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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Action Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom |
When hearing a title of a game, “Lost Planet: Extreme Condition” brings about a thought of snowy landscapes and extreme cold. The
extreme conditions mentioned in the game’s title are no joke. “Lost Planet: Extreme Condition” takes place on a planet that is so cold,
freezing to death would happen in a short amount of time if it weren’t for a strange orange ooze that the local residents known as the
Akrid produce and store. This thermal energy can be harvested and used to keep the main character from death from the elements.
Unfortunately the Akrid are a group of giant alien bugs that aren’t into the idea of humans colonizing on their planet. Instead of looking
for a more suitable place to colonize, humanity did what they know how to do best, attempt to kill off any opposition and take over the
planet.
The game’s campaign mode puts players in the role of Wayne, a man whose last memory is of his father being killed by an Akrid
known as Green Eye, before being knocked out and put into a coma. It is this memory that lays the groundwork for his motivation to
eradicate all Akrid from the planet, one hive at a time, which is how players spend the beginning portions of the game. Other characters
are quickly introduced to add to the action and confuse the overall storyline, but it is the game play that makes this game fun to play, not
the story.
One of the greatest parts of “Lost Planet: Extreme Condition” is the flexibility of the game. There is an obvious amount of depth to the
combat, allowing players to tackle each situation in a variety of different ways, with a new result every time. Most of this depth isn’t
always apparent, but upon playing through the game players will gain the skills needed to help players explore their options for
progress through each level. Towards the end of the game, more of this flexibility is lost in all of the chaos that takes over, but the
difficulty of the game play makes the game more enjoyable as players move through the game.
The game proves to be a great one within the genre, but it isn’t without its fair share of problems and flaws. The very premise of the
game is questions as the game progresses from the outdoor levels into caves and interior environments which are often full of fire and
flames. Players are still required to collect thermal energy even though they are surrounded by heat. The problem could have been
reversed and players need to keep cool in those levels, but the oversight is minor and doesn’t draw away from the game too much.
The handling in the game also takes a lot of getting used to and it probably could have been translated to the controls a little bit better.
Those who are used to playing first person shooter games may find that the target reticule moves quite slowly for a game that required
targets to be taken out quickly. To make up for this minor flaw, the bumpers can be used to quickly rotate the players view by 90
degrees. Diving out of the way of an attack requires players to press in the thumb stick and sliding it over to the desired direction and
then hitting the jump button, a lot of buttons for a minor action. This awkwardness can be found in the vital suit controls as well. Playing
the game enough can help make the controls easier to handle, but it limits who is able to play the game, only those who have the
patience to practice moving around.
The multiplayer function on “Lost Planet: Extreme Condition” runs on the exact same engine as the campaign and the amazing visuals
are carried over to the multiplayer mode, even with sixteen players running around online at once. The multiplayer game is strictly
online, there is no local multiplayer option, this means that a bunch of friends won’t be able to gather at a single house and play a death
match against each other. The online mode includes elimination, team elimination, post grab and fugitive hunt modes and each takes
place in some well designed levels that range from small and cozy, all the way up to insanely enormous. Elimination and team
elimination are the standard death match games with a “Lost Planet: Extreme Condition” twist to them. The thermal posts that work as
energy restore points in the game provide both points and the use of radar in the online games. By controlling these posts, a whole
new layer is added to the strategy of the game. The post grab mode places players in teams that work to control all of the thermal posts
while a fugitive hunts them down, this is a one versus everyone mode that is a lot of fun. Multiplayer isn’t as much fun as the campaign,
but it offers a lot more than most multiplayer modes.
“Lost Planet: Extreme Condition” is a great game that suffers a bit from a few bad design decisions. The graphics are great no matter
what the standard is, with only a few v-synching issues. The enemy design and amount of action that said enemies provide makes for
great game play that is only flawed by the control mechanics that may take some time to learn. Along with a storyline that doesn’t seem
to flow very smoothly, players get a game that is a lot of fun to player, which is all that really matters.
extreme conditions mentioned in the game’s title are no joke. “Lost Planet: Extreme Condition” takes place on a planet that is so cold,
freezing to death would happen in a short amount of time if it weren’t for a strange orange ooze that the local residents known as the
Akrid produce and store. This thermal energy can be harvested and used to keep the main character from death from the elements.
Unfortunately the Akrid are a group of giant alien bugs that aren’t into the idea of humans colonizing on their planet. Instead of looking
for a more suitable place to colonize, humanity did what they know how to do best, attempt to kill off any opposition and take over the
planet.
The game’s campaign mode puts players in the role of Wayne, a man whose last memory is of his father being killed by an Akrid
known as Green Eye, before being knocked out and put into a coma. It is this memory that lays the groundwork for his motivation to
eradicate all Akrid from the planet, one hive at a time, which is how players spend the beginning portions of the game. Other characters
are quickly introduced to add to the action and confuse the overall storyline, but it is the game play that makes this game fun to play, not
the story.
One of the greatest parts of “Lost Planet: Extreme Condition” is the flexibility of the game. There is an obvious amount of depth to the
combat, allowing players to tackle each situation in a variety of different ways, with a new result every time. Most of this depth isn’t
always apparent, but upon playing through the game players will gain the skills needed to help players explore their options for
progress through each level. Towards the end of the game, more of this flexibility is lost in all of the chaos that takes over, but the
difficulty of the game play makes the game more enjoyable as players move through the game.
The game proves to be a great one within the genre, but it isn’t without its fair share of problems and flaws. The very premise of the
game is questions as the game progresses from the outdoor levels into caves and interior environments which are often full of fire and
flames. Players are still required to collect thermal energy even though they are surrounded by heat. The problem could have been
reversed and players need to keep cool in those levels, but the oversight is minor and doesn’t draw away from the game too much.
The handling in the game also takes a lot of getting used to and it probably could have been translated to the controls a little bit better.
Those who are used to playing first person shooter games may find that the target reticule moves quite slowly for a game that required
targets to be taken out quickly. To make up for this minor flaw, the bumpers can be used to quickly rotate the players view by 90
degrees. Diving out of the way of an attack requires players to press in the thumb stick and sliding it over to the desired direction and
then hitting the jump button, a lot of buttons for a minor action. This awkwardness can be found in the vital suit controls as well. Playing
the game enough can help make the controls easier to handle, but it limits who is able to play the game, only those who have the
patience to practice moving around.
The multiplayer function on “Lost Planet: Extreme Condition” runs on the exact same engine as the campaign and the amazing visuals
are carried over to the multiplayer mode, even with sixteen players running around online at once. The multiplayer game is strictly
online, there is no local multiplayer option, this means that a bunch of friends won’t be able to gather at a single house and play a death
match against each other. The online mode includes elimination, team elimination, post grab and fugitive hunt modes and each takes
place in some well designed levels that range from small and cozy, all the way up to insanely enormous. Elimination and team
elimination are the standard death match games with a “Lost Planet: Extreme Condition” twist to them. The thermal posts that work as
energy restore points in the game provide both points and the use of radar in the online games. By controlling these posts, a whole
new layer is added to the strategy of the game. The post grab mode places players in teams that work to control all of the thermal posts
while a fugitive hunts them down, this is a one versus everyone mode that is a lot of fun. Multiplayer isn’t as much fun as the campaign,
but it offers a lot more than most multiplayer modes.
“Lost Planet: Extreme Condition” is a great game that suffers a bit from a few bad design decisions. The graphics are great no matter
what the standard is, with only a few v-synching issues. The enemy design and amount of action that said enemies provide makes for
great game play that is only flawed by the control mechanics that may take some time to learn. Along with a storyline that doesn’t seem
to flow very smoothly, players get a game that is a lot of fun to player, which is all that really matters.
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