3/5 ★ – RawMetal's review of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition.

System: Xbox 360 Started: October 2014 Ended: October 26, 2014 Flashback Review Lost Planet: Extreme Condition was a game that Capcom tried to do something new and innovative with during the late 2000s. Eventually, it spawned two more sequels in the early 2010s, then it has fallen into the Capcom vault of games and has never been brought up again. The first time I heard about this game was seeing the mech as one of the selectable characters in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and a friend of mine, who is a fan of Lost Planet 2. I thought about playing it just to see for myself, and after finishing with the first game, I thought it was ok. It has its moments of playing in an open-world setting in a linear level design, but the flaws that came with it were why I never bothered playing the sequels. Lost Planet is a sci-fi mech action game set on a distant planet where a colony of humans, having left Earth, finds themselves stranded on a frozen planet called E.D.N. III. Their survival hinges on thermal energy, which powers their mechs and suits, enabling them to endure the harsh climate. You play as a space pirate soldier named Wayne, who was frozen inside his VS Mech and awakened 30 years later by next-generation space pirates and plans to overthrow a megacorporation NEVAC while eliminating giant alien species called the Akrid, who carry thermal energy. I really like the mech designs, especially the VS PTX 140. Capcom has created some notable mech games like Cyberbots and Steel Battalion, and I think Lost Planet blends mechs with a linear level design similar to Devil May Cry, but with more open levels rather than enclosed, narrow spaces. I enjoyed how the levels play by giving you the freedom to roam around in an open-world environment. You can travel by mech or on foot anytime. It's rare to have the option to get off your mech like in Master Blaster, Star Fox Assault, and even Metal Warriors. Even when traveling on foot, Capcom also borrowed the grappling hook mechanic from Bionic Commando that lets you traverse to climb up buildings and cliffsides. After playing this game for so long, I wondered why I never felt the urge to play the sequels. My first thought is that the characters in this game are too one-dimensional. I couldn't remember the main character or the supporting cast. The dialogue lines can be cringe-worthy at times, as each character has their quirks, which is why it lost me; I even felt like I was watching a Saturday morning cartoon. Now if I was 10 years younger at the time playing Lost Planet, I would've liked this game. Health is mandatory, but Lost Planet takes the health bar to a new level. After you defeat an Akrid or shoot at barrels, you have to pick up this glowing orange nectar that keeps your health in check and is able to power up mechs you see per level. If you take damage or use your mech to do a super jump, your Thermal Meter will decrease rapidly; if you run out, your health depletes due to the cold weather, and it always bothers me to find every portion of thermal because the last thing I want is to fight the end-level boss and have a minimal amount of thermal, and it's going to be a difficult fight. When it comes to video games, I always stock up like a scavenger before I move to the next level or fight a boss. It's a good way to make this game challenging, but it can be annoying that you have to keep checking your Thermal Meter to make sure you have enough before you move on. Lost Planet was ok; not horrible, not great, but ok. I heard that the sequel was better, but I need to brush up on the story mode in the first game, even after a decade later. I might have the energy to check out Lost Planet 2 and 3, but I need to find that time to play them. If you played almost every Capcom library, like Onimusha and Dino Crisis, but haven’t got to the Lost Planet games yet, it would not be a problem playing it. I even could not play Multiplayer since its service has been closed down. I'd recommend checking this out and see what you think. If you are a Mech fanatic, then it's a plus.