Lost Planet: Extreme Condition review (PC)

The game takes place on E.D.N III, a perpetually snowy and cold planet. At some point, humanity had attempted to settle on the frozen landscape, but an alien species known only as the Akrid had prevented their efforts. The Akrid run on an energy source known as T. Eng. (thermal energy), and it’s this T. Eng that powers the mech suits used by humans in their counter-Akrid efforts. A corporation ,NEVEC, are also populated sparsely around E.D.N III with the sole aim of heating the planet; doing rid of the snow and the Akrid at the same time. Unbeknownst to the main characters at the beginning of the game, however, NEVEC plans not only to eradicate all of the Akrid but also the humans stationed on E.D.N.III. Preventing NEVEC from accomplishing this plan becomes the main focal point for the storyline.

Control Problems

When games are developed for a console platform, the developers know just how far they can push graphical detail due to the hardware being a fixed constant. With PCs though, and the thousands of different configurations possible, it’s a lot harder to cater for everyone. Fortunately Capcom have allowed customisation of the graphics settings to allow for a wider range of PCs to play Lost Planet, but this doesn’t help with one of its major problems.

When playing Lost Planet for the first time, it won’t take long for you to register that this is a console port. For starters, the control system feels completely unnatural and odd. Despite using a mouse and keyboard setup, clearly the superior choice for FPS and third-person shooters, controlling your character is both tricky and tiresome. You can feel that the game was developed around a controller with an analogue stick, and from the moment you take your first steps, you begin to wish for one. Aiming, too, is a rather hit-and-miss affair. Mice are usually perfect for controlling aiming reticules, but the ported system in Lost Planet is far too cumbersome.

Direct Excess?

Struggling to get to grips with the control method, I reached for my 360 controller after playing for around 40 minutes - and what a difference it made. I felt completely at home with the controls within seconds, and it made the game a lot more accessible.

Aside from the keyboard/mouse control setup, what else does Lost Planet on the PC offer over the 360 version? Well, a patch released on July 20th included extra content; four new multiplayer maps and a new multiplayer character (Joe from NEVEC). As... exciting as that sounds, there is one feature that won me over – and that was the inclusion of DirectX 10.

For fear of descending into an explanation of DirectX, I’ll simply say that it’s a toolset that allows programmers to add effects and details to a video game. Following the convention that larger number = better, DirectX 10 is more feature-packed than DirectX 9. Simply put, the game looks a lot better in DX10 than it does in DX9. The 360 has what’s known as “DirectX 9 and then a little more”, so I was interested to see what difference it actually made on the PC.

Worth the Leap?

My only previous foray into the world of DX10 was through Company of Heroes with the recent patch, and that looked excellent. I loaded up Lost Planet in DX9 and was fairly impressed, but it wasn’t until I enabled DX10 that my jaw dropped. Pictures don’t do it justice; when running the game looks absolutely stunning. Textures are crisp and clear, colours are vibrant and the explosion effects are much more detailed and voluminous. And what’s more, with the latest nVidia beta drivers, the performance drop suffered in DX10 is smaller than ever.

Is it worth purchasing the PC version of Lost Planet if you already own the 360 one? Not really, no. You’ll only play using your 360 controller anyway, so there’s not much point in owning both copies. The only real bonus is DirectX 10, because let’s face it, extra characters aren’t exactly something to write home about. I’d only recommend the purchase of the PC version if you have the option of playing in DX10 and if your PC is up to the task of doing so. Otherwise you’re better off sticking to the 360 version, not least because you know you’ll get an excellent experience out of the box, but because the game was designed for the console and plays better as such.