gamesource
07-10-2006, 01:42 AM
Lost Planet won't hit the USA until the first quarter of 2007, but the recent OXM E3 demo brought a relatively unknown game to my radar. After spending an hour with it, I was nicely surprised at a new property, beyond Gears of War, actually pumping me up for the next gen.
A third person shooter on the 360, the game seems to stick with the snowy, Siberian wilderness with battle-torn factories setting, complete with enemies always holding up in these run-down facilities. The demos were mostly run-and-gun fests, with some breakups with Mech riding (yes, the game features mechs you can hop into at any time). The mechs were cool additions that can be hopped in and out of at any available time.
Beyond simply shooting baddies (ranging from walking alien spiders to squads of soldiers sniping at you), you must collect dropped power orbs from fallen enemies. These orbs keep a timer up, that, when it reaches zero, I assume cause you to lose/die/game over (I never failed that badly, and the orbs are rarely in short supply).
The controls work well, with the most notable innovations being the "anchor", a grappling hook the can be used at any time to climb up buildings, ledges, and small cliffs, and is brilliantly used as not a necessary addition, but one that feels like you're a real soldier with more movement abilities than simply turning and shooting. Even the simple idea of turning has been improved by implementing 90 degree turns on the RB/LB buttons, making for more precise, multi-villian targeting.
The only negatives I took away from the demo were some awkward targeting and slow movement/natural turning (if you're not using RB, you'll spend your time being shot at from the right side as you slowly look in said direction). But these minor gripes shouldn't stop any 360 owner from keeping this game off their post-Christmas purchase list.
A third person shooter on the 360, the game seems to stick with the snowy, Siberian wilderness with battle-torn factories setting, complete with enemies always holding up in these run-down facilities. The demos were mostly run-and-gun fests, with some breakups with Mech riding (yes, the game features mechs you can hop into at any time). The mechs were cool additions that can be hopped in and out of at any available time.
Beyond simply shooting baddies (ranging from walking alien spiders to squads of soldiers sniping at you), you must collect dropped power orbs from fallen enemies. These orbs keep a timer up, that, when it reaches zero, I assume cause you to lose/die/game over (I never failed that badly, and the orbs are rarely in short supply).
The controls work well, with the most notable innovations being the "anchor", a grappling hook the can be used at any time to climb up buildings, ledges, and small cliffs, and is brilliantly used as not a necessary addition, but one that feels like you're a real soldier with more movement abilities than simply turning and shooting. Even the simple idea of turning has been improved by implementing 90 degree turns on the RB/LB buttons, making for more precise, multi-villian targeting.
The only negatives I took away from the demo were some awkward targeting and slow movement/natural turning (if you're not using RB, you'll spend your time being shot at from the right side as you slowly look in said direction). But these minor gripes shouldn't stop any 360 owner from keeping this game off their post-Christmas purchase list.