Lost Planet: Extreme Condition

Lost Planet is a third person shooter spearheaded by the creator of the Megaman series (Keiji Inafune) in which manages to mix both on-foot and mech battle sequences (Mechs are very large robot suits which can be ridden) The setting takes place on an entirely cold driven planet called E.D.N. I.I.I. So cold in fact, that the player is required to gather "Thermal Energy" while in battle from the remains of your dead enemies and from large data posts to maintain their body at a substantial temperature. You play the role of Wayne, who happens to have amnesia so he doesn’t really have a clue whats happening but must unravel the secrets of his past, in the process bringing unity to the land.

The graphics and physics in Lost Planet are pretty impressive. In some instances (where the climate is cold as can be) excess snow can be seen accumulating on your character's clothing and track (on the ground) once having entered an opened door area. The particle effects and audio are perfectly done, especially if you have a surround sound system turn it up as loud as possible and just listen to those Mechs walking, running, jumping, shooting and blowing up, it's fantastic. The explosions are extremely impressive but can be somewhat of a nuisance at points in the game, as at times, it can be hard to manoeuvre yourself once enshrouded in huge clouds of smoke.

Graphically this game is very well polished with the enemies being really detailed and animated that they practically look tangible on the screen, made better if you have a great big lovely widescreen plasma/lcd HD TV. Several enemies can be onscreen at once with rarely a trace of slowdown or a single drop in framerate (and some bosses take up nearly the entire screen).

However, as always Lost Planet is not without it's faults. For one, the enemy A.I. isn't the brightest for the most part. Snow pirates can easily be mowed down with simple run and gun tactics. It's also discouraging as to how (in some instances) an enemy can be knocked off of a mech, and won't even bother to get back on it. This is especially questionable when there are several unused vehicles spotted on point, yet the enemy won't even bother to use any of them to their advantage. In other cases, the A.I. comes off too sensible, with the slightest sound setting them off on full alert without scrutiny. All in all, the enemy A.I. is a mixed bag.

Another minor complaint which can be a huge problem at times is the slowness of your character when trying to get back to his feet after being knocked down. For instance, you will find yourself on foot running around blasting people only to turn a corner and bump into a Mech which can blast you with a rocket launcher for you only to get back up very slowly and by the time you have got to your feet the Mech has reloaded and blasting you again! This can be very frustrating at times. A better wake-up mechanic/command could have helped out to suppress this problem. Especially when you're having a hard time locating your character on screen due to all of the smoke and debris particles surrounding.

Last complaint is the lack of NPCs'. During the very first mission in LP, (the backstory stage) your character Wayne is fighting alongside multiple NPCs. This was a unique trait and feature, and it was rather disappointing to discover that none of this was carried into any of the latter stages in the game (unless you count the online multiplayer). From that point on, you're all on your own.

With all of that said, Lost Planet is still an exceptional action-shooter. The title does what it promises; deliver an action filled (but rather short, the game can be completed in under ten hours) shooting experience. While LP's not tactical like say, Rainbow Six or Gears of War, it's still a masterful shooter in it's own right, in how it manages to blend the words of third-person shooting and Mecha immersively into one.

Pure arcade action adrenaline fuelled

RRRR