Lost Planet is an all-action sci-fi shooter game. It is set sometime in the future, when humans, having left earth, have set up a colony on E.D.N.111, a planet locked in permanent winter. The planets inhabitants are the Akrids, monstrous, insect-like creatures, who seem to resent the humans presence. The colonisers soon discover that the secret of the Akrids ability to survive the extreme cold lies in their store of thermal energy. Kill Akrids, and an orangey, thermal goo oozes out. This can be collected, and used, by humans, as an energy source. The action, however, isn’t entirely centred on roaming the frozen waste land, killing Akrids, to harvest their precious goo; there are also the Snow Pirates, groups of outlaws, who shoot at each other.
In the game you get to play Wayne, who has developed amnesia after being buried in the snow. His only memory is that his father was killed by Green Eye, one of the biggest and nastiest of the Akrids. Wayne sets out on a mission of vengeance, killing Akrids and collecting their thermal goo as he goes along. This less than compelling plot, however, merely provides the back-drop for an orgy of pacey, intense, shooting action.
Your strategy is simple, have your trigger finger poised to shoot any Akrid, unfortunate enough to cross your path. At the same time you better have one eye on your thermal energy meter, if you fail to top it up with thermal goo, and it falls to zero, you will soon be killed by the penetrating cold.
At the end of most levels are the magnificent boss fights. Fighting various, impressive, giant Akrids is the best part of the single player game.
You are aided in your Akrid killing spree by a fine array of weaponry, including assault rifles, grenades, plasma cannons and rocket launches. You can also clamber in to a Vital Suit, which is a thermal energy guzzling, heavily armoured mech, which can take your opponents best shots, and reply with awesome fire-power.
As a single player you can complete the 11, somewhat repetitive, missions in less than 8 hours. There is also a multiplayer, online mode, which allows up to 16 players, and demands greater skill together with a more thought-out game strategy. Four game modes and 8 maps are on offer. By playing online you can raise your level by acuminating points. The experience of your online opponents is, helpfully, revealed by this system of grading.
The graphics are brilliant; the special effects stunning. Pauses in the action allow you to glimpse some gorgeous and varied landscapes.
The sound does not match the excellence of the graphics. Whilst the energetic music complements the manic action; some weapon sound lacks power, and the sparse dialogue adds nothing worthwhile to the game.
The minuses of this game are the weak storyline, and a rather short single player mode. This is more than compensated for by the fantastic graphics and superb boss fights. As an all-action, thrilling, shooting game, Lost Plant Extreme is probably equal to anything this genre has to offer.