The English winter is about to get a whole lot colder…

We have to admit, we’ve been somewhat late to the party where Lost Planet is concerned. Both single and multiplayer demos have been available on Xbox Live for a few months now, but the game’s January ’07 release date just seemed so far away that we didn’t get round to taking a ganders. Well, now we have; and we’re kicking ourselves that we didn’t do it sooner. That said, perhaps it’s a good thing we didn’t – the current month-long wait for Capcom’s searing snowbound shooter is going to be agonising enough as it is!

Singleplayer

Best described as Starship Troopers set on something like Star Wars’ ice world Hoth, Lost Planet centres on humanity’s endeavours to colonise the snow-covered (and, frankly, not very catchy-named) E.D.N.III – an sub-zero planetoid populated by indigenous giant bugs called Akrid, who offer us earthlings a fittingly frosty reception.

The player character is named Wayne, and the final game looks set to have him in the starring role in the quest to sterilise the insect threat, collect the precious thermal energy that keeps humans alive on the planet, and avenge the death of his bug-felled father. It’s a plot ripped straight from the pages of many a sci-fi story, but bolstered by the substantial power of Xbox 360, it also looks set to be the system’s best, third-person shooter since Gears of War.

To say Lost Planet is visually comparable with Epic’s eye-bulging gore-fest is high-but-fitting praise. The desolate plains, never-ending blizzard and battered structures of Capcom’s shooter create a breathlessly barren and beautiful gameworld in stark and alarming contrast to the dread-inducing forms of its Akrid monstrosities. In that respect, Lost Planet has already pushed one of the biggest buttons for shooter fans; this is a landscape every bit as evocative as it is endangering – a place you’ll really want to run-and-gun in.

It isn’t, however, what you could label a fast-paced blaster. Indeed, Wayne trudges through the snow like he’s weighed down considerably by all that firepower – and, to a certain degree, he actually is. You can only carry two guns at a time in Lost Planet, but they’re hulking pieces of hardware, and equipping different sized weaponry seems to have you moving at different speeds, which is certainly a nice touch.

Movement itself is a specific point of interest. Initial manipulation of the right stick doesn’t turn the character, but instead causes the aiming reticule to move – it’s only when it gets a few inches from the centre of the screen that Wayne himself begins to turn. It’s Capcom’s attempt at making third-person aiming less (literally) hit-and-miss, and it works a treat – while the option to turn at right angles on the two bumper buttons means you’ll never be stuck surrounded by giant bugs and cursing the controls.

But you may just be sat there laughing at the A.I. As well as insects, Wayne has to battle renegade human groups, and for the moment at least, their intelligence seems somewhat limited. Often they’ll simply stand right in front of you, not moving a muscle until you blow them away. What’s more frustrating is how well they occasionally do work together to flank and fire. We have to say, though, it’s not something we’re especially concerned with right now; this is early code, and such bugs aren’t unexpected. We have faith Capcom will put things right for the final build.

And if they do, Lost Planet’s singelplayer campaign might be something truly spectacular. The use of Aliens-style mech suits already makes for some stunning big-bug encounters, and the game should be permeated by set pieces aplenty. There’s also a relentlessness to proceedings with bugs spawning from hives that must be destroyed, in the same vein as plugging Emergence Holes in Gears of War, and the bigger insects have their own specific weak points, so downing them becomes quite demanding. Factor in a multitude of well-implemented weapon types – we’ve seen a sniper rifle, rocket launcher, shotgun and the starting machinegun so far – and a nifty Shinobido-style grappling hook, and this might very well be THE shooter to look out for in Q1 2007.

Multiplayer

Though singleplayer may have been the focus, the Lost Planet multiplayer demo currently available for download has nonetheless proven fantastic fun for Xbox Live Gold Members. Currently there’s but one level on show from the get-go; the snow-bathed Pirate Fortress from the second singleplayer mission. Despite being a medium sized map, however, the Fortress is surprisingly large; easily suitable for the game’s 16 player battles. It’s also encouraging how the singleplayer dynamics integrate so well into competitive solo and team deathmatch play.

The grappling hook proves invaluable for getting around the area’s many nooks, and together with the jump button gives a more freeform feeling to this third-person fare than Gears of War’s more ground-rooted gunplay. Pleasingly, the mechs are also well integrated, which says a great deal for the enormous sense of scale that these great hulking robotic beast can move quite freely within its confines.

There would also appear to a tactical element to the team game; certain beacons dotted around each level in Lost Planet provide an advantageous radar option, so players will need to capture and fiercely defend these positions. Weapons, meanwhile, while all pretty powerful, present a variety likely to encourage experimentation before finding your preferred gun pairing. Centrally however, in a Lost Planet deathmatch, you actually lose points for dying, so you’ll have to approach things erring on caution in order to climb the leaderboard. This, then, is very much a thinking man’s shooter.

What we can’t gauge right now is how the final build will work with the two additional modes, Post Grab (presumably Capture the Flag) and Fugitive Hunt (we’re guessing at Juggernaut), or how the net code will stand up on the largest levels. First impressions however are immensely encouraging; Lost Planet is gorgeous, gripping and tactical, and out very, very soon. January just got a lot more appealing.

Preview by: Mark Scott
Preview Published: 14.12.06