Jul 09
XBox 360 – Lost Planet Review
Some of you may have noticed that on the ol’ XBL, I have finally put down Burnout Revenge (for the most part) and moved on over to another game that I’ve been meaning to get to – Capcom’s Lost Planet.
Before I purchased it, I had only played demos of it at local game stores and it seemed mildly entertaining so when it dropped in price, I thought it’d be a nice one to pick up and kick around for a bit.
Now that I’m pretty deep into the game, I present to you my findings.
The Story
I’m probably about 40% through the game now and the gist of the story is you play this character named Vayne who’s hanging out on this frozen planet that the Earth is trying to terraform and eventually colonize. There’s apparently some other stuff going on too including losing your father in a battle with the people who are trying to colonize the planet, these big insect like creatures called Akrid running around everywhere, and more nonsense that you won’t be able to follow.
The Gameplay
So as you progress through the levels, you’ll use the regular assortment of weapons (machine guns, rocket launchers and grenades) as well as a grappling hook a la Bionic Commando. Plus, you’ll also find these things called “VS”‘s sprinkled about the levels which are essentially pocket sized mechs that you can climb into and do mech like stuff such as using gattling cannons, grenade launchers, transforming into dumb vechicles, hovering, flying… Well, you get the gist.
Oh – and whole time you’re running around, you’ll have to keep an eye on your thermal energy gauge which functions kind of like the shield in the first Halo. The thinking behind this one is the planet is so cold that you need this thermal energy stuff to keep you alive. And as long as you have thermal energy, it will repair your life as you get hit. BUT if you run out of the energy, your life will go down until you’re dead. Don’t worry – Even though it sounds like a complete pain, very rarely do you ever have to worry about running out.
Is Lost Planet Worth Your Time?
In my opinion, the answer is probably because through and through this game seems constantly a step above decent. But really, THAT’S IT. It’s one of those games that you can’t wholeheartedly say is “good” but you definitely can’t say it’s bad either. Hm. Am I making sense here or just contradicting myself? Look, take the gameplay – It’s not bad. You think you’re going to do one thing, and you do it. No weird glitches and you’ll certainly feel like it’s tight all the way around. But there’s absolutely NOTHING inspired about it. You pick up ammo and weapons, you destroy things, rinse, repeat. You won’t think any of the weapons are original, the VS’s are plain as can be and the environments (while looking good) aren’t very imaginative and they look about on par with everything else that’s out there on the market.
And when you look at the story and cutscenes it’s the same thing. The CG sequences look decent enough, but the characters are MORE than forgettable with Vayne often ending conversation with the Ryo Hazuki, “Yeah.” Oh and the plot… Trust me you really won’t care about it, but in a weird way you’ll be glad that they at least tried to put something together.
Bottom Line
Stateside, you can find the game for $29.99 and below so for what it’s worth it’s (get ready) not bad. On the achievement side of things can you can earn’em pretty quickly as you go through the game, with the other ones being fun to try and get through the levels. For me, one of the biggest gripes I have is that Capcom didn’t do more with the grappling hook and VS suits. There is really some great untapped potential there but I don’t know that this game will get a decent sequel so I’ll probably just have to suck on it. Oh well, it’s still enjoyable. (#):)
July 10th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Those graphics look sweet! I started a gaming website a little while ago. I’m writing under a pseudonym. I’ve actually worked gaming back into my life. Whee! I’ll check it out next month at the moment I have too many games to play. I cannot believe I can actually say that.
Diablo III is coming out. I was a huge fan of Diablo II so I cannot wait for that to be released most likely won’t see that until 2010 though. As long as Blizzard makes a good game I’m not going to complain. I saw the 20 minute gameplay video on the day they made the announcement and I was impressed.
July 10th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
@Opal T – I can’t believe you’re saying that too ’cause last time I talked to you, you WERE saying how you didn’t have a spare minute to get a game in. Sounds like both of us are slowing getting the balance back in our lives. (#):)
And you know, I never really played any of the Diablos so I may have to check it out. *nod*
July 10th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
+1
@Opal T – Yeah, the graphics are really good, it’s just that they don’t show anything really original. I mean, you’ve seen mountains, lava and snow before in a game so nothing new there. I actually just finished the game and I think things like the plot start picking up at the end, but it still wasn’t that strong.
July 11th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
@Bush,
I had to get some gaming into my life, it’s one of the ways I unwind, a great stress reliever. I picked up Diablo II for under $5 at G2buy.com. I got the CD key went to Blizzard, registered, was able to enter the key that was giving to me at G2buy, and was able to download the game. The graphics are severely outdated (made in 2000) but I still love the game. The best part it, I installed it on my 17″ MacBook Pro so my daughter can’t play it!
I think that is why I grew tired of WOW, been there did that in games, and the quests were repetitive. That got old very quickly I’m surprised I played it for almost four months. I stopped playing it a few months ago. I know people who’ve played it since it was released. I met a few people in game that play it for hours daily. Some of the guilds require you to raid several nights a week. I thought that was insane. It’s like having another job. Thanks but no thanks!
July 12th, 2008 at 10:40 am
I played it on the PC, the graphics are truly awesome. And the moster fights in the end are good.
July 13th, 2008 at 10:19 am
@Opal T – Hey I hear ya. I’m trying desperately to work and keep games into my life but my wife and kid certainly aren’t trying to make that easy. Though I have a feeling once the kid(s) get older it’s going to get easier (in some respects anyway).
And I’ve never allowed myself to even start playing WoW. From what I keep hearing, that game seems to be the addiction of all addictions and that’s one thing I certainly don’t need at this point. (#):)
@Madhur – Thanks for chimin’ in PC Gamer! Yeah, one thing I probably didn’t touch on in the review was the boss fights which are more than decent and the opportunities you have during the levels to kill really gigantic enemies that at first glance you seem to think are just part of the background. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that really adds TOO much to the game overall, but it’s still nice to have. (#):D
August 15th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
[...] – bookmarked by 3 members originally found by cow6oy on 2008-07-23 XBox 360 – Lost Planet Review http://www.bushmackel.com/2008/07/09/xbox-360-lost-planet-review/ – bookmarked by 3 members [...]