| Lost Planet's a third person blaster for the 360, courtesy of ever reliable Capcom. Minus God Hand. And Dead Rising. And this |
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Lost Planet, then. The game that rocked our collective 360 worlds back in May 2006. That famous E3 demo - released so ludicrously early on in the system's life - showcased the most awe-inspiring digital graphics seen outside of the Skywalker ranch, with a massive dollop of high-octane chaos pleasingly juxtaposed against the rest of the somewhat subdued 360 line-up at the time. Between crazy-arse monsters erupting outta the ground and the mowing down of their spindly spider-like insect babies, it felt all but a Michael Ironside quip away from the Starship Troopers game we'd always wanted.
No, that dreadful PC game doesn't count.
Ever since that demo touched down on Live, Lost Planet took on a whole other life - not to mention vast expectations - of its own. Some even claimed it to be the future "Japanese Halo". Unfortunately, with it finally released, one single fact sticks out above all else...it sure ain't May 2006 anymore.
Nope, now we have an entire year's worth of classic new skool shooters and fab online titles all vying for our attention, and to be frank, Planet just doesn't stack up all that well in comparison. We have Call of Duty 3's hundreds of soldiers blowing up before our very eyes. We have 14 player Rainbow Six online skirmishes of gung-ho craziness and utmost hilarity. We have Resistance's ludicrously insane weapon load-outs of Hailstorms and Hedgehog grenades. And of course we have Marcus Fenix curb-stomping dudes in a fountain of gore while telling 'em so eloquently to "eat shit and die". Next to each of the above, Lost Planet feels a little bland to be honest...and more to the point; dated. Time ain't treated her well.
All Your Snow Are Belong to Us
| All too rare depth comes in the form of Wayne's ace-in-theory grapple hook, one that boosts him over walls and makes for quick getaways. In practice, it's far too limited though, in stark need of extra use |
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In a quintessential Japanese plot I can't even begin to decipher, you play Wayne, an amnesiac snow pirate living on a bug-infested futuristic ice planet. For some worrying reason, the game almost goes out of its way to avoid making pretty much any sense from the first scene onwards, but it's essentially up to him - or you - to blaze through swarms of the previously mentioned bugs in a third person shooter style, while contending with boss fights, sub-freezing temperatures and the evil NEVEC corporation. No, I have no idea what makes them evil. Ultimately though, Lost Planet is bug hunting on Hoth. That's all you need to know.
With mechs.
Fret not, mind, this ain't your
typical mech game by any means. Think more The Outfit, than ChromeHounds. You control Wayne on foot by default you see, able to jump in and out of mech suits at will. They're never really forced upon you in that respect, and you can happily ignore every single one of the buggers if you so please, playing the game more like a typical foot soldier.
I'd advise heavily against that though, as the mechs are surprisingly cool actually. They're more like vehicles if anything; some even transforming into landspeeders, tanks and, er, drillers, and thus providing additional, pleasing use outside their typical walking (and gunning) modes. They're very nice to look at, incredibly powerful in combat, and even somewhat customisable through a choice of simple-to-use weapon load-outs. Impressive.
Foot Fetish
| It's a straight toss-up between this and Gears on the graphical tip, but my god, the 360's sure on a roll right now |
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On foot however, things ain't so hot. Lost Planet doesn't boast any sorta complex cover mechanics, tactical squad manoeuvres, or any mild depth
at all for that matter. Nope, this is pure old skool runnin' and gunnin' through and through, and feels less like a contemporary next-gen shooter...and more like you're playing an old NES game. It's Contra, Bionic Commando and Cybernator all thrown into that teleporter from The Fly, melted together then pounded into the third dimension with an Xbox mallet. Each and every level's comprised of little more than spraying and preying with massive contempt for ammo, while snaggin' up an endless supply of inexplicable weapons and power-ups who's location and presence make absolutely no sense. For some, that may inspire nostalgic grins...but for me, I was mildly flummoxed.
Helping all this along mind you, are only perhaps the best damn visuals you've ever seen in a game. I seem to be saying that quite a lot right now, but the proof's in the seeing...and Lost Planet's quite the sight. I guess it ain't so polished, nor as initially striking as Gears came off the first time you fired it up...but there's simply far more happening on screen here, along with gloriously over the top explosions and physics firing off every damn direction you gawp at. Some of these sights - in particular the glowing red lava-centric levels - will flat-out floor a brother in fact.
Of course, with Capcom handling development duties, their super sleek Eastern spark runs rampant throughout the game's overall sense of art and style. Coupled with the 360's humongous power, it goes a long way towards solidifying Planet as one pretty arse title. This extends to the cut-scene cinematics more than anything, which are almost a little Metal Gear Solid at times. I have no fucking clue what anyone's saying 90% of the time, but every damn one of 'em sure proves pretty to behold regardless. Luka's insistence on showcasing beautiful, if alarming amounts of cleavage in spite of sub-freezing temperatures proves particularly gripping, and I think it speaks volumes that graphics have gotten so freakin' good these days that I honestly can't tell what's pre-rendered and what ain't here.
Real-Time Weapon Change
Unfortunately, in one of my single biggest gripes with the game, the default controls prove friggin' awful. Lost Planet's a textbook example of how Japanese devs still haven't quite grasped the shooter genre from a gameplay perspective yet. Your reticule isn't glued to the centre of the screen for one - handling more like, ugh, a Wii FPS - while the button layout and sensitivity all leave much to be desired too. This all results in a deeply unsatisfying feel to the combat, which is rather important seeing as, well, it's all you get to do in Planet.
| Some'll whine about the extreme difficulty on these here bosses, but I for one pretty much loved 'em. For the most part... |
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Thankfully the game boasts ample tweaks and configs to help get the sucker handling more akin to a typical FPS. They're worryingly well hidden away amidst its vast array of options and settings, but dig deep, 'cos once tweaked up on this side of things, the game somewhat flourishes. I particularly recommend whacking the aiming on "Fixed 4" and the button layout on "Type B". Do exactly that, and...Lost Planet almost springs to life.
The combat becomes faster, sleeker and more precise. Wayne handles smoother and more immediate. Even the mechs rise up to the occasion, kicking into action like big ED-209s spotting Kenny across a board-room. Lost Planet becomes - at long last - the game we all kinda wanted it to be. Coupled with what must be the most satisfying melee bashes around, and some truly hilarious 80's style action movie death animations, it's even mildly giggly in places. Gargantuan bosses round off the good stuff, that - while not quite approaching
Shadow of the Colossus levels of awe - still look rather marvellous with all that next-gen power backing 'em up. They won't prove a walk in the park, but in a nice twist, many are actually optional, with you able to simply admire their spectacle, then leg it past 'em and get on with your (nonsensical) mission if you so please. Nice.
Dagobah...System...? Beeeennnnn...!!
| I wanted to love this game, but while fun, its lack of depth and zero lifespan render it ultimately pretty forgettable. Next... |
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Just as I was finally starting to warm to Lost Planet then...it ended. I clocked the game in a meagre
5 hours on "medium" if you can believe that, and although you could more or less double that figure via engaging either of the titanic hard modes, you're still looking at a worryingly short title never the less. Compounding this problem is an all-round piss poor multiplayer showing I'm sad to say, and one that's far from the long-lasting end-game Lost Planet so desperately needs. Small groups of dudes taking pot-shots at one another via Planet's slow and lethargic handling comes off too mundane and uneventful to provide any sort of long-lasting multiplayer thrill, and really doesn't deserve to be even vaguely compared to the aforementioned beauties currently dominating both Live and the Playstation Network.
Co-op mode could have saved things somewhat spectacularly here, but by Capcom's own admission, had to be shelved mid-project to much disappointment. While the single player's borderline fun in its wake, that ludicrously short length makes the game little more than a decent renter all in all.
We have a spectacular, visually arresting old skool shooter on the face of it here, and one with a pleasing Japanese twist for once too, but its worryingly long list of flaws result in far from the be-all, end-all of the genre that I think many were hoping for. In fact, with its default control scheme, I'd even call it flat-out shit. Some tweaks and customising see an enjoyable bash appear in its place though, and even if it lacks a lifespan - and thus a need to be owned - I'd be curious to see what Capcom can chisel out of this flawed shell in the form of a hopefully much-improved sequel further down the line.
After they finish fuckin' Resi 5.