Blast From the Past is one of our new regular features at Completexbox, it’s a chance to look at a game from the yesteryear era that’s featured on Xbox at some point, that may be via original Xbox Console, The Xbox 360, or via Xbox Live Arcade. The one thing that is key to this feature, is that game must be available to play via backward compatibility on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One Consoles respectively.
In this walk down memory lane, we will be sharing our views of the game, our memories, lots of screenshots, and of course a link from the Xbox marketplace, so that you can add it to your game collection if you wish.
One thing we do hope, is that you enjoy the nostalgia, and the look back at the game of choice, maybe you can suggest a game for us to look at in the future that fits the bill of this feature.
Today’s Blast from The Past is Lost Planet
This week’s chosen game is Lost planet, it’s a game I have fond memories of from the Xbox 360 era, a real eye turner. Visually stunning at the time, a game that pulls you in with its atmosphere, sinks its teeth in and then doesn’t let go.
A true masterpiece of its time, worked perfectly with Xbox live, and had an amazing story flowing through it, with some impressive cut scenes that really added to the story telling and the campaign.
Lost Planet formed the basis of a series, that spanned three additional games, and in my opinion is more than worthy of a reboot for the franchise. The game is available to play via backward compatibility on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles respectively.
Lost Planet is a third person shooter video game, and part of a series published by Capcom. The series follows a number of protagonists on E.D.N III, a planet in the process of an ice age, as they survive and fight the environment, various alien creatures and those planning to colonize the planet.
It consists of three main installments, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (2006), Lost Planet 2 (2010) and Lost Planet 3 (2013) and a spin-off titled E.X. Troopers (2012). While Capcom developed Lost Planet, Lost Planet 2 and E.X. Troopers internally, Spark Unlinited were hired as an external developer for Lost Planet 3.
As of October 31, 2021, the game series has sold 6.3 million units worldwide.
Lost Planet Features
- Frenetic action – Lost Planet is a fast-paced third-person shooter with all the depth, intrigue and intensity of a science fiction classic.
- Xbox Live enabled – An array of online gameplay possibilities await including:
- Downloadable content such as additional maps, missions and weapons
- Online multiplayer cooperative and versus battles
- Foot and vehicle based gameplay – Command highly powered armed vehicles and weapons
- Vast environments – Snowstorms, arctic winds, towering buildings and mountains of ice
- A premier team of developers – The creators of the critically acclaimed Onimusha and Devil May Cry series have come together to create the expansive world of Lost Planet
The Game
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (2006)
The first Lost Planet game takes place in the year known in the game as T.C. -80 on the fictional planet of E.D.N. III. After the Earth’s conditions become too hostile for humans due to war, global warming and pollution, a fictional interstellar megacorporation named Neo-Venus Construction (NEVEC) plans to colonize E.D.N. III, a new Earth-like planet in the grip of a brutal ice age. NEVEC discovers that E.D.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. 150 years after a great war was fought in which the humans lost to the Akrid, the plot of the game revolves around Wayne Holden, a “snow pirate” who attempts to overthrow the ruthless NEVEC, who still vie for control over E.D.N. III, and help colonization efforts for the remainder of the human race by destroying the Akrid, all the while attempting to survive both betrayals and the extreme conditions of the planet.
Lost Planet received mixed reviews on the PlayStation 3 and PC, but more positive reception for the Xbox 360 version which was the original lead platform. The game shipped over a million copies worldwide by January 2007 marking Capcom’s second million seller for Xbox360. As of March 2016, the game has sold over 1,600,000 copies on the Xbox 360 alone including downloadable copies. IGN gave the Xbox 360 version their Editor’s Choice award, and it won the award for best Xbox 360 game at the Leipzig Games Convention.
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition (2008)
The Colonies Edition is a gold edition version of Extreme Condition for the Xbox 360 and PC with new multiplayer maps, a Human vs Akrid multiplayer mode, and a selection of new multiplayer characters and weapons.
Colonies also introduces four new single-player modes: Score Attack (points are given for each kill using combos), Time Trial Battle Mode, first person shooter mode, and Unlimited Mode. The game also includes cross-platform play between Xbox Live and Games for Windows – Live users. The Colonies Edition is not compatible with the original Lost Planet save games or multiplayer game, so players of each release may only play with others who have the same release. The game was released in North America on May 27, 2008; in Japan on May 29; and in Europe on June 6.
The Xbox 360 version saw positive reception in comparison to a mixed response for the PC version.
The Developmental History of Lost Planet
Capcom first introduced Lost Planet on December 10, 2005 at an invite only press conference announcing Jun Takeuchi as both the producer and executive producer, Kenji Oguro as the designer and Shin Kurosawa whom wrote the original story. At the conference, Capcom announced that they would follow the tradition of basing the main character of their game after a real person. Capcom decided to base the main character Wayne after the famous Korean star, Byung Hun Lee. To capture the full essence of Lee, Capcom used a program called Face Robot. This allowed Capcom to use Lee’s basic expressions and translate them to Wayne in the game.
Capcom had Lee dress up in a recreation of Waynes attire and then did full body 3D scan to translate Lee into Wayne using a function called GATOR. But instead of using Lee for character animations, the developers did so manually. As for environments, Capcom used up to 300,000 to 600,000 polygons in the screen at once for a single battle. They then used an XSI program and then manually added in elaborate details. One of the main focuses of Lost Planet was to make a game that could be a commercial success in both North America and Japan.
Lost Planet 2 runs on the MT-Framework 2.0, an updated version of the engine used in several Capcom-developed games. A support for the campaign mode can have up to 4 players working together via the internet.
The Story
The first Lost Planet begins in the year of the game T.C. -80 where the Earth has become too hostile for human life. A company named NEVEC (Neo-Venus Construction) tries to start colonization on the planet E.D.N. III. Upon arriving on the planet, NEVEC discovers an alien race called Akrid and are forced off the planet, momentarily stopping colonization efforts. Returning to E.D.N. III with an army prepared to fight, they find that the Akrid can only function because their bodies contain reserves of thermal energy (T-ENG), humans must also carry supplies of thermal energy to survive on E.D.N. III. NEVEC builds the first Vital Suit (VS), a mecha powered by T-ENG, to fight the Akrid. Meanwhile, civilian colonists and bands of E.D.N. III military personnel continue to seek out a nomadic existence as “snow pirates”, harvesting T-ENG from fallen Akrid.
The story of the sequel takes place back on E.D.N. III, 10 years after the events of the first game. The snow has melted to reveal jungles and more tropical areas that have taken the place of more frozen regions. The game centers on a civil war to gain T-ENG. Player(s) can assume control of several different groups of soldiers, called Snow Pirates, and battle the Akrid. The Akrid have expanded their armies and return much more powerful in Lost Planet 2.
Lost Planet 3 is a prequel to the first two games in the series, following the story of Jim Peyton on E.D.N. III.