Its over fast and the PS3 version has some serious problems but Lost Planet is still loads of fun!
User Rating: 7.5 | Lost Planet: Extreme Condition PS3
Lost Planet is a cool and fun game with a few problems that keep it from being great. The story is a mess, plain and simple. I couldn't tell what was going on most of the time. There are a lot of cutscenes but no character or plot development. The game is also terribly short as I finished it on normal difficulty in about 8 hours. On the PS3 there are no trophies and by now, in 2010, online is pretty much dead. The PS3 also has significant framerate problems. Nothing game breaking but very annoying. The graphics are decent but not great. The character movement also needed some work. Your character, Wayne cant run and he moves incredibly slowly. Its ridiculous for example when you're fighting a boss and you need to get to a mech and Wayne walks calmly towards it with all hell breaking loose around him and you cant do anything but pray he gets there in one piece. You also have to keep track of your thermal energy, since that´s what keeps you alive in such extreme conditions and replenishes your health when you get hit. The thermal energy keeps going down every second so you have to kill Akrid, alien bugs and your main enemies, to get more of it and this basically acts as a timer on your life. Its keeps the pace of the game going strong as you cannot afford to stop and think, you just have to keep going, killing more Akrid and keeping your thermal energy high. This is good on paper but sometimes, especially on boss fights, its annoying to lose just because you ran out of thermal energy.
Now we have the good stuff. The game has incredible rhythm. You´re always fighting either on foot on on some really cool Mechs with chain guns and rocket launchers, hovering in the air and raising hell. The Akrid are awesome opponents and it never gets dull fighting them. Then you have the boss fights. You have these huge, gigantic Akrid and you´re on a Mech, and rocks are falling, rockets are flying, lava is all around and you´re just having loads of fun. Lost Planet has some of the most epic boss fights ever and it gets them so right. They´re never cheap, always enjoyable and always spectacular. The game is divided in missions, 11 of them, and at the end there is always one of these great boss fights. You also fight other Mechs in some memorable boss battles which are just as good.
Lost Planet is all about simplicity. There are no puzzles, the way to go is always clear and its just about getting from point A to point B. The game doesn't take itself too serious and it delivers on what it promises.
Lots of fun and a very entertaining, even if short, time.
