Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Preview
We get an exclusive look at the first four missions in Capcom's wicked Xbox 360 game.
Capcom's upcoming Lost Planet: Extreme Condition has been making us jump in all the right places since we got our first look at it earlier this year at the company's Las Vegas press event. The gorgeous action game offers a shiny helping of third-person shooting, exploration, combat, and mission-based gameplay wrapped in stunning visuals. We recently had the chance to log in some time with a work-in-progress version of the game to check out the first four missions, two of which included some of the content from the Marketplace demo, and had ourselves a good old time.
If you've not been following Lost Planet, here's the deal: The game is set in a chilly, postapocalyptic-ish future wherein mankind has gone all Star Trek-y and ventured out to the stars in search of new life. The good news is they found some (or rather, it found them). The bad news is said life kind of wants to kill them. You'll play as Wayne, a young man with a hefty air of mystery around him, who has mad beef with the aliens known as the Akrid. The grumpy insectlike race has gotten Wayne bent out of shape when one of its larger members, known as Green Eye, murdered his dad right in front of him. After something like that happens to you, you only have one option, really: murderous revenge! While this is all a bummer for Wayne, it's a perfectly fine setup for a game.
When you first fire up Lost Planet, you'll find several different options to choose from: campaign, online battle, options and records. Campaign lets you start a new game, continue lets you pick up from a previous save or replay a specific mission, online battle lets you play the game's online mode, options lets you adjust the game's settings and access Xbox Live Marketplace, and finally records lets you review your stats in campaign and online games, as well as check out the game's achievements (which we're not allowed to talk about yet).
When you start a new game, you'll get brought up to speed on current events courtesy of an opening cinematic that introduces you to what's been going on for mankind. After some broad talk about the storyline, it segues into a tighter focus on Wayne's situation, and we meet his dad, Gayle, who is leading a team of soldiers facing off against the Akrid. The real-time intro slips smoothly into a Halo-esque "welcome to hell" sequence, wherein you take control of Wayne as he's running through a city under siege with a group of soldiers. The dramatic sequence provides a good setup for the forthcoming chaos in the game and works just dandy as a tutorial. Once you've run a ways and gotten the basics for your on-foot controls, you'll hop into the game's mechlike Vital Suits, called VSs, and move deeper into the city, where you'll confront a massive, and totally unpleasant, Akrid dubbed Green Eye. The pitched battle between man and bug doesn't go terribly well, and Gayle goes down in spectacularly traumatic fashion before Wayne's eyes. The situation goes a bit odd, and the next thing you know, you're waking up surrounded by strangers who say they found you in your VS. You're a bit disoriented, as all you really remember is seeing dear-old dad get stomped. Your new friends, a band of apparently friendly snow pirates, offer to let you hang with them while you get your bearings. Their leader is Yuri, a Sephiroth-looking guy who's just a touch on the creepy side. Your two other new friends are Rick, a dreadlocked dude who sports sunglasses, and Luka, a busty lass who, despite the freezing conditions, is showing off a surprising amount of cleavage.
Once the setup is out of the way, you'll head out on your first mission, whose particulars are outlined on an intro screen that lists out vital info for you. Your first order of business is to work off some of that disoriented amnesiac aggression and take out an Akrid hive. The level should be familiar to those of you who've tried out the Marketplace demo, as it's made up of the first part of the demo, wherein Wayne makes his way through icy ruins into an Akrid hive and blows it up. Quite a bit's changed since the demo, namely weapon and enemy placement, the presence of a VS as soon as you start the level, audio tips from your crew, and a brutal boss fight at the end. The boss battle is tough, but like the other Akrid you face in the level, if you keep a level head and target his conveniently color-coded weak point, you can take him out in no time. Once you finish the mission, you'll come to a tally screen that keeps track of various stats. You'll see how much thermal energy you had left, how long you played, your different types of kills, and how many target marks you hit. Target marks are basically small coins spread out through the level that you'll have to find and shoot. Unfortunately, since we were running and gunning for our lives, we didn't find and shoot them all, but we like the "leet" feel of getting them all and expect it should be a feature that connects with hardcore players.
The second mission should be partially familiar to players, as part of it is in the Marketplace. You're tasked with taking out Crimson Unity, a rival faction of snow pirates who's set up camp in the middle of Akrid territory. It turns out the crimson jerks have taken a trailer containing equipment your peeps need to keep their VSs in running order. Your goal is to go smack some fools up and take the trailer back. The base's placement in Akrid territory also provides ample opportunity to kill aliens. The run to the base is all new and has you making your way through more of the icy, ruined city, dealing with the various Akrid hazards that pop up. Your primary foes are the flying critters shown in trailers and the previous level, rolling enemies that pop out of the ice and spin at you, and massive Akrid who try to stomp you with their long, spiny feet. On top of all that, you'll have to contend with a surly pack of snow pirates who are all too eager to blow you up, Akrid threat be damned. When you finally get to the base itself, you'll be on familiar territory, as the last part of the level is in the Marketplace demo. As with the first mission, quite a bit's changed in terms of item placement and, to a lesser degree, level layout. When you finally make it to the inside of the fortress, you'll face off against a jump-happy mech that's armed to the teeth.
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