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| Wayne travelling through a frozen over city. |
Humanity is trying to colonize the icy covered planet E.D.N. III, but face opposition from the Akrid, and race of giant insectsthat inhabit it. An Akrid hunter, Wayne, is separated from his group of hunters and gets amnesia after watching a gigantic Akrid kill his father. Wayne joins up with a group of snow pirates, hoping to regain his memories and kill the giant Akrid who killed his father along the way.
The game is divided into eleven levels. Each level begins with Wayne having to travel to the other end, shooting Akrid, other snow pirates, and the soldiers of the conglomerate NEVEC along the way. Each level ends with a large boss that Wayne has to kill.
Fighting the Akrid is different from fighting humans. Most Akrid are impervious except for a glowing orange spot on their bodies. The player has to aim for that spot while dodging the Akrid’s unrelenting attacks.
The humans are more conventional. They can be killed by being shot enough times unlike the mostly invincible Akrids, but make up for it more firepower and superior numbers.
All enemies drop thermal energy, a substance needed to survive on E.D.N. III. Wayne has two life bars, a regular one and one that stores the thermal energy. The thermal energy bar is always slowly counting down, so the player has to feed it a constant stream of thermal energy. Whenever Wayne is hurt his thermal energy is used to replenish his regular health bar. This adds an extra challenge for the player to find enough energy to stay alive while it is constantly running out. If anything his thermal energy bar is his real health bar. But because so many enemies drop energy so readily the player usually has more than enough energy to survive by the middle of the level.
While Wayne has plenty of normal weapons at his disposal, he also can pilot giant mechs that are found throughout the levels. These provide additional armor, as well as stronger firepower. These are needed to take out the enemies’ mechs, as well as the larger Akrid. Wayne can equip two weapons per mech, which gives the player a degree of control over how they want to handle fights. The mechs also use thermal energy, but at a much quicker rate. So using them creates an extra risk.
Bosses start off really easy but switch to incredibly hard near the end when their weak points are hidden. They are not impossible, but can get really close to being more frustrating than fun. They are always visually impressive, towering over Wayne even if he is in a mech.
Wayne also has access to a grappling hook which he needs to climb up the sides of mountains and buildings. For some reason it does not work on all surfaces.
With all the giant bugs and giant robots, it is a shame how subpar the combat in the game is. With the Akrids there is not much variety. There are three enemies that are more of a nuisance than anything; one does the cliché enemy charge at the player like a bull tactic, which leaves only four enemies of note, half of which do not appear until the end.
Fighting humans is always easy thanks to the massive amounts of thermal energy Wayne can collect. The only humans that pose a challenge are the ones with laser rifles and the ones with rocket launchers.
Robot fights always boil down to running around in slow circles, pressing the trigger button as fast as possible before the enemy does, and then hopping into another one when the current mech is too damaged. They always take too long, and in levels with lots of mechs it is sometimes easier to just run through them and pray for survival. And any game that makings fighting robots boring is not doing its job.
Setting the game on an all ice planet is a novel idea, but it makes the levels less interesting. They are either snowy mountains, snowy caves, snowy ruins, or less snowy bases.
The story is awful. All the characters, including Wayne, are either boring or annoying. Characters commit actions without much reason. Sometimes they will somehow show up at places that they should not be reached. The story presented by Wayne’s slowly revealed memories is confusing. The objectives of the main cast are unclear for most of the game. The biggest plot hole is that the main characters act like NEVEC is evil, but besides employing one asshole they are not shown to do anything that would be considered evil until the very end.
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition is a game that fails at everything it should excel at. It is a real disappointment and a waste of a premise.
great job jd!
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