Metareview - Lost Planet: Extreme Condition
It's no secret that the Lost Planet marketing campaign is Capcom's most costly Westward-expansion effort to date. Xbox Live demos (that spawned a patch), Times Square ad space, and tonight's launch party have all contributed to a massive wave of hype that will come crashing down tomorrow. Have our senses been sufficiently flooded?
The clump of reviews that have trickled out since the game launched in Japan and Europe (Dec. 21 & 31, respectively) has been decidedly mixed. Timing is on Capcom's side however, as these first few months of the New Year are commonly stale, devoid of competition. Our bet's on Lost Planet being a retail hit, but don't count on many remembering the game when it comes time to praise the year's best in December.
IGN (85/100) - "There is a noticeable amount of depth to the combat ... The only downside to the openness of how you can attack each set of enemies is that you oftentimes don't have to fight them at all ... just run past a great deal of the game ... The handling in Lost Planet takes some getting used to and probably could have been mapped to the controller better ... For some reason, you can't point your gun straight up in the air ... Add in a stumbling story and you have a game that doesn't quite reach the levels of some of the more outstanding titles we've seen in recent months."
Eurogamer (70/100) - "Unusually for Capcom, Lost Planet strips away many of the layers that characterise the games it is renowned for ... So, what we're served up with is an often spectacular looking third-person shooter with a smidgen of generally-exciting-but-not-especially-taxing survival-combat built-in ... Lost Planet always seems to offer you, the player, the edge in combat ... the game regularly lets you get away with lazily running through entire sections of the game without even bothering to take down your enemies ... There are also a few control grumbles that could have easily been ironed out by, oh, I dunno, adopting the industry standard ... Nevertheless, with a glorious setting, some memorable boss encounters and some staggering visuals to enjoy, Lost Planet has enough going for it to recommend checking out for those of you needing a lift in the dismal January wasteland."
1UP (65/100) - "For a while, Lost Planet completely satisfies ... But partway through the game, the momentum wavers, taking some of the game's charm with it ... The battles -- you face off against both humans and giant Akrid -- often look impressive but rarely play out as such ... Taking on a gigantic snow worm -- think Dune's sand worms -- is one of this gen's greatest "Oh s***" moments so far. But the game gets away from these roots far too soon and often, delving into middling mech territory with brain-dead humans broken up by rote boss battles and a forgettable story."
