Capcom Database
Register
Advertisement
LostPlanetLogo

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom for Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, and PlayStation 3. The game was released in Japan on 21 December 2006 and worldwide on 12 January 2007. Originally intended to be an Xbox 360 exclusive, it was later ported and released for Microsoft Windows on 26 June 2007 and PlayStation 3 on 21 February 2008.

The game was produced by Keiji Inafune, the creator of the Mega Man and Onimusha series. It is the first game in the Lost Planet series and was followed by a sequel two years later.

The game utilizes both Vital Suit (also known as VS, which is like a mecha or robotic armor) piloting and on-foot exploration and features Korean actor Lee Byung-Hun as the model for the main character, Wayne. Lost Planet was released on January 12, 2007, in North America and PAL regions. Lost Planet: Trag Zero, a prequel which focuses on the character of Gale, Wayne's father, was also released on cell phones.

Gameplay[]

Most of the game revolves around combat. Wayne can use a variety of weapons, like machine guns, shotguns, and rocket launchers. In addition to hand-held weapons, Wayne can pilot an assortment of robot suits (mechs), called Vital Suits (VSs). Weaponry is used to combat the planet's native species, the Akrid. The Akrid are a hostile, insectoid species, which come in many forms. They can range from smaller than a person to several times larger than a mech. Wayne also fights groups of enemy human soldiers, called Snow Pirates. The Snow Pirates use the same kinds of handheld weapons and VSs that Wayne does.

There are multiple Vital Suits available for use, the GTT-01, the GTF-11, the GTB-22, the GTF-13M, the PTX-40A, the GAB-25M, the GAN-34, the PTX-140, and the PTX-40A/L-P-9999 (In approximate order). Also, when on foot, Wayne has the ability to remove heavy weaponry from these vital suits for upgraded firepower. For battlefield mobility, some of these vital suits can "Transform" into a faster, more agile form. For instance, one light-weight vital suit can transform into a Snowmobile-type transport with a chain-gun attached to it. As for weapons, there are some of the typical science fiction weapons such as sub-light speed lasers and slow-moving plasma bolt guns. The main weapon in the game is the previously mentioned machine gun, which somewhat resembles a FAMAS. It is quite effective at both medium and short ranges when against humans and small to medium-sized akrid, but is of limited use against boss akrid and VSs. Wayne can carry a maximum of two weapons at once. He, and multiplayer characters, are capable of using a grappling-hook type tool to gain vantage points.

In both the single-player and multiplayer game modes, there is a "T-Eng" (Thermal Energy) meter below the character's health. This counter goes down continually in the cold, and can be refilled by collecting pools of glowing orange "heat" that drop from dead enemies or other heat sources, such as an explosive barrel. It can also be replenished by activating data posts. The T-Eng is used to refill Wayne's health in the single-player mode, and is used to power energy weapons such as plasma rifles and removable mech energy weapons. If the T-Eng drops to zero, Wayne's health will begin to drop.

Xbox Live Support[]

LostPlanetArt

The game has multiplayer support on Xbox Live with up to 16 players online in a single game. Players can compete through four game types; Fugitive, Elimination, Team Elimination, and Post Grab. Killing enemies, destroying VS, and hacking data posts will add to the players score while getting killed and committing suicide will take away points. The point total at the end of the game will be added to the player's overall score across all of their games. This score will be used to determine the player's level. The highest level is 99. Players can unlock new character models and patterns. There are eight (nine in SE version) multiplayer maps: Crimson River, Dark Town, Diplidation, Training Facility, Canyon 810, Lost Coast, Pirate Fortress, and Frozen Wasteland. There are also several downloadable maps that you can get off of the Marketplace. These include Battlegrounds, Island 902, Ice Drop, and Radar Field.

The weapon variety in Lost Planet becomes obvious when playing in multiplayer matches; the game features 5 varieties of grenade, 15 distinct weapons (7 of which are dual-function in that they can be carried by infantry or attached to a mech), and 6 mechs ranging from transforming tanks to jump-jet walkers. Weapon placements are randomized for each match, as are a player's grenades upon spawning. The five grenades include a regular hand grenade, a disk grenade which flies in 1 direction, a gum grenade which you can attach to people, and a plasma grenade which freezes your enemies.

On March 2, 2007, Capcom released the first gameplay patch for Lost Planet's multiplayer modes. The patch includes fixes that allow players to easier discern the nationality of their fellow players, to tell who is speaking during matchmaking and gameplay with an added "speaking" icon, as well as a connection speed/strength indicator. This speaking symbol is also added in the results screen at the end of the match. It also contains a number of bugfixes geared to prevent major glitches and exploits during online play. However a few people have not been able to enter a match, due to the host quitting the match. This problem has been linked to the NAT settings on a player's router, and can be rectified by making sure the NAT setting is OPEN. This can be determined through the network setting's diagnostics test from the 360 dashboard.

Multiplayer Map Packs[]

Capcom has released three sets of map packs for 400 Microsoft Points each. The first set included Radar Field and Island 902 and it was released on March 9, 2007. The second map pack was released on April 6, 2007 and included Hive Complex and Trial Point.

The third map pack featured three new maps on June 21, 2007 and included "Ice Drop", based on a glacier, "Ruins", based in a jungle, and "Lost Technology", described as "a throw-back to the good ol’ days of pixelated 8-bit gaming."

Additionally, Battleground, a map which was only available in the limited edition version of the game, was released for free download on June 7.

Hive Complex, Trial Point, Radar Field and Island 902 became available for free on Xbox Live Marketplace on July 16th along with extra content (including Frank West and the Mega Man X armor for him) and a new patch addressing connectivity.

On August 16, 2007 the third map pack became available for free on Xbox Live Marketplace.

Characters[]

  • Wayne Holden
  • Yuri
  • Luka - one of a small band of snow pirates, Luka provides tactical and emotional support to Wayne.
  • Rick - Luka's younger brother, he is a skilled technician and hacker.
  • Basil - a friend of Wayne's late father, who has remained youthful thirty years after his death.
  • Godon - the first boss of the game, the Godon is a crab-like Akrid that curls itself into a ball and rolls around.
  • Snow Pirates and Snow Bunnies - the abandoned survivors, after NEVEC made it off-world, that were left to fend for themselves against the Akrid. The females are referred to as "bunnies".
  • Gale Holden - Wayne's father who was killed during a Green Eye attack while protecting his son.

Synopsis[]

Setting[]

Lost Planet takes place in the year known in the game as T.C. -80, 80 years before the trial century, on the planet of E.D.N. III. After the Earth's conditions become too hostile for humans due to war, global warming and pollution, an interstellar megacorporation named Neo-Venus Construction (NEVEC) plans to colonize E.D.N. III, a new Earth-like planet in the grip of a brutal ice age. NEVEC discovers that E.D.N. III is inhabited by an aggressive and territorial insectoid alien species named the Akrid, which come in all shapes and sizes and generate their own precious thermal energy. 150 years after a great war was fought in which the humans lost to the Akrid, civilian colonists and E.D.N. III military personnel continue to seek out a nomadic existence as "snow pirates", harvesting T-ENG from fallen Akrid. The plot of the game revolves around Wayne Holden, a soldier who attempts to overthrow NEVEC, who still vie for control over E.D.N. III, and help colonization efforts for the remainder of the human race by destroying the Akrid, all the while attempting to survive both betrayals and the extreme conditions of the planet.

Story[]

Gale Holden leads a group of snow pirates on a mission to infiltrate a domed city. During their mission, they are attacked by a giant Akrid known as Green Eye and are forced to retreat. Gale and his son Wayne attempt to fight it are quickly defeated. Gale’s VS explodes while defending Wayne who escapes outside but soon freezes inside his damaged VS, remaining frozen for thirty years. Wayne wakes up and finds himself in the care of Yuri Solotov and his crew of snow pirates; Luka and Rick. Apart from his name and the Green Eye, Wayne remembers nothing of his previous life.

Yuri is particularly interested in the thermal extension (or Harmonizer) attached to Wayne's arm, which has enabled Wayne to survive all this time. Yuri tells Wayne that NEVEC is working on a project designed to thaw out the planet to make it safe to live on. Wayne joins Yuri's band, and while on a mission to wipe out an Akrid hive, fights a woman named Basil. Basil tells him that Yuri has killed her husband and that she was looking for revenge. At the same time, Yuri mysteriously disappears, leaving Wayne to question his loyalty.

With the help of Rick and Luka, Wayne discovers the Green Eye's location and destroys it with Gale's VS. Shortly after, Wayne and his VS are attacked by NEVEC's field commander, Bandero. After escaping the attack, Wayne slowly remembers that rather than Green Eye being responsible for killing Gale, it was actually a few NEVEC soldiers with Bandero watching. Wayne and Luka barely escape, only to find that their pirate fortress (trailer) has been sieged, and that Rick has been taken captive.

For the next year, Wayne and Luka initiate hit and run attacks against NEVEC, which has taken control over the human race. During one of their attacks, they discover Rick is still alive, and has been rescued by Basil. Basil and Wayne take a NEVEC trooper named Joe hostage. It is after taking Joe prisoner that Basil goes on to explain that the Harmonizer slows down the aging process and unlocks the powers to Gale's VS.

After they interrogate Joe, they find out more about NEVEC's Frontier Project. He tells them it is NEVEC's plan to make E.D.N. III a safe place to live for humans. After joining the snow pirates, Joe arranges for Wayne to meet with NEVEC leadership, inadvertently leading to an ambush where Bandero shoots Wayne in the leg. During the confrontation, Wayne and Joe learn that the project will use T-ENG to wipe out not only all Akrid but also kill all humans left on the surface while all of NEVEC watches safely from the sky. Horrified, the pirates go on a final mission to stop the project. Wayne confronts Bandero a final time, killing him and regaining his father's rebuilt VS. Wayne finds Yuri, gravely wounded from torture, and before he dies, Yuri gives Wayne an attachment to his Harmonizer that will allow him to unlock the true power of his VS.

While Wayne begins his attack on the Frontier Project’s leader, Commander Isenberg, Basil sacrifices herself to buy him time and Joe sets off explosives to destroy the elevator from which NEVEC would hide. Wayne confronts Isenberg and after fighting in VSs, shoots him in the head with a single pistol bullet right before he passes out, losing his memory again. Wayne wakes up to find Luka and Rick starting to melt all of the ice and snow from the planet, and slowly colonization begins once more.

Development[]

Capcom first introduced Lost Planet on December 10, 2005 at an invite only press conference announcing Jun Takeuchi as both the producer and executive producer, Kenji Oguro as the designer and Shin Kurosawa who wrote the original story. At the conference, Capcom announced that they would follow the tradition of basing the main character of their game after a real person. Capcom decided to base the main character Wayne after the famous South Korean star, Lee Byung-hun. To capture the full essence of Lee, Capcom used a program called Face Robot. This allowed Capcom to use Lee's basic expressions and translate them to Wayne in the game. Capcom had Lee dress up in a recreation of Wayne's attire and then did a full body 3D scan to translate Lee into Wayne using a function called GATOR. But instead of using Lee for character animations, the developers did so manually. As for environments, Capcom used up to 300,000 to 600,000 polygons in the screen at once for a single battle. They then used an XSI program and then manually added in elaborate details. One of the main focuses of Lost Planet was to make a game that could be a commercial success in both North America and Japan.

Lost Planet also made an appearance at E3 2006. There, a new trailer debuted and an Xbox Live demo was announced for released by May 11, both multiplayer and single player. At the Expo, Keiji Inafune explained Capcom's reason for choosing the Xbox 360 as the prime console saying: "What the Xbox 360 represents is a great balance. When you think about when it was released, what it can do, how much it costs, the type of games it will have, it's just in a very nice position. The PlayStation 3 being that expensive is going to put it out of the price range of a lot of people, but yet the 360 will still be there. It will still be something that's affordable for enough people. The one disadvantage, unfortunately, is that it did not succeed in Japan". Lost Planet also made an appearance at Leipzig 2006, where it showcased a brand new trailer showing glimpses on online multiplayer. Following its appearance in Leipzig, Lost Planet also appeared at the 2006 Tokyo Game Show and DICE 2009.

The Windows Vista version of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition includes DirectX 10 support for enhanced graphics. A demo for the Windows version was released on May 15, 2007, which was the first playable game to showcase DirectX 10. The final release of the game would support both DirectX 9.0c and DirectX 10.

On February 26, 2008, Capcom released a PlayStation 3 version which included all of the downloadable content from the Xbox 360 version and the bonus characters from the Microsoft Windows version. Additionally, this port introduced support for 16 player online play.

Colonies Edition[]

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition is a gold edition version of Extreme Condition for the Xbox 360 and PC. The game included new multiplayer maps, a Human vs. Akrid multiplayer mode, and a selection of new monsters and weapons.

Colonies also introduced four new single player modes: Score Attack (points are given for each kill dependent on kill type and weapon used, akin to the co-op mode in Halo 3), Time Trial Battle Mode (similar to the Arcade mode of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare), first person shooter mode, and Unlimited Mode (which must be unlocked). The game also included cross-platform play between Xbox Live and Games for Windows - Live users. The game was released on May 29, 2008 in Japan; the North American release was announced for May 27, 2008, while the European one was on June 6, 2008.

Reception[]

Critical reception[]

Template:Video game reviews

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition received mixed to positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Xbox 360 version 78.56% and 79/100, the PlayStation 3 version 70.19% and 67/100 and the PC version 67.00% and 66/100, including a score of 36/40 from Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, which Gamasutra described as "impressive".[1] The game's visuals and combat were praised,[2][3] but reviewers criticized the controls, voice acting, and slowdowns in the frame rate.[4][5] Reviewers were generally in favor of the game's premise and mechanics,[6][7] and the gameplay was compared to Bionic Commando and Mega Man.[8][9] The frigid landscape of E.D.N. III was welcomed as a change of pace from the common settings portrayed in other shooters, such as World War II.[10][11][12] GameSpy said "[the levels are] evocative in a way that yet another urban wasteland, spaceship interior, or burnt out WWII battlefield can't be".[13] The game's system of forcing the player to constantly search for T-Eng to survive was considered novel, if not particularly challenging.[12][14] IGN's Erik Brudvig said "the energy doesn't drain fast enough to ever become a serious issue in most stages, but it does provide a nice nudge to the player to keep them moving along towards the next big fight".[15]

Lost Planet's graphics were widely praised on the Xbox 360 and PC versions.[4][2] VideoGamer.com said "[the game has] some of the most impressive visuals seen on the Xbox 360".[16] Other reviewers referred to the visuals as "astonishing",[4] "gorgeous",[17] and "brilliant looking".[18] There were complaints, however, that the PlayStation 3 version's graphics were not as good.[6][19] Australia's PALGN said "the Xbox 360 version leaves the PS3 version for dead in terms of overall polish and running speed, though the difference is primarily noticeable when you put the two next to each other. This is very disappointing, given that it’s come out a year later".[20] The audio received comments ranging from mediocre to good,[21][5][19] and the voice acting was widely panned.[4][16][6] GameSpot said "the voice acting is stiff at best, and sounds completely phony at worst".[21] The design of the Akrid was praised,[2] and the enemies were compared to the monsters of Panzer Dragoon, Dune, and Starship Troopers.[11][22][23] IGN commented, "from the giant earth worm that looks like it was ripped straight from Frank Herbert's imagination to the giant flying moth that toes the line between beautiful and scary, the big bugs are a sight to behold".[11] The boss battles against giant Akrid were considered massive and epic;[24][7] PALGN compared them to Shadow of the Colossus.[18] The character design was received less positively, especially the protagonist, Wayne. Reviewers criticized his name,[21][7] lack of character development,[24] and inability to look up.[5][14] A common complaint was Lost Planet's story;[3] it was described as confusing, convoluted, and poorly translated.[21][18][20] GameSpot said "the story plays out initially as a revenge tale. As the narrative progresses, however, it gets more and more convoluted as characters are introduced and the plot swerves out of control".[2] Lost Planet's multiplayer component received mixed remarks. Reviewers were generally pleased with the game options available to players,[6][7] but were disappointed that multiplayer was online only, with no opportunity for cooperative play.[24][3] GamePro criticized the Xbox 360 version's matchmaking system, which would drop all players from a match if the host disconnected. At the time of its release, the PC version suffered from numerous technical glitches, making online play impossible for many players.[2]

Sales[]

The demo for the Xbox 360 version was the second-highest downloaded demo on Xbox Live as of September 2007,[25] and the game was the 10th-most played game on the online service in 2007.[26] The Xbox 360 version was a best-seller in North America and the UK,[27][28][29] and was the highest-selling Xbox 360 game in the United States in January 2007 with 329,000 units sold.[30] Capcom shipped a million units of the game worldwide by January 17, 2007,[31] and by the end of March 2007, it had sold 1.37 million units.[32] A year after its release, the Japanese Xbox 360 version had sold 61,555 units and was the 10th-highest selling Xbox 360 game in the region.[33] The PlayStation 3 version was a best-seller in Japan and North America,[34][35] and entered the British sales charts at position 34 the week of its release.[36] The North American version received a boost in sales in December 2008 when Amazon offered a sale on the title.[37] Both console versions were popular titles on American video game rental company GameFly,[38][39][40] with the Xbox 360 version the service's number one rental across all platforms for a time in early 2007.[41] The PC version placed on the list of top 5 sellers in Japan.[42] The combined sales for both versions of Lost Planet are of 2.8 million units.[43]

Awards[]

IGN gave the Xbox 360 version their Editor's Choice award,[3] and it won the award for best Xbox 360 game at the Leipzig Games Convention.[44] It recived 1UP.com's award for best action game at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) video game convention in 2006,[45] and an "Award for Excellence" at the 2007 Japan Game Awards.[46] The game's marketing campaign won several awards at the 2007 MI6 awards show hosted by the Association of Electronic Interactive Marketers, including the "Gold" award for its limited edition packaging and "Silver" awards for its promotional poster and theatrical trailer.[47] Lost Planet's audio was nominated for Best Cinematic/Cut-Scene Audio and Sound Design of the Year at the Game Audio Network Guild's 2007 ceremony, but lost both awards to Gears of War.[48]

Legacy[]

Sequels[]

Lost Planet 2 was released and was available for purchase in May 2010. A spin-off titled E.X. Troopers was released in October 2012 in Japan. The third main game titled Lost Planet 3 was released in August 2013.

Appearances in other games[]

One of the mech-suits, PTX-40A, appears as a playable character in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, as one of the two largest characters in the game. There is also an unlockable mini-game set in the Lost Planet universe, where the PTX-40A, Ryu (from the Street Fighter series), Ken the Eagle (from Science Ninja Team Gatchaman) and Tekkaman Blade battle Akrids through several stages.

Gallery[]

Character images[]

Box art[]

Merchandise[]

Reception[]

  1. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12326
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named gspotpcreview
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ign360review3
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named europcreview2
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ignps3review2
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 https://web.archive.org/web/20080327032646/http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/reviews/1741/Lost_Planet_Extreme_Conditions.html
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 https://web.archive.org/web/20080611161438/http://gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/360AAE13-1A02-4AB5-B84E-A773CD6F7FA9.html
  8. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named 1uppcreview
  9. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named gspypcreview
  10. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named 1up360review
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/753/753402p2.html
  12. 12.0 12.1 http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/lost-planet-extreme-condition/801144p2.html
  13. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named gspy360review
  14. 14.0 14.1 http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/r_lostplanet_pc
  15. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/753/753402p1.html
  16. 16.0 16.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named vg360review2
  17. https://web.archive.org/web/20090203143328/http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/93628/lost-planet-extreme-condition/
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 https://web.archive.org/web/20090727193712/http://palgn.com.au/xbox-360/6348/lost-planet-extreme-condition-review/
  19. 19.0 19.1 http://www.gamedaily.com/games/lost-planet/playstation-3/game-reviews/review/6960/1965/
  20. 20.0 20.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20081218174307/http://palgn.com.au/article.php?id=10645&sid=4f970a9e20d697cb4e6408756be6ec68
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named gspot360review
  22. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/fi_lostplanet_x360_3
  23. https://web.archive.org/web/20081010161920/http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/lost_planet_extreme_condition/review.html
  24. 24.0 24.1 24.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named euro360review2
  25. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15566
  26. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=16051
  27. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12850
  28. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12916
  29. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13701
  30. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12841
  31. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12426
  32. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=14520
  33. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=16768
  34. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17553
  35. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17686
  36. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17712
  37. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21496
  38. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12656
  39. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17610
  40. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17336
  41. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12576
  42. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=14682
  43. https://web.archive.org/web/20140327174103/http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/business/salesdata.html
  44. http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/adventure/lostplanet/news.html?sid=6157224&mode=press
  45. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=9371
  46. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15560
  47. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13866
  48. http://www.audiogang.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=160&Itemid=189


External links[]

Advertisement