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Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions
always looked good in video form and today at E3 2006 it finally
made the transition to playable form. Although graphically it was
always going to be a winner, everybody knows that looks are nothing
without solid gameplay to back them up. So, have Capcom cracked the
snowy giant robot bug shooting niche?
As it stands, it would appear so. Lost Planet:
Extreme Conditions uses some fine effects to really give the
impression of a frantic war zone. Bullets fly, explosions rock and
streams of smoke accompany every detonation. Lost Planet: Extreme
Conditions is also paced very well, keeping the player engrossed
with some great set-pieces whilst constantly bombarding them with
things to point a gun at. The first time you witness a huge alien
erupting from the ground to rip you limb-from-limb you instantly
feel the need to fight to the death and it’s that kind of gameplay
that makes an Action title great.
This years E3 has featured a lot of innovative
new ways to play games and that is perhaps where Lost Planet:
Extreme Conditions falters a little. Although featuring visuals
far in advance of current generation console, the inherent gameplay
mechanics are not revolutionary by any means. Your character can
carry two weapons and several grenades, has health that refills
while not under attack, moves in a manner identical to most current
Third-Person Action titles and can pilot several large robots,
hardly something for Nintendo to get worried about! That’s not to
say that Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions doesn’t feature some
well implemented ideas though. Pressing the Y Button throws the
Grappling Hook which can be used in many non-linear locations to
vault up to higher ledges, occasionally allowing access to bigger
and better weaponry and collectables. The game also includes an
interesting Heat System to illustrate the sub-zero temperatures
present in Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions. Your T-ENG Meter
seems to show the time before the planet’s hostile environment harms
you. It can be replenished by collecting pick-ups from fallen
enemies, but once it emptied the cold starts to eat away at your
health and prevents regeneration, making the game far more
difficult.
Big robots, bug aliens and snow, sounds like
Capcom have all the ingredients for a blinding videogame, and if
first impressions are anything to go by, Lost Planet: Extreme
Conditions is going to be something special. Although it seems
Capcom are content to re-use ideas founded in the current
generation, the presentation, excellent set-pieces and great
gameplay in Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions mean that,
thankfully, Third-Person Action fans have more than
Gears Of War to look forward to on their Xbox360. |
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2006 here.
Each of these articles has been written
either independently of Electronic Theatre or by an external viewer. The opinions
discussed in these articles in no way reflects the opinions of Electronic Theatre.
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