Lost Planet: Extreme Condition

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, a sci-fi third person shooter from Capcom, focuses on an amnesia stricken protagonist in search of the alien “what killed his Pa.” The game takes place across a snow-covered world known as E.D.N. III in which our hero battles pirates and an alien race known as the Akrid.

Capcom seems to have learned from their SDTV problems with Dead Rising. The Lost Planet demo was plagued with SDTV display issues similar to Dead Rising, but it was fixed prior to the full game’s release, and things look marvelous. Though I still feel Oblivion is the best looking thing that has graced my television, Lost Planet isn’t far behind it.

The in-game text is displayed in a prominent and legible fashion. However, when members of your team contact you, a slight fuzz appears around the edges of the font. This problem doesn’t hinder the ability to read the text, it just makes it a less attractive.

The visuals are quite stunning. The desolate planet of E.D.N. III is aesthetically pleasing and evokes a feeling that goes well with the story. One of the only faults I found was that the constant snow while on the surface of the planet made things difficult to see. However, this effect could be intentional, and not due to my SDTV.

All the alien blasting and gun power ups made me nostalgic for th days of Contra. I didn’t test drive the multi-player but could tell from the single that it’d be a blast. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, while a bit short, is a worthy purchase in my humble opinion.