Lost Opportunity
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition finally arrives on the PS3 a shell of its former self.
Published: March 16, 2008
I know I've mentioned it in the past (and I'll surely mention it again), but being a PlayStation 3 owner -- especially early on -- feels like being in an abusive relationship. After promises that it won't happen again, we've been continually fed sub-par ports of games that appeared on the 360, often months after they originally shipped with no indication of where all the time went. I understand the system is a complicated and... unique bit of hardware, but there comes a time during some projects where one has to wonder if they just should have cancelled it outright.
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, which is arriving not months after the original release but more than a year post-360 release, is most certainly one of those games. The now-standard practice of incorporating the downloadable content that was kicked out after the game originally shipped isn't even enough to make this an attractive offering, mainly because the core single-player game not only frustrates at nearly every turn, but is painfully lacking in the visuals department.
The actual storyline and missions in the game are identical to what was seen last year, meaning you'll still play as Wayne, an amnesiac rescued by rebels after his father and he were attacked by a giant monster called "Green Eye." Wayne befriends the small group, and starts to learn a little about the snowbound planet E.D.N. III, about the failed initial colonization that eventually led to the original settlers becoming "Space Pirates" and about the universal energy source housed in the very bodies of the alien Akrid creatures that gave rise to Vital Suits. The story, despite obvious heavy production values and "starring" Korean actor Byung-Hun Lee as Wayne, is really just filler between levels, and all of the double-crosses and plot revelations are either obvious early on or delivered with no real impact or build-up.
It's an absolute shame, because the basic concept of far-flung worlds, terraforming and alien species is rife with potential, but it never really feels like the story was properly fleshed out enough to sell the universe. At most it’s a basic distraction from the actual gameplay itself, which can be absolutely infuriating in nearly every mission.
At the core of the experience is the constant hunt for warmth. Wayne sports a "Harmonizer," a little gadget that can convert the thermal energy that exists out in the world and powers nearly everything mechanical on E.D.N. III into health. If all his health is drained but if there are T-ENG reserves, he's not quite out yet. Complicating things is the fact that the planet, obviously is very, very cold, meaning T-ENG is constantly being drained, and drops faster when jumping or moving quickly either on foot or in the mechanized VSes.
Normally, this wouldn't be much of a problem, as there are plenty of beacons that serve to point the way (as the crow flies) to nearby beacons and restores a hefty chunk of heat in the process, but something Lost Planet seems to absolutely revel in is placing Wayne in situations that are designed almost solely around pairing up sluggish VSes with multiple enemies or attacks that knock the player down and then repeatedly beat on him when he's down. Boss fights do it, simple encounters with enemies do it, even random enemies flying overhead do it. There is nothing more frustrating in a video game than being beat up when there's nothing you can do about it. It's not fun, it's not challenging and it sure as hell isn't something an entire game is all but designed around.
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, which is arriving not months after the original release but more than a year post-360 release, is most certainly one of those games. The now-standard practice of incorporating the downloadable content that was kicked out after the game originally shipped isn't even enough to make this an attractive offering, mainly because the core single-player game not only frustrates at nearly every turn, but is painfully lacking in the visuals department.
The actual storyline and missions in the game are identical to what was seen last year, meaning you'll still play as Wayne, an amnesiac rescued by rebels after his father and he were attacked by a giant monster called "Green Eye." Wayne befriends the small group, and starts to learn a little about the snowbound planet E.D.N. III, about the failed initial colonization that eventually led to the original settlers becoming "Space Pirates" and about the universal energy source housed in the very bodies of the alien Akrid creatures that gave rise to Vital Suits. The story, despite obvious heavy production values and "starring" Korean actor Byung-Hun Lee as Wayne, is really just filler between levels, and all of the double-crosses and plot revelations are either obvious early on or delivered with no real impact or build-up.
It's an absolute shame, because the basic concept of far-flung worlds, terraforming and alien species is rife with potential, but it never really feels like the story was properly fleshed out enough to sell the universe. At most it’s a basic distraction from the actual gameplay itself, which can be absolutely infuriating in nearly every mission.
At the core of the experience is the constant hunt for warmth. Wayne sports a "Harmonizer," a little gadget that can convert the thermal energy that exists out in the world and powers nearly everything mechanical on E.D.N. III into health. If all his health is drained but if there are T-ENG reserves, he's not quite out yet. Complicating things is the fact that the planet, obviously is very, very cold, meaning T-ENG is constantly being drained, and drops faster when jumping or moving quickly either on foot or in the mechanized VSes.
Normally, this wouldn't be much of a problem, as there are plenty of beacons that serve to point the way (as the crow flies) to nearby beacons and restores a hefty chunk of heat in the process, but something Lost Planet seems to absolutely revel in is placing Wayne in situations that are designed almost solely around pairing up sluggish VSes with multiple enemies or attacks that knock the player down and then repeatedly beat on him when he's down. Boss fights do it, simple encounters with enemies do it, even random enemies flying overhead do it. There is nothing more frustrating in a video game than being beat up when there's nothing you can do about it. It's not fun, it's not challenging and it sure as hell isn't something an entire game is all but designed around.