Lost Planet is Capcom's all new Sci-fi shooter released for the 360 on the 12th January. It's the first of its type on the 360 and needs to be good, as the release of Halo 3 is just around the corner which is already hyped to be the biggest game in the 360's short History.

First Impressions:

From the first in-game videos shown, you could tell the graphics were going to be something special. Capcom had mentioned that Lost Planet would produce some of the best graphics on the 360 and they weren’t kidding. The in-game graphics are amazing and even during heavy action with lots of on screen movement the graphics stay crisp and clear. I have my 360 hooked up to my HD LCD and the results were impressive.

This is a change of direction for Capcom, whos only previous 360 title was the zombie hack and slash game 'Dead Rising'. This game was met with mixed reviews as the graphics and game play were good, but the game seemed repetitive and ended up becoming stale and uninteresting for lots of gamers.

Storyline:

The game takes place on a frozen planet called E.D.N III; once inhabited by humans but now overrun with an alien race called the Akrid. Your story follows the young soldier Wayne, who is trying to rid the planet of Akrid after his father was killed by a large Akrid called Green Eye.

The game also introduces various other human characters including a band of pirates who like to stir things up and make things harder for you. Killing Akrid gives off 'Thermal Energy' which you need to stay alive. If its drops to Zero you die. It never generally gets to zero but it keeps you on your toes and stops you messing around exploring places you don’t need to.

Game Play:

The game plays extremely well and after just a few minutes I had mastered the logically mapped controls. You play from a third-person perspective, controlling movement with the left analog stick and aim with the right. The front shoulder buttons turn you quickly left and right and gun/grenade controls are via the rear shoulder buttons.

A great feature is the target locker which allows the weapon to lock automatically onto the nearest target making it easier to shoot and aim at a group of enemies. If you feel a bit of a cheat, it can be turned off.

Lost Planet is varied and each level can be completed different ways. You can go for the all out attack or sit back and sniper away till you have cleared a clear path. This helps to keep the levels fresh and allows you to utilise each weapon at different times.

Another addition is the suits you can use. These robotic suits vary in size and weaponry from the small type (think Ripley in Alien 2) to full on spider style weaponry. Each suit has two interchangeable weapons which you can change at your own pace.

Each level is cleverly designed around the storyline and is supported with a small video clip. The levels are massive and offer plenty of enemies and challenges each with an end boss. They tend to be fairly easy and predictable so if you are confident and want much more of a challenge, try playing on extreme difficulty!

There are four modes of play available online; deathmatch, team deathmatch, all-against-one fugitive mode and a team-based mode called post grab, in which each team tries to activate and defend all of the data posts on the map. Online battles can be up to 16 player matches and with 8 online maps there's plenty to satisfy. To further increase variety the location of objects and weapons can be altered - a great feature to prevent map controlling.

As you play online your experience rises and so does your online status, indicating how good you are and if the people in your game are all around the same level.

Graphics + Sound:

The graphics of the in-game play and videos are some of the best I have seen on the 360 and merge together very well. Also the sound does its job at adding atmosphere to your game.

Most of the screen shots you'll have seen in adverts show a vast white snow land but this isn’t always the case. There are levels inside buildings and vast factory areas which offer very detailed interiors.

Conclusion:

Overall I think this game is amazing, graphically brilliant with game play and a control system which is spot on. The single player game contains 12 massive levels which can be completed in different ways making for a fantastically varied game.

Ratings:

Storyline 9/10
Game Play 9/10
Graphics 10/10
Sound 9/10

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