In 2007, an original intellectual property named Lost Planet cracked onto the scene and won quite a few gamers over. It was an attempt by Capcom to appeal to the Western audience and it worked well. Despite not getting the best scores in reviews, most agreed it was the start of a promising franchise. Almost three years later, Capcom followed the title up with a sequel but despite improving the original formula, it seemed to just get worse. Now, in 2013, the franchise’s torch has been passed to developer Spark Unlimited. Unfortunately, Spark Unlimited’s pedigree appears to be below average but in this industry, a new game is a new beginning. Can Spark Unlimited succeed and craft a game that meets our high hopes for this franchise?

Despite being called Lost Planet 3, the story in this title is a prequel to the events of its predecessors. You play as Jim Peyton, a Utility Rig pilot who leaves Earth for the promise of providing for his family. On the planet E.D.N. III, everything is barren and incredibly cold. You’re here in search for a new energy source that could possibly solve Earth’s energy crisis. You’re stationed at a base called Coronis for a company called NEVEC. From the first day, you’re taking to your Utility Rig and heading out to work. There is a strong feeling that you’re some sort of Artic truck driver which is great but due to the pace of your rig, can be quite boring. The indigenous life that you were told was docile, is found to be wrong. They are quite hostile. Over time, accomplishing your contracts and missions, you start to realize everything isn’t as it seems to be. This planet has some secrets to uncover and you’re the point man behind it all. The ride from beginning to end is entertaining. Despite never playing more than the demo of the first two titles, I never felt like I was missing a step due to the fact that it was a prequel. The story probably won’t wow anyone as the twists and turns can be seen coming fairly easily but overall an enjoyable experience.

Gameplay wise, Lost Planet 3 is quite a shift from the original formula. The game still maintains the third-person perspective and some of the items still remain the same but some major parts have been changed. The mechanized suits from prior games are completely gone. Now you have a utility rig that is completely unarmed and you play it from the first-person perspective. The game attempts to be semi-open with your main base being a hub to all the locations but the progression in the game still feels quite linear. There are opportunities to go out and accomplish side-quests but either they are kill X amount of Y type Akrid or they are on the way to your next objective.

Despite the feeling that the game locks you into a particular path, your exploration is typically rewarded and most of the time you have free reign to do what you want. Killing Akrid and completing missions will grant you thermal energy to spend on new weapons. Through exploration or purchasing from the store, you can acquire specialized components to upgrade your rig with new abilities and powers. Throughout the game you’ll also acquire other items that will help you reach new places. For example, players of the prior games will remember the grappling hook. While it works quite well when you want to go up, going down can be a little frustrating. You have to be in almost the perfect spot to use it and more often than not, you just fall off the ledge and take the minimal fall damage. There are other items that have contextual actions that also require perfect positioning for execution. It’s just disappointing that they’re not as polished and easy to use as they should be.

The on-foot combat is decent. You acquire new weapons from the shop or through story. Specialized ammunition can be gotten from sidequests and are quite useful. Fighting Akrid though is the same as the other games, aim for the orange-glowing bits and destroy them. Unfortunately, the strategy employed is not that difficult. Either they are easy to kill and just take a couple of bullets or they will charge you which require you to dodge, shoot, dodge, shoot and repeat. Even boss battles require this same identical strategy. Once you get each enemies timing down, it just turns into a repetitive action until the battle is over. The same can be said for the combat in the utility rig except slightly different. There you will block, use whatever contextual action the game tell you to do, repeat until won. Unfortunately what I said in the prior paragraph applies here. The contextual actions won’t always work like you would like them which leads to frustration. At least the on-foot combat can be fun, it albeit repetitive, the rig’s combat just isn’t much fun. It’s slightly better than quick-time event actions in other games. The transition between on-foot combat and utility rig combat must be commended though. It’s quick, fluid, and engaging but it doesn’t save it.

Lost Planet 3 is best when you’re on-foot and exploring the crevasses the world of E.D.N. III offers you. The combat can be repetitive but it’s still satisfying. Going from place to place listening to music in the Utility Rig is great and makes you feel like an Arctic truck driver but after a while it just gets boring and tedious. Plus, the combat in the rig just never clicks at any point. Even once you realize all you have to do is block, attack, block, attack it’s still frustrating, unsatisfying, and boring. Overall there is fun to be had and lots of hidden things to find but the gameplay only helps so much before it becomes a large hindrance.

When you’re ready to take the game online, you will have to first download the compatibility pack. They claim it isn’t required but without it, even during primetime on a Saturday night, you won’t find a game. With it, you’ll almost instantly get thrown into the action. There are two different modes to pick from for matchmaking. The first is team deathmatch that pits two teams of up to five players against each other. The second mode is sort of a competitive cooperative mode where initially your team is pit against computer-controlled Akrid while simultaneously facing a human team. For these two modes, you’ll fight across six different maps and after each match, you’ll gain experience points which you can put towards unlocking new perks via the progression sphere. You unlock them in a nonlinear fashion, depending on how you want to grow your character.

Overall, the multiplayer is just dull. The gunplay is the same as from the single-player which means it gets the basics done right and can be fun but it never grows to be anything more. For those that liked the original two games, the Utility Rig is not usable during multiplayer. On the plus side, you can still use your grappling hook which creates some interesting strategies and scenarios but overall it still feels lackluster. On top of that, individuals who are higher level, have access to better things like deployable sentry guns. It can be fun, truly, but it will get old quick.

The moments where you’re deep in a cavern looking out to the sky are beautiful. The times when the sun is setting behind the cloud is also incredibly well done. Basically, when the game contrasts light and dark, it works well. There are some nice details in the environment, such as the vapor from breathing in cold weather and wind pushing the snow around rocks. These moments are somewhat rare but are the points where the graphics thrive and show life.

Unfortunately, on the other end, most of the places you’ll visit are quite generic. You’ve seen these facilities a million-times over. Glitches in geometry and enemies are not rare. For example, a hatch wheel on a door will be 90 degrees off or enemies sliding over to you. The game can get choppy at times for no apparent reason. The cutscenes are typically well done and animated but other times the animation won’t really fit the world. One of the brighter spots is that the main character does not follow the mold in the gaming industry lately. Jim Peyton looks like a normal human being and that is one of the reason you connect with him throughout the game. Overall, there are some beautiful moments and some parts are well done, but you’ll largely leave feeling that it’s nothing special.

The sound follows a similar story. There are some glimpses of greatness but it’s surrounded by mostly average design. One of the best parts is that your rig is that it has a built-in radio player that comes with quite a few western-folk songs in the same vein as Firefly’s theme song. The general ambience and combat songs aren’t bad, they just aren’t memorable. I almost wish they just went all the way with their radio player selection and crafted songs that complemented them. The voice acting is well done, especially that of Jim Peyton. He pulls off a very believable everyday man who loves his family. On the other side of the coin, there are some performances that aren’t as good. The enemies sound quite generic and the guns are nothing to write home about. Overall, everything meets the par for being servable without being distracting but you’ll definitely find yourself enjoying certain elements.

Lost Planet 3 has glimpses of being a good game but is constantly held back for one reason or another. The combat feels good and sound but the way you defeat everything is almost exactly the same. The Utility Rig definitely gives you the feeling you’re some sort of Artic trucker but the combat in it is atrocious and frustrating. The story is engaging and Jim Peyton is quite relatable but the twists and turns follow the formula you’ve experienced time and time again. The multiplayer is very generic. There is a glimpse of hope in the survival mode but it’s not enough to help it survive. The graphics show glimpses of beauty but more often than not, your glimpses are generic. The world, overall, is just quite basic in design. The sound design is similarly basic but the music that you can play in your Utility Rig is amazing. Those that liked the western-folk sound of Firefly’s music, will feel right at home here. Overall, the game can be fun despite decisions at every angle trying to take that away from you. If you were a fan of the first two titles, this one is quite a shift. If you want another story in the series, go ahead, it’s not bad. If you just want a fun game, there is some to find here, definitely, but there are also better options.

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