Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions (PC)

Eye Candy – If I had to sum the game up in one word, that would be it. That isn’t such a great thing though, for the visuals are the best part of Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions, with almost all of the other areas falling short in one way or another. Think of it like a really smokin’ hot chick with no (or a really small) brain. Before I make this review sound like a complete bitch-fest, let me clear things up a little. If you check out Nash’s review of the Xbox 360 version of the game, he’ll tell you that the game’s pretty good. I’m with him on that – the game was a great experience on the Xbox 360 (at least where the action is concerned) and in the short time I’ve spent with the Xbox 360 version, I had a blast. The PC port on the other hand, although technically pretty well built, leaves a lot to be desired...



First things first – I’m not gonna waste your time by telling you the game’s plot all over again; if however, some of you wish to read about it you can check out the first page of Nash’s review. With that out of the way, let me tell you what bothers me about the game – have you ever thought of a game like Huxley, where PC gamers could pit themselves against console (Xbox 360 to be specific) gamers? I’m sure you’d agree with me that PC gamers would at least dominate, if not slaughter their competition. The fact is that a Mouse + keyboard setup gives you a lot more control over a game than a Game Controller for pretty obvious reasons. That is exactly what plagues Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions on the PC - you’ll be amazed by how easy the game is. This of course wasn’t the case in the Xbox 360 version – maneuvering your dual analog sticks to aim accurately and hit the Akrid (big bad bugs) at key points while was quite a challenge. When it moves over to the mouse and keyboard setup for the PC port, all you have to do is point with the mouse and click, click, click and click some more – monster dead – level over – rinse – repeat. The controller scheme wasn’t meant for PC at all, and anyone looking for a challenge will be pretty disappointed here.