Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Review

By Kristan Reed Published 10 January, 2007

Fountains of Wayne.

Version tested: Xbox 360

When we shoot things in videogames, we almost expect the downed foe to leave something shiny behind for us to pick up. It's practically a gaming law, with some of them designed to take advantage of our curious obsessive-compulsive desire to hoard thousands of pointless artefacts like the thieving digital magpies that we are. How many times have we gone back to games we've already finished, just to make sure we've hoovered up every last orb/crystal/coin/whatever? It's the first sign of madness, I tells ya.

Lost Planet, mind you, goes about it another way. It basically reverse engineers the whole premise of Dead-Things-Must-Spew-Shiny-Stuff to the point where Capcom has conjured an entire storyline to justify said spewage. Anyway, it made me smile, so I'm going to share it with you. Basically, in The Future, a bunch of pesky humans decide to colonise a hostile frozen planet (called E.D.N. III) inhabited by giant insect-like creatures called the Akrid. Cunningly, the Akrid house precious thermal energy (T-ENG) within their bodies, and the humans soon realise that they can utilise this energy resource to help them survive the sub-zero temperatures. Simple plan? Shoot Akrid, harvest the thermal orange ooze, stay alive.

Dressed in the rather handy Vital Suit, the game's protagonist (the chiselled Wayne) can brave the icy wasteland by going on an Akrid killing spree, knowing full well that every giant bug he kills tops up his T-ENG. Handy. But he's got a reason for that, too. Apparently an Akrid named 'Green Eye' (can't imagine why...) killed his father, so now he's seeking good old-fashioned retribution. So, with the slaughter and the orange ooze fully justified, what of the game?

Wayne VS the world

'Lost Planet: Extreme Condition' Screenshot frank

Is that you, Frank?

Unusually for Capcom, Lost Planet strips away many of the layers that characterise the games it is renowned for; layers which would have arguably made this game a more unique and interesting prospect. 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, and an increasing focus on VS mech combat, but more of that later.

Built around a linear level-by-level structure, you're never in any doubt what to do in Lost Planet, given that there's one main goal of each of the 11 levels: destroy everything you see. For the bulk of each level, you'll focus firmly on a series of close encounters with the Akrid threat - potentially an endless series of encounters until you locate and eliminate the nests that they pour out of. Along the way you'll also encounter larger, well armoured Akrid which often bowl towards you, knock you off your feet and do their best to sap your energy any way they can, and at the climax of every level is an even bigger foe to finish off.

But unlike so many challenging Capcom games down the years, Lost Planet always seems to offer you, the player, the edge in combat. The general 'grunts', be they of Akrid or of human origin, don't offer up a huge amount of resistance. With fairly forgiving (and often plain dumb) AI routines, plenty of ammo, stacks of health and powerful weaponry at your disposal, you continually carve a swathe through dozens of foes that offer up little resistance (particularly the humans), mindfully collecting all the orange ooze they leave behind and remembering to pick up the discarded weapons and ammo as you go. And even when faced with the mini bosses and typically spectacular screen-filling end-of-level bosses, their weak spots are generally so obvious that once you've worked out their predictable attack patterns the fight is over pretty quickly. A few well-aimed clips, a few wisely saved rockets and their health bar plummets. Sooner than you imagine, the fight is over and it's on to the next series of encounters.

Mech assault

'Lost Planet: Extreme Condition' Screenshot looks

For once, they're not making this stuff up - this really is what the game looks like.

Amidst all the on-foot combat you'll also come across discarded VSs, allowing you to crush bigger Akrid with ease with your dual mounted weaponry (which you can swap as you come across other weapons left lying around), as well as fight it out toe-to-toe with other mechs prowling the icy landscapes and abandoned structures. Better still, being strapped inside a mech gives you an extra layer of protection from the splash damage of the explosive rockets and so on being aimed at your HEAD, meaning your ever-depleting T-ENG stands a chance of lasting a little longer than usual. That said, your shield energy is pretty flimsy, so you'll constantly be doing a dance of death, ejecting from stricken craft and legging it to the nearest abandoned VS - or simply legging it.

In doing exactly that (legging it, that is), you begin to expose some of the limitations to the level design within Lost Planet, because the game regularly lets you get away with lazily running through entire sections of the game without even bothering to take down your enemies. In fact, in one memorable level featuring a giant worm (ripped straight from Dune, evidently), you're positively encouraged to run the gauntlet or else you'll get battered to death repeatedly, forced to start right from the beginning. In isolation that's fair enough, but it's also apparent that other levels let you get away with doing the same thing - and doing so can often prove the best tactic, or else you might end up needlessly facing the same respawning gits over and over, running down both your T-ENG and your best weapons. You can condone respawning enemies when it's up to you to destroy the generator, but not when it's just because The Designers Felt Like It. That's just annoying, especially when you realise that, after all the unnecessary battling, you can just give them the slip and let them get on with their respawning existence to infinity.

Some of this sneaky cheating might have been neatly avoided to a large degree if the game forced you to activate all the Data Post beacons that you come across on your travels. But the reality is that these sub-tasks are entirely optional, and only really worth bothering with if you feel you need an energy top-up. Soon enough, with nothing even approaching a puzzle to solve (even the old key collecting, button pushing, security deactivating tasks are absent) you realise that your sole purpose in each level is reaching the boss, so you'll do your best to get there as quick as you can. Admittedly there are some (as in a handful) well-hidden coins you can track down and shoot if you want to gain some extra achievement points, but the motivation to do so just wasn't there.

He's behind you

The story, too, is a bit of a let-down. Before you know it, people supposedly on your side are betraying you and the plot starts shooting off in a different direction to the point where you start to care less and less why you're facing off against so and so. Normally Capcom stories are reliably unhinged, and filled with pantomime villains, but Lost Planet's just feels a bit like it has been held back by the gameplay as much as anything. Giving the player little more to do than 'shoot stuff' level after linear level makes any attempt at creating a narrative feel rather tacked-on. One thing you can't question, though, are the production values invested in the cut-scenes; as ever Capcom is up there with the best.

Another questionable element about Lost Planet is the lack of any discernible Capcom-style experience system. Although it's fair to note that most shooters don't generally rely on an XP system to lend it a sense of progression, Lost Planet would have arguably benefited from one. On reflection, as a character, Wayne is no more capable in the final level than he is right at the beginning, and as such the combat doesn't feel especially evolved at the climax either - apart from the greater emphasis on mech combat. Sure, you might get access to rocket launchers and the ultra powerful Gatling Guns more often, there might be more mechs left lying around, and your enemies might be better equipped, but there's little sense that the game is any more challenging near the end than it is at the start. Quite often, in fact, you'll still manage well enough with the default machine gun, occasionally resorting to long-range tactics with other weapons.

There are also a few control grumbles that could have easily been ironed out by, oh, I dunno, adopting the industry standard. Instead, Capcom has gone for some oddball system where the targeting reticule sort of slides slowly left or right (rather than, say, stay fixed in the centre of the screen where it ought to be) and you have to assess your targeting based on where it is. Hitting the right or left bumpers flicks you ninety degrees in that direction, but it neither feels natural nor particularly useful - therefore remaining an unused feature. Admittedly you do get used to the 'feel' of the controls quickly, but, still, there was no need to mess with the standard system of third person control and targeting whatsoever. To add to the quirks, you can only shoot above yourself to a limited degree, making it not only needlessly tricky to get a bead on the things above you without backing away, it also makes using the game's grappling hook a bit of a pain in the arse as you desperately try to force the cursor up a few degrees to enable you to get the right angle.

Lost and found

'Lost Planet: Extreme Condition' Screenshot bug

Hello, I'm a big bug. Can you guess where my weak spot is?

In no way is the game a let down in the visuals department, mind you. With Capcom let loose on the 360's innards, it blends organic and mechanical with equal aplomb, delivering consistently beautiful and memorable scenes that arguably do more to drag you through the game than anything else. Whether you're trudging around a frosted up abandoned base or clearing rocky interiors of frantic flying Trilids (think Pitch Black), you'll get a real kick out of the amount of artistry that has gone into making the game. The fact that the Limited Edition version of the game comes with a bonus art book that goes into detail about some of the most memorable Akrids and Vital Suits (i.e. Mechs) in the game is no surprise, and welcome, too.

But as with so many Capcom games over the past decade, the boss monsters are incredible to behold - and perhaps even more so if you've got the kind of high definition display that can really do the sense of scale and detail justice. Ripped straight out of the graphic novels of your worst nightmares, some of these creations are beyond epic, forcing you to retreat to even see their bodies on screen at once. Likewise, the effects and incredible animation lavished on them makes it one of the most appealing looking next generation games to date. In particular, the smoke effects can often have a wonderfully disorientating effect, leaving you fumbling in the dark for a few seconds while it slowly drifts away and allows you to resume the battle.

Meanwhile, many Capcom fans and shooter fans alike will be holding out hope for what the game can offer in terms of its online multiplayer. Well, the first thing to note is that it's online multiplayer only, and competitive only - so no split screen, no system link and no co-op, which in itself is a bit of an oversight. In terms of what you get, there are four modes (Team Elimination, Elimination, Post Grab and Fugitive), with support for up to 16 players.

Kill all hippies

'Lost Planet: Extreme Condition' Screenshot adventures

Adventures on ice.

As you might expect, both variations on Elimination are standard deathmatch-based games, where everyone dashes for the most powerful VS or weapon and does what everyone does in games involving shooting one another. Fortunately, Lost Planet does, at least, offer something a little out of the ordinary by placing Data Posts around the maps to enable you to skulk off and recharge your Battle Gauge as well as use them as radar points, giving matches a degree of much-needed strategy.

Post Grab, meanwhile, is a team domination variant, based on activating all the Data Posts on the map, while Fugitive is based on the host being the one on the run, while everyone else hunts them down. The idea being that the fugitive has to build up his Battle Gauge to its maximum via either evading everyone else or killing the hunters - with the hunters tasked with running down the fugitive's Battle Gauge to nothing.

The maps are well judged in terms of varying their size and style, and there's a persistent online ranking system for your character, helping Lost Planet's multiplayer to feel a solid and enjoyable addition to the Live scene - but isn't quite as fleshed out or doing anything especially different to unseat Gears of War, GRAW or Halo 2 in the Xbox Live stakes. Bear in mind, though, that the game has already been patched prior to its PAL launch, so many of the issues you may have heard about (such as being kicked back to the main menu when entering full matches, or being unable to do simple rematches, increasing the text size on standard TVs, and so on) have already been addressed.

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition feels like it had the potential to be a pared-down shooter classic, but never quite manages to make the core combat exciting, varied or challenging enough to elevate it to the lofty realms that early showings suggested it would reach. 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.

7 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (117) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • killyourtv #1 5 years ago

    yeah

  • chacha #2 5 years ago

    wanted?

  • Tonka #3 5 years ago

    I wanted this but changed my mind. Don't know why really. The demo was fun but sort of enough.

  • peteb #4 5 years ago

    had a feeling this was a eurogamer 7. thought it was gonna be a bit better, but ill still pick it up when i get some cash. donations welcome

  • Carlo #5 5 years ago

    Kristan, can you recommend this for it's single player action alone (I'm a Silver Subscriber with no intention of playing against other people). You sound fairly positive about the plot etc...


    And, any guesses on the 'hours' of single play?

  • peteb #6 5 years ago

    15 hours apparantly, from what ive read

  • krudster #7 5 years ago

    It's about 8-10 hours in single player on first run-through. It's a solid shooter, nothing more.

  • LeD #8 5 years ago

    One for later, when the price drops or it hits the second hand shelves.

  • morriss #9 5 years ago

    What difficulty level did you play it on, Krud and what difficulty levels are there? Does the AI improve if you play it on a harder level?

  • Carlo #10 5 years ago

    LeD: "One for later, when the price drops or it hits the second hand shelves."


    On the contrary. 10 Hour Single player sounds *ideal* to me. I get bored of run-and-gun games if they get too long.

  • krudster #11 5 years ago

    I played on Normal. There are three difficulties by default and an unlockable extreme level. I'd say Normal is pretty much on the money. The difference appears to be more damage and tougher to kill enemies rather than better AI.

  • kalel #12 5 years ago

    For SP only, would you go for FEAR, Vegas or this?

  • morriss #13 5 years ago

    Cheers. Shame, as AI seemed to be one of your issues and the largest selling point for me in shooters. Apart from the gr4ff1x! that is!!11! omfgwtflol.

  • morriss #14 5 years ago

    kalel: Well, he gave FEAR a 9.

  • LeD #15 5 years ago

    Carlo.

    No. I command you to buy it later.

    :)

    Seriously. I was talking about my situation.

    Here's a list of games I've got "going":

    PES6
    Test Drive
    Dead Rising
    Enchanted Arms
    Ninety Nine Nights
    Oblivion
    Viva Pińata

    Not to mention Zelda on the Wii, some XBLA games, unfinished Xbox 1 games, and stuff I want to pick up on the cheap like R6:Vegas, FEAR, SC:DA.

    So Lost Planet will have to wait.

  • DDevil #16 5 years ago

    Hmmmm... To buy or not to buy.

    I wonder how many EGers will be getting this, and therefore how much fun I would have on Live with it!

  • Darren #17 5 years ago

    As good as Warioware then?

    Well I've opted for the Wii game and cancelled my pre-order for Lost Planet as I can't imagine I'd actually play it that much.

  • speedjack #18 5 years ago

    Will wait for a price drop... and save my pennies for a Wii.

  • ram #19 5 years ago

    "As good as Warioware then?"

    If I was President of the World, I would make sure anyone who typed "as good as X then?" or "better than X then?" would be visited by the hairy-fat-indie-band, The Magic Numbers, who would dish out a severe beating.

  • Viktor #20 5 years ago

    I've heard 4-5 hours quoted on message boards for the single-player campaign. Is there any truth to that or is that just the time clocked at finished (e.g. not counting retries at a checkpoint, which will be numerous in my case).

  • SeesThroughAll #21 5 years ago

    The visuals look amazing. Maybe that 7 is a bit harsh.

  • Hughes. #22 5 years ago

    Shame, this one really had me interested.

    Maybe Mass Effect will win me over to the Bawks.

  • Darren #23 5 years ago

    @Ram - LOL

    That's not very nice... I had the choice of two games this week, both of which EG scored 7/10 hence my comment. I've decided to go for Warioware because it's something different and original-ish (for me anyway as I've never played the earlier versions). Anyway I think I'm in serious danger of overdosing on shooting games on the 360 since it's dominated by them! Had Lost Planet been exceptional and offered something new then I'd have probably bought it but it's merely good so I'm happy to give it a miss.

  • ram #24 5 years ago

    sorry Darren :) I wouldn't worry just yet I'm unlikely to get elected.

  • Feanor #25 5 years ago

    "I knew this game would score pretty badly, that's what happens when you try to make a shooter aimed at the Japanese market"

    This game was never aimed at the Japanese market, hell, there barely is a market for the 360 in Japan. This game was clearly designed with Western audiences in mind.
    Edited by 1 at 10/01/07 @ 14:37

  • krudster #26 5 years ago

    FEAR, GoW, Vegas all trump this, I'm afraid.

  • krudster #27 5 years ago

    Feanor, see above.

  • Scurrminator #28 5 years ago

    difficulty is easy, normal, hard and pro (you get that when you beat it).
    The first two levels, of twelve, have taken me an hour on normal.
    And so far the game is fucking awesome.

  • Feanor #29 5 years ago

    Heh, yeah, I saw my question was answered already.

    I was hoping Lost Planet would be more in-depth, but I guess it's good to hear it's only a 7 since I haven't got a 360 yet.

  • Vin #30 5 years ago

    Christ, if something scores LESS than a nine, it's shite?

    Screw that, I loved this as I can BLOW SHIT UP REAL GOOD.

  • Steroyd #31 5 years ago

    Pretty much in line with other reviews.

    :o

    pretty solid game but was always going to be a filler until another game comes out.

    hehe means it's still a slow January.

  • groovychainsaw #32 5 years ago

    I was thinking of getting this in Jan, to fill in time...
    But then I got Star Ocean on PS2 for Ł10! So I have no life now :-(

  • drumbaby #33 5 years ago

    Sounds marginally better than the very meh demo I played. Come on Capcom, get into your next gen' stride, please.

  • PearOfAnguish #34 5 years ago

    The protagonist is called Wayne?
    Is there a bonus mission where you team up with his mate Trevor and go around stealing car stereos?

  • Sid-Nice #35 5 years ago

    I was expecting a 6/10 from Eurogamer for Lost Planet. Yet another 360 AAA title down the pan. :(

  • absolutezero #36 5 years ago

    So its bad because its short? If that was the case I never would have bought Gears of War. Finished that in around 4 hours.

  • S.J.Rogers #37 5 years ago

    I will stick to R6 Vegas as it rocks with online DM, 4 player Co-op and single player..!

    What more could you ask for.

  • ccfb #38 5 years ago

    E.O.N. III?

    I thought it was E.D.N ?

  • Yossarian #39 5 years ago

    giving this one a miss, buying a cheap copy of F.E.A.R. instead

  • Der_tolle_Emil #40 5 years ago

    @absolutezero: 4 hours? That's what you get when you play on casual I guess. Gears of War may not be huge, but I seriously doubt that it only lasted 4 hours.

    As for Lost Planet, I played the demo and while it was not really bad it did not stand out either. Seems a bit too bland for me.

  • ccfb #41 5 years ago

    I don't get some of the comments in this review. Why are all Capcom games expected to feature levelling and experience? Since when do shooters have to have character progression? I didn't see Halo or Half Life 2 giving their main protagonists any special new abilities as the game progressed.

  • Papalaz1 #42 5 years ago

    I finished it in 5 hours on normal. The sections prior to the boss fights in each level just feel like filler to bulk up the game. Bosses are excellent thought and quite tough.

  • Chtulie #43 5 years ago

    So... this is what the Japanese developers think top western games are about? This is their version of HALO? (as expressed by the devs of this game in interviews)

    I think they completely missed the point then. Particularly the importance of a highly developed enemy AI.

  • Dizzy #44 5 years ago

    "I think they completely missed the point then. Particularly the importance of a highly developed enemy AI. "

    Japanese like boss fights more I guess ;)

    It got quite high marks in Famitsu I seem to remember...

  • Masarin #45 5 years ago

    I'm not afraid of The Magic Numbers.

  • Masarin #46 5 years ago

    Primal Scream is another matter though. ;-)
    (If you know yer mooosik)

  • krudster #47 5 years ago

    I think Capcom needs to work out what Western gamers like about Capcom games, rather than try and interpret what we like. More of what Capcom is good at, please!

  • ccfb #48 5 years ago

    I guess we'll know how much "we" like Capcom's view on western shooters when the sales figures roll in. The demo download stats looked pretty healthy, after all.

  • PearOfAnguish #49 5 years ago

    Shouldn't the sub-heading be Mountains of Wayne?
    Edited by 2 at 10/01/07 @ 15:39

  • BartonFink #50 5 years ago

    Good review the really funny thing about a lot of these games that have been given 7s by EG for me is invariably I love them. (CoD2, Enchanted Arms, Tomb Raider etc).
    So going on that this is a definite must buy :D

  • Wash #51 5 years ago

    @Barton

    Indeed i have to agree with Enchanted Arms - its damy silly, but its pretty good game. COD2 >> COD3 x1000.

    I'll probably give this a go. Should keep me rolling till crackdown and the like start arriving.

  • Skooch #52 5 years ago

    @ absolutezero

    Gotta agree with Der_tolle_Emil man! Whaddya do, stick it on casual and then use a walkthrough?

    It bugs me when people put a game on easy and then rattle through it and then blame the game. I think Gears on hardcore (I didn't play casual) took me around 12 hours...and I'm not too shabby at shooters.

    I might try to pick up LP at some point just to play through the single player for the visuals. It really is a nice lookin' game.

  • morriss #53 5 years ago

    Resi 5 this year please Capcom

  • #54 5 years ago

    What happened the Tiger Woods 07 360 review then? :)

  • krokomkiller #55 5 years ago

    Superb review.
    I´v only played the sp demo but according to my experiences with that, this was spot on. I´l buy it when it gets cheaper.

  • Masarin #56 5 years ago

    @PearOfAnguish: Shouldn't the sub-heading be Mountains of Wayne?

    No. Eurogamer is a music magazine. Haven't you noticed.? :)
    Edited by 1 at 10/01/07 @ 16:02

  • skillian #57 5 years ago

    Love the Fountains of Wayne tagline (but PoA is right, it should be Mountains).

    Things like that and the Pixies analogy in the FEAR review are fun little referencesand show EG actually have some taste and knowledge of things other than games. Good show.

  • LeD #58 5 years ago

    I've just read the review and it sounds quite boring. I'm not even sure I'll pick this up now.

  • Fyzzu #59 5 years ago

    Sounds about right, judging from the demo. That was quite a disappointment. It's probably not a good indication of quality when you're bored of a two-level demo halfway through the first level.

  • Xerx3s #60 5 years ago

    kalel: Well, he gave FEAR a 9.

    If fear is a nine, then the 7 must be shit.

  • kangarootoo #61 5 years ago

    No-one should be paying Ł50 for any 360 game.

    http://ww w.best-game-price.co.uk/compare...

  • Chtulie #62 5 years ago

    Oh, no doubt the game will sell well. What else is there out now (not a few months ago) that has the same size profile? What competition is there this time of the year?
    Plus, look at the pattern for an x-box 360 player over the last year. Basically, a big game would come out, everybody would play it, be done with it, and then another big game would come out which everyone then would buy. Only in November did an 360 owner have a choice between big titles. Now we seem to fall back into the pattern.

  • SharkVLion #63 5 years ago

    Awesome; Red Brick buildings on an alien planet; Genious!

  • schoozzzmmii #64 5 years ago

    To add to the quirks, you can only shoot above yourself to a limited degree, making it not only needlessly tricky to get a bead on the things above you without backing away

    Given the amount of time and money that goes into producing a game nowadays it seems ridiculous that games can get bogged down by design decisions that should have been picked up on early in playtesting.

    I recently played gears of war and loved it for the most part, but the section where you had to use the tank turret to take out the Krill (or whatever those bats afraid of the light were called) was so very badly designed purely because you could only angle the gun up so far. Every time those damn bats swooped down, as soon as they got close enough to do you damage they were so high in your field of view that they couldn't be shot. Millions of dollars this game cost, no one realised this section just wasn't any fun? Or was it just me.

  • asphaltcowboy #65 5 years ago

    Will pick this up sometime, enjoyed the demo, but just having too much fun with R6 right now...

  • sillak #66 5 years ago

    @Mapster

    I hear you, brother! Eventually just bought Tiger 2007 sans EG review in the end. Not too bad. A lot better than the previous effort, and more difficult too, though it's still early days.

    I still get cold shivers watching my doppelganger stride up to the tee box though...gameface is unnaturally good.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #67 5 years ago

    @schoozzzmmii: It wasn't just you. This section is so broken it hurts. Especially because you die most of the time. Dying once or twice until I figure out how to best tackle the situation is one thing, dying dozens of time because the enemy pops up where I cannot even aim at is just no fun.

  • samk #68 5 years ago

    "If fear is a nine, then the 7 must be shit."

    Yeah. I bought Fear on the strength of the EG review - saw it in Game for Ł30 and thought I'd pick it up. I'm a few hours into Fear now and thoroughly unimpressed. Does it EVER change from fighting those enemy soldiers in drab warehouses? Graphically poor too; actually reminded me of amateur HL2 mods featuring rigid geometric buildings filled with crates and shipping containers. Quite stunned Fear was regarded so highly here tbh.

  • krokomkiller #69 5 years ago

    Agree.
    I bought it for pc recently.
    Cost me around 8Ł.
    Was not worth it.

  • captainrentboy #70 5 years ago

    Well as i'm a massive graphics whore and I really like blowing shit up good I'll still be picking this up on Friday,it had an 8 in Games Tm,and that's pretty much my most trusted review source.

  • chupachups #71 5 years ago

    "On the contrary. 10 Hour Single player sounds *ideal* to me. I get bored of run-and-gun games if they get too long. "

    You must be fairly well-off...

  • Stormflood #72 5 years ago

    Demo didn't do anything for me, but I thought the full game would score higher going by all the hype.

    /back to Vegas

  • AgentFosterGrant #73 5 years ago

    /skips to score

    Hmm. First time in a LONG time I've ordered a game before seeing a review for it.

    Just please no tearing......

  • AgentFosterGrant #74 5 years ago

    "I will stick to R6 Vegas as it rocks with online DM, 4 player Co-op and single player..!

    What more could you ask for."

    A 360 game with decent graphics? I'm well happy with the 360 but RS: V is absolute shite. The dev should have had more time with the U3 engine. >:|

  • AgentFosterGrant #75 5 years ago

    "No-one should be paying Ł50 for any 360 game."

    I paid Ł40 for the 'special edition'.


    ..........


    ......

    Hmm.

  • AgentFosterGrant #76 5 years ago

    "@schoozzzmmii: It wasn't just you. This section is so broken it hurts. Especially because you die most of the time. Dying once or twice until I figure out how to best tackle the situation is one thing, dying dozens of time because the enemy pops up where I cannot even aim at is just no fun."

    I breezed that and I suck at games. :\

    I used to have l33t skillz but not now. They (the skillz) have gone!

  • Carrybagma #77 5 years ago

    Combat devolved?

    Based on EG's claimed policy of rewarding innovation, I'm a bit surprised this got more than 6, based on that rather negative review. Did you find it hard to be harsh on a game that looks so very good, Kristan?

  • dryden555 #78 5 years ago

    Disappointing that the single-player AI isn't better: I'll check it out when the price goes down 6 months from now. Oh well.

  • krudster #79 5 years ago

    Sorry to say, but there's also some V-Sync tearing to report...

    Not as bad as Saints Row, but it's definitely noticeable.

  • AgentFosterGrant #80 5 years ago

    "Sorry to say, but there's also some V-Sync tearing to report...

    Not as bad as Saints Row, but it's definitely noticeable."

    o_o

    It only has to be as bad as RS: V to make the game 'binable' for me. >:|

    Please try and mention this in future reviews. Not that I actually waited for the review for this game. Ha!

    /dies

  • richardiox #81 5 years ago

    What the hell is it with the 360 and tearing. Yes, i know Gears was Vsynced as have been several other games but the number of big titles that tear like my grandads pants is ridiculous.

  • skillian #82 5 years ago

    Yeah. I bought Fear on the strength of the EG review - saw it in Game for Ł30 and thought I'd pick it up. I'm a few hours into Fear now and thoroughly unimpressed. Does it EVER change from fighting those enemy soldiers in drab warehouses?

    If you'd really read the review, you should know that already.

  • AgentFosterGrant #83 5 years ago

    It took me playing RS: V to take a second look at Gears and really appreciate it.

  • mkreku #84 5 years ago

    V-sync demands a lot from your system. I usually have it turned off on my PC.. and I am using a Radeon X1950XTX 512MB GDDR4!

    I'm guessing they'll make more games with V-sync later, when they've mastered the hardware in the Xbox 360.

  • Mordum #85 5 years ago

    @krudster

    For me a game really shows its worth on the hardest difficulty setting (Gears, Halo, Halo 2, etc). I'm assuming you played through and completed it on the pro (or whatever it's called) setting before writing the review, so how does the game play on the hardest setting? how much more of a challenge is it, and why?

  • BigJonno #86 5 years ago

    I have to admit that I was surprised to see the 7 at the end after reading the review. I was expecting a 5, maybe a 6.

  • Steroyd #87 5 years ago

    Why?

    I'd very much prefer boss fights instead of slogging through level 1, level 2, level 3 etc without my abilitiess that i learned in the game being tested.

  • haowan #88 5 years ago

    Baby please, leave the biker, leave the biker, break his heart.

  • lambtron #89 5 years ago

    "For me a game really shows its worth on the hardest difficulty setting (Gears, Halo, Halo 2, etc)."

    Hmm, I agree legendary on Halo1 was excellent but Halo2 was terrible. The AI had 100% accuracy, never had to reload (for weapons that required it), never had overheating weapons ( for weapons that overheated ) and all the enemies just had increased shield (for those that had shields) and increased health. In other words it was just poor in this respect. What was even more annoying was that Halo1 committed none of these sins. Even if you compare it to something as old as Goldeneye it seems poor in this respect.

    That's not to say I didn't like Halo2 and the Multiplayer was fantastic but as someone who likes to play Games on the hardest setting too, I found legendary on Halo2 very, very poor. I truly hope they get this right for Halo3.

  • Rambaldi #90 5 years ago

    @lambtron

    Disagree. Sure, Halo 2 had different enemy dynamics, but if it hadn't it would have felt old. Remeber the time you tried to take on a Hunter in Halo 2 as you had in Halo 1? Exactly!

    That said, where they ruined it for me was with the sniper alley sections. Halo has always been about cool face to face dogfights that are always varied due to the stellar AI. Throwing in memory-test-one-shot-and-you're-dead sections was dumb, dumb, dumb.

    I hope to god they're not in Halo 3

  • IronGiant #91 5 years ago

    Perfectly fair score, good but not great by any means.

  • NegativeZero #92 5 years ago

    This review has pretty much sealed my decision (based off the demo) to wait for this to drop in price a bit. It set off too many memories of Gunvalkyrie for me, especially with the unconventional controls and annoying respawning. Japan must look for different things in shooters.

  • Hughes. #93 5 years ago

    People keep using the phrase "big titles" and I keep reading it as "big titties".

    Just thought I'd share that.

  • Carrybagma #94 5 years ago

    Blimey! I forgot about Krudster's song title habit.
    10-4 good buddy - kill all hippies.
    Are the rest Primal Scream?
    Is one of them Echo and the Bunnymen?

    Damn - I'll have to check the previous reviews now to catch up. I'm a krudster fanboy, u c.

  • Carrybagma #95 5 years ago

    @Hughes.: Do you have a problem with 'Create an account' too? I don't suffer from the tittie one, but perhaps I should.

  • Hughes. #96 5 years ago

    Crate an amount?

    Talk sense man!

  • sharpfish #97 5 years ago

    I've been very interested in this since the first demo, Dead Rising was great and I assumed this would be too. All of the reviews I've read say it's pretty average so I think I will wait till it's on budget if at all.

    Oh and gears is still going strong and along with Viva Pinata are the two most "giving" games on the 360 (as long as you like multiplayer for gears).

  • melw #98 5 years ago

    Meh. After reading the review, not that interested anymore. In between the lines, this could've been 6/10... Well, only 5 months to Bioshock. :)

  • space_ace #99 5 years ago

    xtrmntr, great lp

  • Goodfella #100 5 years ago

    Don't know if anyone has mentioned this but the reviewer makes a pretty big error regarding the reticule. There is an option in the aiming section under 'speed' (yes it's a bit misleading) and in there you can choose between 8 variations on each of the 3 aiming types, which are; Accelerate (default), Cruise (not sure what that is) and Fixed. Which is what I used.

    Not a great game though, I'm pretty much in agreement with everything else the reviewer mentions.
    Edited by 2 at 11/01/07 @ 08:56

  • krudster #101 5 years ago

    Wow, really? At no stage does the game explain that. Doesn't make much difference, though.

  • pretence #102 5 years ago

    /one potential game of interest for the Xbox gone... oh well... drums fingers... contemplates PC upgrade with Direct X 10 graphics card...

  • SomaticSense #103 5 years ago

    Downloaded the demo again to see what the fuss was about and the see if my opinion has changed, as I never got it the first time.

    Nope, no change. It felt a lot of fun for the first 10 or so minutes though, and I was actually thinking "maybe I'll buy this, it's quite fun". Until I got into the Akrid cave, at which point I was bored as fuck and was playing without a care and with a glazed look over my eyes.
    It's not a good sign when I'm already bored of the game after only halfway through a demo, so I seriously doubt I could get any decent enjoyment for any length of time out of the full game. I just don't see the fuss.

    I suppose it's just not for me then....
    Edited by 1 at 11/01/07 @ 11:11

  • SBfistfun #104 5 years ago

    No surprise, the demo was shite

  • mash the x button #105 5 years ago

    "Giving the player little more to do than 'shoot stuff' level after linear level"
    Hardly surprising, as it's a game developed for the xbox, aimed at the US market.

  • platinum #106 5 years ago

    »it had the potential to be a pared-down shooter classic«
    I actually think it still going to be an absolut classic cause people will still be going out buying and enjoying Lost Planet a whole lot dispise the "low" scores it's recieving.
    And maby along all that buying and enjoying, some internet-rantboys will come to realize that "7" isn't actaully a low score at all if you like the genre of that particular game … cause that's what a "7" is all about: it's good, if you like that kind of game!

  • Masarin #107 5 years ago

    Th nd b ss s r h g ! b t sh ll w b t g d f n f pl thr gh t f st.
    e e o e a e u e A i a o u oo u i you ay ou i a

    Hell yeah! Xtrmntr is great!
    Edited by 1 at 12/01/07 @ 02:06

  • ZuluHero #108 5 years ago

    well - 6 missions in and i'm enjoying it, plus its one of the nicest looking games i've seen for a while (and yes up there with GoW and Oblivion)

    The bosses and effects have to be seen to be believed.

    Tbh - GoW doesn't offer anything that this doesn't do - well, maybe LIVE co-op ;)
    Edited by 2 at 12/01/07 @ 14:00

  • dryden555 #109 5 years ago

    its a darned shame the enemy AI isn't better/more crafty. really is a bit of a gamebreaker in a shooter style game.

  • Amazing Bryan #110 5 years ago

    When will people realise, that it doesn't matter how good a game looks, but how it plays?
    Knew this was going to be shit from the demo.

  • Dr.Mott #111 5 years ago

    I bought it today after loving the demo, and it's great. Some of the enemies are a bit cheap though, knocking you over again before you can get up, but apart from that, great.

    Plus, I think Capcom made a very smart move releasing it when they did. All the kids with new 360's and money, they'll buy this.

  • muters #112 5 years ago

    I really enjoyed the demo, but the game in its entirety didn't seem to offer a whole lot more. Brainless cannon fodder just doesn't feel enough anymore, the only enemies that felt a threat were the Akrid and enemy VSs that could knock you off your feet and cause arbitrary amounts of damage before you could get near their weak spots. And the plot... just, no.

    Isn't necessarily a bad game by any means, I'd agree with the 7. A decent run-and-gunner, but hardly a landmark title (though, to be fair, perhaps I wouldn't be so critical if I didn't expect it to be one)

    Online's pretty great, though. Finding a match is nice and efficient - bar the odd lost connection - and there's usually a decent mix of players to scrap with. A bit imbalanced maybe (I haven't seen any team on the Pirate Fortress map win from the bottom of the map, all that's needed is a Tom Hanks voicemask for the full Omaha Beach atmos) but yeah, it's all good fun.

    Another case of the Annoying Shotgun though. If I floor someone with a blast, I don't expect to be at a disadvantage, having to guess when their invincibility period's up. Grr!

  • captainrentboy #113 5 years ago

    On Chapter 4,and I'm loving it so far.Like the review said,it's nothing too revolutionary just your run of the mill Run and Gun game.But the looks and presentation of it is top notch,the animation is worthy of praise too,both Wayne and the various Akrid have a next gen lovliness to their movement.(I especially like it when the rolling bastards topple over onto their backs and stuggle for a while to get back up)
    To be honest it's gripped me more than G.O.W did in it's first few levels :/
    Going from this and Dead Rising Microsoft could be onto a winner if the persistant rumours are true in that they're buying ole Capcom.
    Going to give MP a whirl now.

  • Rambaldi #114 5 years ago

    What's all this talk of v-sync issues? It's perfect! I'm running on a 1080p set with VGA cable - is it a component issue?

  • Huntcjna #115 5 years ago

    Amazing Bryan

    "When will people realise, that it doesn't matter how good a game looks, but how it plays?
    Knew this was going to be shit from the demo."



    How is a 7/10 game suddenly shit? Seriously if your going to be a mindless troll use some better logic.

  • db3 #116 5 years ago

    After mixed reviews I was pleased to find this game is awesome :)
    Took a little while to get going but now I'm enjoying it far more than gears.

  • Glitch #117 5 years ago

    Did you do the review on Normal difficulty? I agree it can seem way too easy, stick it on Hard and prepare for death. My mates reckon its better than GoW, visuals and gameplay rock for me. 7/10 is fair tho i think

  • Mordum #118 5 years ago

    @Goodfella
    I noticed that too, quite a big mistake aswell considering how important controls are to a game. Played through the first mission, and thought there must be some way to sort the aiming out, so I had a fiddle around with the options for aiming, and presto... "fixed 6", much, much better (fixed in place like it should be). The original aiming settings definately affected my enjoyment of the game, but now I'm having much more fun with it. You would have thought a Eurogamer staff member would figure something as simple as that out.
    Edited by 1 at 26/01/07 @ 09:49