Umm, a franchise abandoned by Capcom, where have I heard that one before?
This franchise is a quite interesting one, although I will only be playing the 1st game, not the rest, mostly because I don’t feel like troubleshooting the 2nd game, and I don’t care about the 3rd one.
This game was made in the MT Framework Engine, an in-house Engine, which has been used for the og Dead Rising, DMC4, and RE5. So, a quite solid one, and, no crashes nor any noticeable slowdown.
Alright, enough rambling, let’s get to it.
Story & Setting
Far into the future, humanity was forced to abandon Earth, due to centuries of war, and pollution.
It took a while to find, but they did find an Earth like planet to inhabit, dubbed E.D.N. III, with the task of colonization left to a corporation known as Neo-Venus Construction (NEVEC).
But, things are never so simple, this planet, has locals, and they are hostile, a bug race known as the Akrid, which has made things quite difficult, not only that, the planet has been going through an Ice Age, making a need for terraforming.
Although humanity was in no shape for another long-term conflict, the discovery of a miraculous source of energy changed things, a source of energy leagues above anything known to humanity, this energy was named Thermal Energy, and can be found within the Akrid.
The first colonization effort, ended in failure, after a disastrous war against the Akrid. Forcing NEVEC to retreat, leaving colonists and soldiers behind.
Those survivors, became known as Snow Pirates, and, have found ways to continue the fight, not to win, but to survive.
With NEVEC returning years later, those survivors became a problem, because… Reasons.
We follow Wayne, one of those Snow Pirates trying to survive on the planet, but, things quickly escalate as his father dies during an Akrid attack, or, at least, that’s what it looks like on the surface.
It took a while to find, but they did find an Earth like planet to inhabit, dubbed E.D.N. III, with the task of colonization left to a corporation known as Neo-Venus Construction (NEVEC).
But, things are never so simple, this planet, has locals, and they are hostile, a bug race known as the Akrid, which has made things quite difficult, not only that, the planet has been going through an Ice Age, making a need for terraforming.
Although humanity was in no shape for another long-term conflict, the discovery of a miraculous source of energy changed things, a source of energy leagues above anything known to humanity, this energy was named Thermal Energy, and can be found within the Akrid.
The first colonization effort, ended in failure, after a disastrous war against the Akrid. Forcing NEVEC to retreat, leaving colonists and soldiers behind.
Those survivors, became known as Snow Pirates, and, have found ways to continue the fight, not to win, but to survive.
With NEVEC returning years later, those survivors became a problem, because… Reasons.
We follow Wayne, one of those Snow Pirates trying to survive on the planet, but, things quickly escalate as his father dies during an Akrid attack, or, at least, that’s what it looks like on the surface.
Presentation
For most of the game, you will be trekking through the ruins of the first colonization attend, Akrid hives, or whatever passes as wilderness in this snow covered planet, sometimes attacking bases, both of NEVEC and Snow Pirate affiliation, near the endgame, you will be moving through a volcano, and the more higher developed NEVEC bases.
There are some really cool details, like your character getting covered in snow as he walks around, or finding weapons and equipment frozen or buried in the snow.
Models wise, there is quite a lot of variety with the snow pirates, which are re-used for the multiplayer, on the other hand, NEVEC is pretty standardized, which makes sense.
The weapon models are generic for the most part, but there are some cool models when it comes to the bigger ones for the mechs.
There is some mech (referred to in-game as Vital Suits (VS)) variety, the different factions share some mech types, and each type stands out from each other, each faction has some slight alterations to the mech designs, to give them some personality. Some mechs have a vehicle form they can turn into, raging from a bike, to a small tank.
As for the bugs, I mean, have you seen a bug? That but alien, they come in a variety of different shapes and sizes, the smaller ones usually spawn from… Ehhhh, open wound looking things, while the bigger ones just like to spawn from wherever, most of the time from underground, you can see some pillbugs, mantises, wasps, scorpions, etc. etc. The big ones have the glowing parts for massive damage, and when they die, they turn to either ice or stone (depending on the area), for you to satisfyingly destroy with a melee attack.
There are some really cool details, like your character getting covered in snow as he walks around, or finding weapons and equipment frozen or buried in the snow.
Models wise, there is quite a lot of variety with the snow pirates, which are re-used for the multiplayer, on the other hand, NEVEC is pretty standardized, which makes sense.
The weapon models are generic for the most part, but there are some cool models when it comes to the bigger ones for the mechs.
There is some mech (referred to in-game as Vital Suits (VS)) variety, the different factions share some mech types, and each type stands out from each other, each faction has some slight alterations to the mech designs, to give them some personality. Some mechs have a vehicle form they can turn into, raging from a bike, to a small tank.
As for the bugs, I mean, have you seen a bug? That but alien, they come in a variety of different shapes and sizes, the smaller ones usually spawn from… Ehhhh, open wound looking things, while the bigger ones just like to spawn from wherever, most of the time from underground, you can see some pillbugs, mantises, wasps, scorpions, etc. etc. The big ones have the glowing parts for massive damage, and when they die, they turn to either ice or stone (depending on the area), for you to satisfyingly destroy with a melee attack.
You may have problems, if you are one of those cowards who plays with an arachnophobia filter.
Each mission has a boss, which can either be a strong version of an already existing enemy, or a gimmick fight against a unique one.
Cutscenes wise, they are OK, there is no amazing cinematography, nor Michael Bay levels of destruction, they get the job done for giving you enough context for the next mission, or the next chunk of the level, and that’s it.
Moving onto sound, weapons do sound as you would expect, nothing too out there, both for the ballistic and energy ones.
You can hear mechs as they move, and it can provide a heads up as to what you are going to fight, its just that, its very likely you have already gotten a visual on them before hearing them.
Bugs do make sounds before attacking, and/or ambushing you, you can even hear the rumble as the big ones are moving in your direction, or hear the wing flapping of the big flying ones.
Mechs give you an alert sound when they are close to being destroyed.
Music wise, it doesn’t get in the way, and it can be overwhelmed by the sound of combat, but, it isn’t bad by any means, mostly serviceable, good ambiance on the slow moments between fights.
Voice acting wise, we got another serviceable, not bad, not good.
Each mission has a boss, which can either be a strong version of an already existing enemy, or a gimmick fight against a unique one.
Cutscenes wise, they are OK, there is no amazing cinematography, nor Michael Bay levels of destruction, they get the job done for giving you enough context for the next mission, or the next chunk of the level, and that’s it.
Moving onto sound, weapons do sound as you would expect, nothing too out there, both for the ballistic and energy ones.
You can hear mechs as they move, and it can provide a heads up as to what you are going to fight, its just that, its very likely you have already gotten a visual on them before hearing them.
Bugs do make sounds before attacking, and/or ambushing you, you can even hear the rumble as the big ones are moving in your direction, or hear the wing flapping of the big flying ones.
Mechs give you an alert sound when they are close to being destroyed.
Music wise, it doesn’t get in the way, and it can be overwhelmed by the sound of combat, but, it isn’t bad by any means, mostly serviceable, good ambiance on the slow moments between fights.
Voice acting wise, we got another serviceable, not bad, not good.
Mechanics
Third-person shooter, mostly of the run-n-gun variety. You can change the camera to first-person if you wish.
The game does light a fire under you, with the inclusion of the Thermal Energy mechanic, which is a counter that is constantly draining, on easy and normal, if it reaches 0, all it means is that you can’t heal, nor pilot mechs, nor fire energy weapons, on hard, if it reaches 0 you die.
There are many ways to get Thermal Energy, from killing enemies, or from varied environmental sources, like destroying Akrid eggs, or destroying containers filled with the stuff.
Thermal Energy reduces faster, when using a mech, or when firing energy weapons.
Another way to give yourself a good boost of energy, is to activate/capture data posts, which not only give you a very nice injection of energy, it activates your radar while you are on its vicinity, it tells you the direction you need to go, and updates your map. Although the missions are fairly linear, sometimes you might need the help, specially with the ones with more verticality to them.
You get a grappling hook, which you can use to reach more areas, and to hijack enemy mechs, although the range is on the short side, it can be a very helpful tool.
The game does light a fire under you, with the inclusion of the Thermal Energy mechanic, which is a counter that is constantly draining, on easy and normal, if it reaches 0, all it means is that you can’t heal, nor pilot mechs, nor fire energy weapons, on hard, if it reaches 0 you die.
There are many ways to get Thermal Energy, from killing enemies, or from varied environmental sources, like destroying Akrid eggs, or destroying containers filled with the stuff.
Thermal Energy reduces faster, when using a mech, or when firing energy weapons.
Another way to give yourself a good boost of energy, is to activate/capture data posts, which not only give you a very nice injection of energy, it activates your radar while you are on its vicinity, it tells you the direction you need to go, and updates your map. Although the missions are fairly linear, sometimes you might need the help, specially with the ones with more verticality to them.
You get a grappling hook, which you can use to reach more areas, and to hijack enemy mechs, although the range is on the short side, it can be a very helpful tool.
You can only have 2 weapons at a time, and 1 type of grenade at a time, you replenish ammo by grabbing duplicates, you can reload all small arms, and shoulder weapons while moving. Energy weapons, only use your own energy, they don’t require to be reloaded either.
Then, there are the heavy weapons, which are intended to be used while on a mech, but, you can pick them up while on foot, if you use them while on foot, you will drop 1 of your weapons, and will move slowly, you also need to standstill to start the reload animation, although they are awkward when used on foot, they can get you out of an emergency.
As for mechs, there is quite the variety, some are combat specialized, others are more for traversing through the level, the game will give you whatever you need at the time, its on you to use it effectively.
All mechs have their own little gimmicks, going from changing modes, to melee attacks, to flying or jumping high.
Weapons for mechs, work a little differently, most mechs have 2 hardpoints for weapons, a left and a right one, you can pick-up a weapon (or install it if you are on foot) from either side, pretty much attaching it to that hardpoint. When shooting, you can fire either one independently, the same for reloading, and you can reload them at the same time.
Ammo wise, they work the same as the on-foot ones, both for ballistic and energy ones.
You can easily tell which weapon is for what, with the on foot ones having green box around them, and the mech ones having a blue box.
When a mech is destroyed, you will have to mash the action button to eject.
Your HUD both while on a mech, and while on foot, will show you how much ammo you got left, below or to the sides of your crosshair.
Both bugs and mechs, have weakpoints, bugs have the obvious glowing bits, mechs, have reactors or bearings, usually in the back. As for humans, well, the head, duh.
There are some little targets scattered through the levels, they don’t do anything, its just an achievement, their location does change with the difficulty you pick.
And, that’s about it, I am gonna leave the gimmicks for you to discover.
Then, there are the heavy weapons, which are intended to be used while on a mech, but, you can pick them up while on foot, if you use them while on foot, you will drop 1 of your weapons, and will move slowly, you also need to standstill to start the reload animation, although they are awkward when used on foot, they can get you out of an emergency.
As for mechs, there is quite the variety, some are combat specialized, others are more for traversing through the level, the game will give you whatever you need at the time, its on you to use it effectively.
All mechs have their own little gimmicks, going from changing modes, to melee attacks, to flying or jumping high.
Weapons for mechs, work a little differently, most mechs have 2 hardpoints for weapons, a left and a right one, you can pick-up a weapon (or install it if you are on foot) from either side, pretty much attaching it to that hardpoint. When shooting, you can fire either one independently, the same for reloading, and you can reload them at the same time.
Ammo wise, they work the same as the on-foot ones, both for ballistic and energy ones.
You can easily tell which weapon is for what, with the on foot ones having green box around them, and the mech ones having a blue box.
When a mech is destroyed, you will have to mash the action button to eject.
Your HUD both while on a mech, and while on foot, will show you how much ammo you got left, below or to the sides of your crosshair.
Both bugs and mechs, have weakpoints, bugs have the obvious glowing bits, mechs, have reactors or bearings, usually in the back. As for humans, well, the head, duh.
There are some little targets scattered through the levels, they don’t do anything, its just an achievement, their location does change with the difficulty you pick.
And, that’s about it, I am gonna leave the gimmicks for you to discover.
Final thoughts
It is a very solid game, with a very simple core which is easy to pick up.
The shooting can get repetitive later in the game, thankfully, the way the game is designed, you actually don’t have to fight and kill everything, just enough for you to move forward, and there is 1 mission in which it hammers this in, a mission in which there is a very difficult snow worm, which you actually don’t have to fight.
Sure in some of the levels you might have to kill a lot, mostly to give yourself breathing space, for the most part, you can still find ways to walkthrough battles.
There are some cool details, with the different factions sometimes fighting each other, giving you the option of just walking by while they keep killing each other.
It can be a bit annoying that smoke obscures your vision, but enemies don’t mind it at all, and its also quite annoying how easily Wayne losses his balance, or is thrown around.
Each mission has a boss at or near the end, they can be hit or miss, but most, are memorable, except the final boss which was kinda mid.
My only actual problem with this game, would be the story, things just happen, and when the cutscenes play, sure they give context, but on the grand scheme of things, most of it feels either rushed, or that it came out of nowhere, or an exposition dump to make up for the 2 other things.
In one cutscene characters are hostile to each other or Wayne, then on at most 2 cutscenes later, everyone is friends now.
The real villain of the game, is introduced, at the end of mission 8, the game has 11 missions, you speak to him twice in the whole game.
The villain’s goofer, you talk to him twice, and see him in a flashback, then fight him exactly 3 missions later, and doneso.
Wayne isn’t really a character, just some guy who does things, and was given cool equipment by his dad, that’s it, you make friends, because you are the only one willing to get off your *** and do the missions, I am being hyperbolic sure, but I am not kidding, the amnesiac protagonist trope doesn’t do him any good.
And, that’s that, Lost Planet Extreme Condition, is a game, which spawned a franchise, which was later forgotten by Capcom.
Will you give it a try?
The shooting can get repetitive later in the game, thankfully, the way the game is designed, you actually don’t have to fight and kill everything, just enough for you to move forward, and there is 1 mission in which it hammers this in, a mission in which there is a very difficult snow worm, which you actually don’t have to fight.
Sure in some of the levels you might have to kill a lot, mostly to give yourself breathing space, for the most part, you can still find ways to walkthrough battles.
There are some cool details, with the different factions sometimes fighting each other, giving you the option of just walking by while they keep killing each other.
It can be a bit annoying that smoke obscures your vision, but enemies don’t mind it at all, and its also quite annoying how easily Wayne losses his balance, or is thrown around.
Each mission has a boss at or near the end, they can be hit or miss, but most, are memorable, except the final boss which was kinda mid.
My only actual problem with this game, would be the story, things just happen, and when the cutscenes play, sure they give context, but on the grand scheme of things, most of it feels either rushed, or that it came out of nowhere, or an exposition dump to make up for the 2 other things.
In one cutscene characters are hostile to each other or Wayne, then on at most 2 cutscenes later, everyone is friends now.
The real villain of the game, is introduced, at the end of mission 8, the game has 11 missions, you speak to him twice in the whole game.
The villain’s goofer, you talk to him twice, and see him in a flashback, then fight him exactly 3 missions later, and doneso.
Wayne isn’t really a character, just some guy who does things, and was given cool equipment by his dad, that’s it, you make friends, because you are the only one willing to get off your *** and do the missions, I am being hyperbolic sure, but I am not kidding, the amnesiac protagonist trope doesn’t do him any good.
And, that’s that, Lost Planet Extreme Condition, is a game, which spawned a franchise, which was later forgotten by Capcom.
Will you give it a try?
Pros
- + Simple and solid core gameplay.
- + Fun mech battles.
- + Lots of action and shooting.
Cons
- - Story feels rushed and undercooked.
- - Can get repetitive near end-game.
- - Dead multiplayer.
8
Gameplay
Its solid, and the controls never feel like they get in the way, the game will always give you a tooltip the first time you see something new, but, it can get repetitive, and tedious with some enemies
8
Graphics
It looks really good, despite its age, it really has that 7th gen feel for the graphics, it does a really good job on giving visual information, and tells.
5
Story
Its there, its rushed, but it gives enough context so you don't feel lost.
7
Sound
Its alright, the sound mixing needed some work, but for the most part, is serviceable, and never outright bad.
4
Replayability
Its on player's discretion, do you really wanna get those useless medals?
8
out of 10
Overall
Its a very fun and quick run-n-gun third person shooter, the varied mechs and equipment provide an engaging moment to moment gameplay, which sure can get repetitive near the end game, it still can surprise the overconfident player. The story feels rushed and undercooked, but it isn't the focus of the game. Each mission has a boss fight which can be either quite challenging after the midgame, or gimmicky, making you approach situations differently. If you are in the mood for a quick game with lots of action, can't go wrong with this one.
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