The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
Gameplay
The game is played through a third person over-the-shoulder view. Players are allowed to switch between first-person and third-person at any moment. Players either travel on foot or ride various types of mechanized suits called Vital Suits (VSs). VSs carry heavy weapons such as chain guns and rocket launchers.
They can pick up weapons lying on the ground and fire multiple weapons at once. On foot, players are able to use a grappling hook to pull themselves up to normally hard-to-reach places, or to hook onto a VS and hijack it. Driving VSs and using certain weapons requires thermal energy. Also, the planet's cold temperature causes the characters' thermal energy level to continually decrease.
Story
C. N. III. N.
III, a new Earth-like planet in the grip of a brutal ice age. N. III is inhabited by an aggressive and territorial insectoid alien species named the Akrid, which come in all shapes and sizes and generate their own precious thermal energy. N.
Development
In a 2006 interview with Game Informer, developer Keiji Inafune recalled that Capcom wanted to make a game that took advantage of the medium while also feeling cinematic. Films such as Starship Troopers, The Thing, and the Alien franchise influenced the direction of the game. Inafune in particular noted the idea of fighting alien creatures on a snowy planet was inspired by the Antarctic setting of The Thing. The design of the vital suits were loosely inspired by the Japanese works Armored Trooper VOTOMS and Appleseed.
The usage of mecha in Lost Planet was part of a broader goal to cater to both Japanese and Western audiences. Mecha were a common trope in anime and manga, and by 2006, Capcom felt that by 2006 Western audiences had grown accustomed to anime.
Reception
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition received mixed to positive reviews. 00% and 66/100, including a score of 36/40 from Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, which Gamasutra described as "impressive". The game's visuals and combat were praised, but reviewers criticized the controls, voice acting, and slowdowns in the frame rate. Reviewers were generally in favor of the game's premise and mechanics, and the gameplay was compared to Bionic Commando and Mega Man.
N. III was welcomed as a change of pace from the common settings portrayed in other shooters, such as World War II. GameSpy said "[the levels are] evocative in a way that yet another urban wasteland, spaceship interior, or burnt out WWII battlefield can't be". The game's system of forcing the player to constantly search for T-Eng to survive was considered novel, if not particularly challenging.
Legacy
Lost Planet received a mobile port for phones using the Brew 3.1 Operating system and released on December 21, 2006.
Lost Planet 2 was released and was available for purchase in May 2010. A spin-off titled E.X. Troopers was released in October 2012 in Japan. The third main game titled Lost Planet 3 was released in August 2013.
