back to the ground by a barrage of rockets and missiles, getting back on his feet only to be thrown to the ground again by another explosion, there's no time to launch a counter-strike or even dodge the next missile. It's an element that was evident in the demo back in 2006, and it's an element that sadly makes it into the final release, and is definitely the most frustrating feature of what is elsewhere an incredibly solid debut for a new brand.

Besides the Single-Player Campaign, Lost Planet also includes a small selection of Multi-Player gametypes for up to sixteen gamers. Set across 10 locations from the volcano crater to the snow plains that make up much of the planet's environments, what was expected to be something of an average online shooter actually proves to be quite fun. Besides the all-too expected Elimination and Team Elimination gametypes, Lost Planet's multiplayer experience also features a Battlefield-esque gametype, and a more unique mode in Fugitive, where one player has to evade the other gamers for a set amount of time. It is unlikely to top Gears of War in the Xbox Live Most Popular Charts, but thanks to the mixture of strategy and explosive action, the lobbies of EDN III will not be the online equivalents of the game's barren wildernesses.

Following the extended wait to get our hands on the game, it's with some relief that we can say Lost Planet doesn't disappoint. Quite literally, an explosive experience that continues to push the Xbox 360's capabilities, the game nonetheless does have its weaknesses, particularly highlighted by the woeful enemy AI. Naturally, these are things that could easily be tweaked by the time a sequel reaches the console depending on the success of this title, but given 360 gamers demands for the next big title, this is surely a certainty.

Additionally, the game's Multiplayer options surprised us, and were far from the turgid experiences that we were fearing. It is a refreshing change to be playing a game of Lost Planet's calibre this early on in the New Year, and at the very least, offers the closest thing to snow-covered landscapes that we'll be seeing during the winter.