Despite its excellent setting and atmosphere, the Lost Planet series has been constantly plagued by misfortune. The first installment was drawn-out and monotonous, while the second became so obsessed with chasing graphical advancements and throwing hundreds of enemies at the player that it completely lost all the originality of its gameplay. With the release of the third game, however, Capcom seems to have managed to bring together good ideas that previously just lacked a sense of completion.
Still, looking back at its history, Lost Planet 3 could be described as something of a dark horse. Capcom didn't invest in a major PR campaign, releasing trailers and screenshots only occasionally, and most of the footage focused on pre-order bonuses. Nevertheless, the publisher made the right choice when it decided to delay the game's release by six months.
At first glance, you can tell that this is truly a powerful project from a not-so-famous studio. The guys at Spark Unlimited did their best, and they managed to make Lost Planet 3 feel enjoyable from the very first minutes to the very end. In any case, the developers succeeded most with the story and gameplay, both of which are a cut above the original game, and after the disastrous Lost Planet 2, provide a real sense of satisfaction.
Newcomers in Town
Our protagonist, Jim Peyton, arrives on the frozen planet E.D.N. III with a simple and understandable goal—to earn money to support his wife and child. The planet shows its wild nature right from the start, and the hero barely escapes with his life. The natural conditions on E.D.N. III are much harsher than in the first game, and you can feel it even through the screen. Brutal cold, ice, constant snowstorms—all of this gives Lost Planet 3 an excellent setting and atmosphere. Perhaps "Lost Planet" has never felt as alive and original as it does in its third incarnation.
Naturally, the local inhabitants—namely, the Akrid—aren’t happy about humans arriving in search of cheap energy, and they try to destroy them by any means possible. However, this is where the designers’ imagination fell short. If in the first game the Akrid were strange opponents, and in the second they were true predators, in the third they look more like flowers. For example, the “tulips” attack in melee, while the “bouquet of roses” throws fireballs. It’s amusing, but doesn’t inspire fear or a sense of danger.
Players familiar with other Spark Unlimited projects will smirk. No wonder, since their other game, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, received a ton of negative reviews. Back then, the studio poorly implemented shooting mechanics, the main character didn’t evoke any emotions, and the abundance of QTE scenes was downright off-putting. But in Lost Planet 3, they truly did a titanic job and learned from past mistakes: the shooting feels good regardless of the weapon you choose, the story is well-developed, and the QTE elements only add excitement.
Hands Up and Show Your Papers
The combat system, unlike in previous games in the series, really doesn’t disappoint. There are no issues with aiming and shooting, nor with controlling the main character. Despite the limited arsenal—pistol, shotgun, assault rifle, and sniper rifle—every weapon is useful and will force the Akrid to surrender their precious thermal energy.
On the other hand, sometimes you really have to think about your tactics and avoid rushing in headfirst. The Akrid will simply stomp the player to death if you end up in the middle of their swarm. If you want to survive, pick off the frozen bastards from a distance and destroy their spawn points before they can bring in reinforcements. Larger enemies can deal even more damage to the protagonist, so you need to shoot accurately at the red weak spots on their bodies.
It’s nice that weapons and equipment can now be upgraded, increasing their damage or magazine size, and thermal energy is no longer spent on ammo or life support. Your combat companion, a giant mech, can also be upgraded. These improvements significantly increase your chances of survival, though there’s not much else to spend your money on—ammo is refilled automatically, and weapons are bought once and for all.
Speaking of mechs, Lost Planet 3 doesn’t have the usual weapon-packed exoskeletons from previous games in the series. Instead, it features humanoid robots equipped with claws, drills, and borers. With their help, you can smash a giant Akrid against the wall and drill through its head, or quickly tighten loose bolts around the base while listening to great music in the mech’s cockpit.
It’s thanks to this machine that boss fights are so thrilling. In the previous installments, they were extremely tiresome, but here, on the contrary, you’ll want to fight them again and again. The very existence of such a gameplay element changes the way you look at level design and gameplay possibilities. After all, what could be better than battling giant bosses in a giant robot?
From time to time, the hordes of Akrid and their intimidating bosses are replaced by NEVEC soldiers. And here, things get less fun. Human opponents are controlled by rather dumb AI, but their powerful weapons make them deadly in close combat and keep you pinned down behind cover.
The promised open world and free play have vanished without a trace. Instead, the player is faced with a set of corridor-like locations, where the main tasks are to run somewhere, fetch something, or kill someone. Moreover, the locations are reused in a number of similar side missions, which gets annoying. At least searching for thermal energy lets you uncover plenty of secrets and earn extra credits.
What’s the purpose of visiting E.D.N. III?
One of the main advantages of Lost Planet 3 is its engaging story. It might seem boring at first, but as it progresses, the narrative picks up pace and becomes more and more interesting with each new chapter. As is well known, in Lost Planet 3 the NEVEC corporation hasn’t yet become the enemy of all bipedal inhabitants. On the contrary, it’s creating conditions on the planet to make it habitable for humans. However, it’s Jim Peyton who will uncover its dirty secrets and start fighting against it.
He turned out to be quite the defector—not only did he mess things up for his own company, but he also gave the Akrid a hard time. And all of this while it’s -50 degrees outside. Isn’t that a real superhero? To heat up the intrigue and make players empathize with the hero, the developers came up with plenty of dramatic cutscenes, text and audio logs, as well as video diaries exchanged between Peyton and his wife.
You’ve got a rather suspicious face
Capcom sent the MT Framework 2.0 engine, familiar from Lost Planet 2, to the dustbin of history. And that’s a shame. The graphics in the second game were really impressive, and what the old Unreal Engine 3 shows in the third installment looks just passable. From the very first frames, it’s clear that the developers weren’t chasing cutting-edge visuals.
Of course, by radically changing the setting from dense jungles to flat icy tunnels, the developers cut out a huge amount of work, thereby saving the publisher money. However, even so, the game’s locations clearly lack detail. They could have at least painted some graffiti on the ice walls or placed frozen Akrid under the ice. Sometimes it’s just so boring to move through all these icy tunnels...
Do you have a work permit?
The multiplayer in Lost Planet 3 isn’t as remarkable as the single-player mode. Its main feature is constantly changing round objectives. For example, in one mode you first have to survive an Akrid attack, and then destroy the opposing team. A couple of popular modes from the second game, like team battles or survival, have made a return.
If you enjoy the single-player game, the multiplayer will probably hook you as well, but not for long—at most, for a couple of months. The problem is that it’s quite repetitive and all the player has to do is rack up points, so there’s no real competitive element.
On the other hand, it’s the only place where you can at least try to act as a team. Perhaps the developers should have made a two-player co-op campaign instead of trying to carry the heavy burden of multiplayer modes. It really would have been interesting to play as Peyton and his wife, for example.
***
Lost Planet 3 is perfect for those who are tired of the overwhelming variety of options in modern shooters. If you’re sick of asking yourself before each battle, “Should I go assault or support?”, then Lost Planet 3 is the game for you. There’s nothing better than grabbing a shotgun, climbing into a mech, and just enjoying the simple pleasure of destroying all kinds of enemies without worrying about the consequences of your choices.
And the developers at Spark Unlimited have achieved the impossible. From a simple studio making third-rate shooters, they’ve turned into a team worthy of playing in the top division, and if things keep going this way, they just might reach a world-class level.
