Day: January 14, 2007

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (+)

Imagine Resident Evil 4 with more fluid controls, less scares, and just the same amount of intense gameplay and you’ve got Lost Planet.

Capcom’s aim to create games that can be enjoyed by all markets — Japanese, European, and American — has yet again paid off! For a period Capcom was having problems reaching mass audience appeal, but ever since Resident Evil 4 Capcom has created several huge titles. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition can be added to this ever growing AAA game list.

The aspect that will take your breath away is the graphics. Right off the bat they are extremely solid. When explosions after explosions makes you look away from the screen you know that the game has intense graphics. Running at a smooth 30+ frames per second in high definition in expansive worlds is no small task and Lost Planet abuses the power of the Xbox 360.

The story has an anime style feel. Both in the way the cutscenes are presented and that the voice actors are the average anime characters. The macho man voice, the squeaky girl, etc. are all here. If you don’t like anime, which I personally don’t, the cutscenes will be the worst part about the game. What saves them from being a bad experience is the graphics and the story. The story itself is about humans trying to colonize this planet, but of course there are vicious bugs that attack everyone. It’s up to you to destroy as many of these bugs as possible so that humans can terriform the planet into something humans can leave peacefully on. Sure the story isn’t spectacular but it’s at least decent.

The missions consist of killing either bugs, snow pirates, or mechs, with the occasional boss battle. While this may seem like a simple formula that would get old overtime, it’s far from it. There’s plenty of variety in weapon types and enemies. The boss fights are outstanding. They require both strategy and quick reflexives. While overall the mission types are very linear, it doesn’t detract from the enjoyment that comes with completing each one.

The gameplay is from the third person perspective. You play as Wayne whom can navigate mechs. Whether you’re playing as Wayne or as a mech the controls feel solid. With quick 90 degree turn action buttons and easy aiming the action never stops. The twist that separates Lost Planet from other games is that there is a limited amount the the player can survive in the outside world. Because the world is in frozen over in snow, the player has to stay warm by collecting energy from the enemies that he kills. If the countdown of energy runs out the player begins to slowly lose life up until their death. This life meter puts an urgency on every action that the player takes. Thankfully gaining a ton of energy isn’t that difficult.

There is a pretty good multiplayer side to the game as well. It has all the basic modes that gamers expect out of such action games: team, deathmatch, etc. 16 player matches with eight maps definitely adds a good amount of replay value.

And above all else, the music is absolutely fantastic. While it isn’t memorable, during gameplay it certainly intensifies the combat.

I’ve had hard times justifying $60 game purchases, but Lost Planet: Extreme Condition is one of the few games that is worth the money. The downside is that it only has 11 single player missions, but overall the game is an intense thrill ride that will make one want to complete it as fast as possible.

Disney’s Chicken Little: Ace In Action (+)

A video game based on a movie that’s based on a video game. Oh boy do we want some chicken.

For being out less than a couple of months, the Wii has gained a great variety of genres. Anti-Nintendo fanboys have always bashed Nintendo consoles for having too many kiddie oriented games. While Chicken Little: Ace In Action may appear to be a kiddie game on the outside, it contains enough comedy and solid gameplay to entertain all ages.

Chicken Little is a prime example of why the Wii can make any sort of game fun even if you’ve played it before. Chicken Little is very similar to Nintendo’s Starfox series. Missions cycle through different gameplay modes such as foot soldier, tank, and a spaceship. Playing rehashes isn’t necessarily a fun process, but because Chicken Little: Ace In Action is the first game to utilize the Wii-mote in these gameplay modes and the fact the game plays very solidly this game shines. This game makes good use of the capabilities that the Wii-mote offers. Destroying your target by pointing your Wii-mote is made very simple by an automatic lock-on feature. Another standout feature is being able to move your space ship up and down by moving the Nunchuck device up and down.

The graphics of Chicken Little: Ace In Action are on par with other Wii games. It’s simplistic graphics don’t really make this game entertaining to look at, but they are suitable to gameplay.

The other aspect that makes this game worthwhile is the comedic dialogue that the characters say. Adam West, Zach Braff, and Joan Cusack are some of the voice actors in this game. For being a kiddie video game, it really has a smart script that both children and adults can find enjoyment in.

The game is loosely based off of the Chicken Little movie. This is great for those unfamiliar with the movie. The story is a lot of fun because it’s about Chicken Little and his friends playing a Wii game that features Chicken Little’s super hero alter ego Ace as well as the alter egos of his friends. So obviously this makes for a lot of funny commentary when Chicken Little and his friends comment on the gameplay and then Ace and his team are talking back and forth about their own actions.

I cannot whole heartedly recommend Chicken Little: Ace In Action because of the minor flaws that it has. If the game had only been fine tuned a little bit more it would have been an overall fun experience rather than frustrating game. All it takes is one nearly impossible level to ruin what would otherwise be an enjoyable time. For $39.99 Chicken Little: Ace In Action isn’t that bad of a purchase, if you’re looking for an experience that will tide you over till the new Starfox game. If there is one thing that I can say about Chicken Little: Ace In Action it’s that this game is going to be the example for future third person shooters and that’s a good thing.