LOST PLANET
Campaign
The entire game is played through the third person over-the-shoulder view. Players are allowed to switch between first person and third person at any moment. In the campaign mode, the player travels both on foot and riding giant robotscalled VSs. VS (or Vital Suits) that carry heavy fire power weapons such as chainguns and rockets and can pick up weapons lying on the ground and fire multiple weapons at once. On foot, the player is able to use a grappling hook to pull himself up to normally hard to reach places and to hook onto a VS and disassemble and hijack said VS. To command VS and use certain weapons, the player must defeat enemies or activate a data post to get thermal energy (an orange energy source used to power a large number of technology in the game). When the player's thermal level hits zero, the player's life slowly melts away and eventually causes the player to die. The player also engages in multiple VS battles throughout the game and contains 12 levels of play.[7]
Multiplayer also forces the player to monitor thermal levels but instead of dying when their energy hits zero, they just can't get into VS or fire certain weapons that require energy. Multiplayer mode also utilizes data post. Post allow players to use their navigational radars which allow them to see incoming enemies as well as enemy posts.
Multiplayer includes four modes called Elimination, Team Elimination, Post Grab, and Fugitive. Players score points for killing other players and initiating post while they lose points for being killed or committing suicide. Post grab is a mode where players on opposite teams compete to capture all the post on a field to win or have the most posts when time runs out. Team-Elimination is a 16 player team competition while Elimination is a 16 player free for all mode. Fugitive is a game mode where one person is marked as a fugitive and the other players try to take all his points before time runs out. VS are also used in multiplayer and have the same capabilities as the ones in the campaign.[8]
Lost Planet begins in the year of T.C. -80 where the Earth has become too hostile for human life. A company named NEVEC(Neo-Venus Construction) tries to start colonization on the planet E.D.N. III. Upon arriving on the planet, NEVEC discovers an alien race called Akrid and are forced off the planet momentarily stopping colonization efforts. Returning to E.D.N. III with an army prepared to fight, they find that the Akrid contain an energy source called Thermal Energy that is needed to survive on the planet. NEVEC build the first VS powered by thermal energy and continue colonization efforts.
The game starts with Wayne and a band of snow pirates taking on a mission to kill the giant Akrid Green Eye. During their mission, Wayne is separated from his squad and watches his father's VS explode. Wayne is left drifting in the snow and is frozen solid for 30 years. Wayne wakes up and finds himself in the care of Yuri Solotov and his crew of snow pirates; Luka and Rick. Wayne finds that Yuri has equipped a thermal extension(or Harmonizer) to his arm and that Yuri is working 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 a Akrid hive, fights a woman names Basil. Basil told 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. Basil goes on to explain that the extension is a harmonizer which slows down the aging process and unlocks the powers to Gale's VS. Angrier than ever, Wayne discover's the Green Eye's location and destroys it. Shortly after, Wayne and his VS are approached by the actual Isenberg Basil speaks of and are attacked by NEVEC. Slowly, after escaping the attack Wayne remembers that it wasn't Green Eye who killed his father, but Isenberg and NEVEC who did so. Wayne barely escapes back to Luka and finds that their pirate fortress has been sieged and that Rick has been taken captive. For the next few years, 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 Luka and Rick still alive and are able to take a NEVEC troop named Joe hostage. After they interrogate him, they find out about NEVEC's Frontier Project. Joe 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 confesses everything the project will do. The project will use Thermal-Energy to wipe out all Akrid but will 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, Isenberg's second in command, killing him and retaining his father's rebuilt VS. Wayne finds Yuri and before dying from torture, Yuri gives Wayne an attachment to his Harmonizer which would allow him to unlock the true power of his VS.
While Wayne begins his attack on 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 starting to melt all of the ice and snow from the planet, and slowly colonization begins once more.
Capcom first introduced Lost Planet on December 10, 2005 at a invite only press conference announcing Jun Takeuchi as both the producer and executive producer, Kenji Ohguro as the designer and Shin Kurosawa whom 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 Korean star, Byung Hun Lee.[9] 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 Waynes attire and then did 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 anXSI 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.[10]
Lost Planet also made an appearance at E3 2006. There, a new trailer debuted and a Xbox Live demo was announced for released by May 11, 2006, both multiplayer and single player.[11] 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.".[12] Lost Planet also made an appearance at Leipzig 2006, where it showcased a brand new trailer showing glimpses on online multiplayer.[13] Following its appearance in Leipzig, Lost Planet also appeared at the 2006 Tokyo Game Show and DICE 2009.[14]
Collector's and Colonies Edition
The Collector's Edition of the game was released on January 12, 2007 worldwide. The Collectors Edition included a special edition tin cover, an art book including exclusive cover art, multimedia cut scenes, and multiplayer maps that would not be released until months later for free.[15]
Lost Planet: Colonies is a gold edition version of Extreme Condition for the Xbox 360 and PC.[16] The game includes new multiplayer maps, a Human vs Akrid multiplayer mode, and a selection of new multiplayer characters and weapons.[17]
Colonies also introduces 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).[18] The game also includes cross-platform play between Xbox Live and Games for Windows - Live users.[19] The Colonies edition is not compatible with the original Lost Planet save games or multiplayer game, so players of each release may only play with others who have the same release.[20] The game was released in North America on May 27, 2008; in Japan on May 29;[19] and in Europe on June 6.
Main article: Lost Planet 2
A sequel to Lost Planet: Extreme Condition was announced on February 23, 2009, as an Xbox Live video that showed E.D.N. III melted giving way to lush jungles. Developers say that there have been major changes in the gameplay including the improved MT Framework engine and a new co-op campaign.[21] [22]
Capcom announced three maps packs and a single map for downloadable content. The first map pack was released on March 9, 2007. The pack included "Radar Field" and "Island 902". The second pack was released on April 6, 2007 and contained the maps "Hive Complex" and "Trial Point". Then Capcom released the single map pack, "Battle Ground" on June 7, 2007 and the final pack on August 16, 2007 which included the maps "Lost Technology", "Ruins", and "Ice Drop".[23]
On July 16, 2007, Capcom announced the first downloadable content for the PC version. The content included new view modes resembling that of the Resident Evil series and a new multiplayer maps downloadable on the console versions. The content also included new characters including Joe from the campaign, Mega Man, and Dead Rising's Frank West.[24]
In July 2008 it was announced that Metal Gear Solid voice actor and X-Men screenwriter David Hayter was in talks with Warner Bros. to write and direct a film based on Lost Planet.[25] On July 15, 2008 at the 2008 E3 Expo, Capcom announced their partnership with Warner Brothers to make the film based on this game,[26] with father and son producing team Avi and Ari Arad (The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man) also having been tapped to work on the project.[26]
The demo for the Xbox 360 version was the second-highest downloaded demo on Xbox Live as of September 2007,[27] and the game was the 10th-most played game on the online service in 2007.[28] The Xbox 360 version was a best-seller in North America and the UK,[29][30][31] and was the highest-selling Xbox 360 game in the United States in January 2007 with 329,000 units sold.[32] Capcom shipped a million units of the game worldwide by January 17, 2007,[33] and by the end of March 2007, it had sold 1.37 million units.[34] 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.[35] The PlayStation 3 version was a best-seller in Japan and North America,[36][37] and entered the British sales charts at position 34 the week of its release.[38] The North America version received a boost in sales in December 2008 when Amazon offered a sale on the title.[39] Both console versions were popular titles on American video game rental company GameFly,[40][41][42] with the Xbox 360 version the service's number one rental across all platforms for a time in early 2007.[43] The PC version placed on the list of top 5 sellers in Japan.[44]
IGN gave the Xbox 360 version their Editor's Choice award,[58] and it won the award for best Xbox 360 game at the Leipzig Games Convention.[78] It received1UP.com's award for best action game at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) video game convention in 2006,[79]and an "Award for Excellence" at the 2007 Japan Game Awards.[80] 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.[81] 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.[82]
