This Week In Cheap Gaming: Lost Planet
Hey there kiddos! It’s time for This Week In Cheap Gaming! I know this month is eating all of you penny-pinchers alive, what with the release of Bulletstorm, Killzone 3, and Marvel vs Capcon 3, but don’t fret! I am here to provide great gaming at a minimal price! This week’s choice: Lost Planet for the Xbox 360, PC, and PS3.
Lost Planet is a third-person shooter that is a bit different from the others out there. The story takes place during a time when the Earth has become too hostile for human life. Because of this, humanity must set out to colonize other planets in order for the race to survive. A company called NEVEC (Neo-Venus Construction) has done just that, with attempts to colonize E.D.N. III, an Earth-like planet that in the midst of an extreme ice age. Arriving on the planet, NEVEC stumbles upon an alien race called the Akrid and are forced to leave the planet. Not too much later the company returns to E.D.N. III with a full-fledged army prepared to fight. During the return to the planet, NEVEC soldiers find out that the only way the Akrid survive is because of the thermal energy (T-ENG) that they hold within their bodies. This leads to the humans’ need to carry T-ENG in order to survive as well, and thus the hunt for Akrid begins. The humans build the first Vital Suit, which is a mech powered by thermal energy. Some of the humans desert, living lives as Snow Pirates and harvesting T-ENG from fallen Akrid. The main plot of the game takes place 150 years after a giant war between the humans and Akrid, and follows a protagonist named Wayne Holden. Wayne is a Snow Pirate who attempts to overthrow the ruthless NEVEC, who now is attempting to fight for control over E.D.N. III.
The game took somewhat of a fall on the PS3 and PC, but sold extremely well on the 360, which is what I prefer to play it on. The gameplay is pretty solid, and it functions great as a third-person shooter. It’s one of the first games I have seen to utilize the “click” of the analog stick as reload, which I enjoy a lot. Lost Planet offers immense boss battles, plenty of different weapons to use, and giant mechs to decimate in. The Akrid come in all shapes and sizes, which keeps the game feeling new.
One mechanic of Lost Planet is simple, yet complicated enough to drive some people away from the game. Take a look at the screenshot above. Do you see the golden “1000” next to the “T-ENG” up in the top left corner? That is your T-ENG meter. As you run about the cold wastelands of E.D.N. III that number will diminish. It is up to you to kill Akrid and harvest their T-ENG in order to stay alive. If the number reaches zero, you will not be able to heal yourself and you will perish. Also, when using Vital Suits, they drain your T-ENG much faster than hoofing it. This turned some people off to the game, because they were constantly worried and dying. I, myself, have not found this mechanic to be an issue. Wayne is equipped with a device which allows him to regenerate lost health, so long as he has the T-ENG to do so. Honestly, you kill so many Akrid in this game that it shouldn’t be an issue. You can even blow up tanks, and busted vehicles for T-ENG.
I found Lost Planet to be a fun game I’ve played for a long time. I keep going back, trying to get the achievements I haven’t grabbed, and it’s an easy title to pick up, play, and have fun with. Right now the game is priced at about $5 for the 360 and about $20 for the PS3 and PC. I definitely recommend you pick up Lost Planet and give it a shot. The gameplay is solid, the graphics are great, and the game has a lot of playability.
What are you doing? GO!
