Lost Planet 3
Capcom
PS3, Xbox 360, PC
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Future energy crises might not sound like the biggest barrels of laughs, but they’ve been a dominating force in sci-fi film and game land for some time. Numerous titles from Avatar (unobtainium) to Command & Conquer (tiberium) have featured some sort of all-powerful alien mineral vital to keep our species going. For Lost Planet 3, it’s T-Eng, a glowing orange gunk of thermal energy. Somewhat predictably, there’s a catch. T-Eng is only found on the ice-laden planet o’ hell that is EDN III and is fiercely guarded by its insect-beast inhabitants, the Akrid.
Lost Planeteers of old will know all about EDN and its unfriendly natives from the previous titles. But the third instalment plays as a prequel to the first game, with the planet in the initial throws of human colonisation. You play the impressively beardy Nicolas Cage lookalike Jim Peyton, a handyman for the Neo-Venus Construction Company or NEVEC (yes, Lost Planet 1 & 2 player, these do become the main antagonist).
Peyton is a likeable hero, a family man (we know, because ever-so-slightly nauseating videos from his wife keep popping up on a video screen while you’re in base) forced to work on this rather inhospitable environment by rescuing colonists, fixing things and, well, shooting a whole load of Akrid while stomping around in a 30-foot mech.
By and large, it’s mostly decent third-person-shooter fun for the first few missions, with a wonderfully chilled setting that’ll almost have you reaching for the hot water bottle. The Akrid come in a range of sizes, from tiny spidery types to vast behemoths, meaning you’ll need a range of fighting tactics to keep them at bay (or, alternatively, dead).
Back at the NEVEC base, Coronis, you can freely explore between quests, chatting to its resident oddballs or using the T-Eng you collect from the vanquished foes to upgrade and buy new weaponry. As you progress, new areas become accessible, while extra gadgets such as the grappling hook give Peyton increased mobility and attack options.
But the snag comes in the actual mech combat, which is far less agile than the previous two games. You’re also locked into an annoying first-person view. Some may argue that, being a preview, the mechs aren’t supposed to be as advanced, but it does leave the fighting lacking. After far too short a time, Lost Planet 3 can also lurk dangerously into monotonous territories, with generators continuously in need of repair and locked doors opened only via overriding the security system.
Even the Akrid, once you’ve figured out the orange, glowing kills-’em-dead sweet spot to aim for, can become mildly tedious in their simplicity, often feeling like one long quick time event.
Dodge, shoot the weak area, repeat.
It’s a whole heap darker than the previous two, with elements of Dead Space in its lonesome atmosphere. But where Dead Space retained the edge-of-the-seat scare factor throughout, Lost Planet 3 eventually starts to feel like a chore, forcing you to replicate the same mundane activities to progress and using the same tactics to off the baddies.
It’s a polished and well-put-together third-person, but one that slowly begins to suffer from a lack of imagination to keep the thrills alive.
Granted, your character Peyton may be an expat working on an isolated, unforgiving planet. But playing him shouldn’t entirely replicate this experience.
artslife@thenational.ae
