Lost Planet

Written by Joe Comunale  on February 07, 2006

First Impressions: Those Eecrids are absolutely ugly looking

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Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions is currently being developed by Capcom. Slated for a Winter release, the game will unify play from first- and third-person perspectives. The team responsible for the title is full of experience too, including executive producer Keiji Inafune, the man behind the Onimusha and Mega Man Battle Network; Jun Takeuchi, producer of Resident Evil 5; Kenji Ohguro, another man behind the scenes with Onimusha; and Shin Kurosawa, who lent a hand with Mega Man Battle Network.

In this Sci-Fi adventure, players will assume control of Wayne, a human whose unfortunate past has left him frozen. Snow Pirates eventually came to his rescue, but such came with a price. Suffering from amnesia, his memory was subsequently hindered. Though he has forgotten a significant amount of his past, there's one particular event he remembers quite well: his father being slain by an ominous Eecrid. In this ice age-esque world, humans must don vitality suits to counteract such frigid conditions, and Wayne is equipped with a device on his arm that allows him to absorb and use thermal energy. Humans aren't the most prevalent species either. Rather, the Eecrids viciously rule the inhabitants. To make matters worse, not only will players have to fend off the opposing race, they'll have to deal with the other creatures that roam the planet.

While Capcom states that the game will be played from a first-person view, there are also times when a third-person perspective will be used. Additionally, gamers can commandeer mech units to help level out the playing field between humans and Eecrids. The developers are particularly focused on the online portion, an area they hope to be the pillars behind the title. They hope to use their past experiences with the Monster Hunter games as a foundation for what they want to accomplish in terms of online setup.

Lost Planet is being developed with both a campaign mode and an extensive multiplayer mode in mind. The producers insist that the game's cinematic qualities will heighten the experience. In addition, the heralded Korean star Lee Byung-Hun will play the part of the main character. He's quite the star in Japan right now, and hopefully his involvement in the project will help the story-driven aspect of the game.

From some of the screen shots we were able to get a hold of, it seems as though there will be no disappointments visually speaking. Influences from the creators are easy to see, as the humans have an Asian visage. We also saw some large mech units surrounded by an environment virtually limitless in breadth. Gelid mountains and immense structures, the graphics are impressively consistent with its icy premise.