Capcom as a company, is notorious for supporting underdog consoles in a given generation, including both the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast. In 2006, Capcom made themselves known on the Xbox 360, Microsoft`s perpetual underdog in Japan, with the release of the zombie infested action game Dead Rising. Along with Dead Rising`s initial announcement was the announcement of an action game from the Devil May Cry and Onimusha development teams: Lost Planet.
It`s no surprise that Devil May Cry and Onimusha team members participated in Lost Planet`s creation, as trace elements of both series find their way into the game (an energy sucking gauntlet called the Harmonizer, much akin to Samanosuke`s Oni Gauntlet in Onimusha, energy and health dropped by enemies after death, etc.). Unlike both those games, though, Lost Planet is a straight ahead arcade shooter.
To the surprise of many gamers after trying their hand at the demo on Xbox Live, Lost Planet is a shooter through and through. The game uses both analog sticks to move and aim at the same time, has no lock on targeting found in other Japanese action games (aside from a helpful aim guide option), and even has competent first person and third person views.
View plays a huge part in Lost Planet, both from a tactical standpoint, as well as a visual one. Lost Planet is a beautiful game from start to finish. Many games make the mistake of throwing all the bells and whistles into the first few stages, and then becoming lazy in subsequent levels. Lost Planet starts with a beautiful but simple snow environment, and continues to deliver new and beautiful visual experiences in every level after.
When Lost Planet was first revealed, many were afraid that the environments would get repetitive, much the way PN03’s sleek and monochrome environments did. Capcom did an excellent job of sending players through levels that use both the horizontal and the vertical axes to great effect, including both inside and outside environments to change things up. Levels take the player through blown out buildings, canyons, and even barren snow fields with hidden (and not so visible) danger.
The danger in Lost Planet is very real. Players will have to face off against two big enemy types: insect like aliens known as the Akrid, and human enemies of various factions that will assault you both on foot, and within mechanized units known as Vital Suits (or VS for short). Earlier levels in the game pit you against either the humans or the Akrid, while players who get deeper into the game will find themselves often walking into a battle already in motion. The problem with the execution of these situations, is that many times, human enemies will completely ignore the Akrid once the player enters the scene, trying to get rid of you, instead of the hundred of Akrid monsters swarming the area. It makes for a rather unconvincing scene, even if it does make the battles a little more challenging.
The main character, Wayne, must battle against these two disparate foes, while also maintaining his Thermal Energy levels (also known as T-ENG). Thermal Energy can be garnered from downed foes, strategically placed thermal energy holding tanks, and guide posts that act as waypoints to show the player which way to go next. As long as Wayne has thermal energy, not only will his health constantly recharge, but he will also be able to drive Vital Suits. The catch, though, is that Wayne’s Thermal Energy is constantly falling. While being an interesting mechanic that introduces a hidden time limit to the level, and keeps the battle intensity high, it can be more than an annoyance than anything at times, especially when operating Vital Suits.
As you get farther into the game, you’ll have access to Vital Suits yourself, from slow moving four legged tanks, to spry, maneuverable two legged chicken walkers. Some of the VS units even have the ability to transform, making their effectiveness in a level far more versatile. Boss battles primarily require that the player fight from within a VS, but the possibility to play on foot is there, albeit considerably harder.
While VSs do considerable damage to normal enemies as well as bosses, many times your biggest enemy isn’t the visible one; it’s your thermal energy. While in a VS, Wayne’s thermal energy is constantly falling, and once it has depleted to zero, Wayne is unable to pilot a VS until his thermal energy level is raised again. Since the health bar for the mechanized unit is not tied to Wayne, it isn’t constantly being recharged with thermal energy. In fact, some more powerful VSs will deplete thermal energy faster, forcing players to either
1) Abandon the VS for a less powerful one.
2) fight the clock to defeat the boss before thermal energy runs out.
or
3) eject from the VS, and attempt to fight the boss on foot.
Enemies themselves (including bosses), mechanized and Akrid alike, all have painfully obvious weak points. In old school tradition, weak points on enemies are lit up with a luminscent orange, showing the player exactly where to fire. Unlike Zelda, where taking down the boss takes a short bit of puzzle solving, Lost Planet takes the arcade shooter route, and hands the weak point to you on a silver platter. In a failed attempt to complicate things, the game also offers layered boss fights. Players must first hit a set of weak points on a boss, which then opens up a real weak spot that does actual damage to the boss.
While this layered method is fun to learn and perfect, boss fights drag on longer than they should, sometimes requiring that players expose a final weak spot 6 or 7 times before they finally die. Because the method to actually expose the weak spot is the same each time, boss fights become painfully routine at times, and the player’s biggest enemy becomes the fast dropping thermal energy level.
Actually fighting within VSs in earlier levels can actually be painfully boring, as VSs encountered early on are fairly slow, and change the battle pace considerably from what players get used to in the “on foot” sections of the game. About halfway through the game, though, faster mechs with the ability to slide around the battle field are introduced, which makes piloting VS units far more enjoyable, if still a lingering reminder that the game’s on foot sections are not as prominent in the game as they should be.
One of the other major problems with Lost Planet’s VS control is its over use of the B button. B acts as a context sensitive button, which can do everything from “eject from VS” to “attach weapon.” The VS related function that B serves depends on your position related to the VS. Unfortunately, because of this, in the heat of battle, it’s natural to lift the weapon off your VS instead of enter it to fight a boss battle. It can be frustrating, but not game breaking, as there was never a time where I found myself dying due to the B button’s overabundance of functions.
Lost Planet is a good game that stops short of being a great game for a number of reasons. On top of its technical issues, the game itself is a premium price, being on Xbox 360, yet the single player campaign is a palty 7 hours long. Luckily, Capcom included a very enjoyable multiplayer mode (more information on that in a later post), as well as an Extreme difficulty that’s unlocked after completing the game. For those looking for a competent shooter, or those interested to play a competent third person shooter created in Japan, Lost Planet will likely not disappoint. It will probably only frustrate.
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