When it was discovered that Capcom had trademarked the name "Lost Planet: Colonies," many thought it was an extension of the fledgling franchise, a diversion into new realms (a Lost Planet MMO?), or possibly a sequel to the original Xbox 360 hit (which was just released in expanded form on PlayStation 3). While the reality is somewhat more subdued -- it's a greatest hits version of the original Xbox 360 game -- there's still plenty of reason to be excited about this budget-priced update. More than just an Xbox 360 port of the PC port of the PS3 port of the original Xbox 360 game,
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition (that's what it says on a press fact sheet, we can't help it if it rhymes) has more than enough built-in new content to warrant excitement, as well as a repurchase.
First, the bad news. Owners of the original game will find that Colonies won't acknowledge your previous game saves. Capcom's reasoning is that there's just too much new content in both single-player and multiplayer mode to reconcile the two versions,
especially since both Xbox 360 users and PC players will now be able to battle it out in online multiplayer matches. While this backwards incompatibility may split the still-vibrant, leveled-up Lost Planet online community, cross-platform multiplayer has the potential to strengthen the experience as well. Still, Colonies has a lot more than just Xbox 360-to-PC multiplayer to recommend it.
Now for the good news. Single-player has three new modes: Score Attack, Trial Battle Mode, and Off Limit Mode. Score Attack assigns enemies and destructible objects with specific point values, and players earn varying points depending on their approach in beating the enemy. Trial Battle Mode is basically a boss fight mode, where you battle each of the game's bosses in sequence. Off Limit Mode may unintentionally point to where the series needs to go in general, as players can use super-powered weapons with unlimited ammo and increased movement speed in an all-out firefight.
SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Lost Planet Colonies screens.
When last we checked, the content added to the PS3 version of Lost Planet -- Luka as a playable character in her own side missions, Frank West and "Mega Man" Frank West as unlockable characters, and all of the extra downloadable multiplayer maps -- was said to be included in Colonies, too. But the hits keep on coming.
At least half a dozen new multiplayer modes augment Colonies, so for the trainspotters out there, the new modes are Akrid Hunter, VS Annihalator, CounterGrab, Point Snatcher, Akrid Egg Battle, and Egg Bandit. Akrid Hunter is possibly the most insane mode of the bunch. One player takes the role of a
giant Akrid (the huge insectoid monsters that Wayne has to contend with in the story mode) while the remaining players try to take him down. Compared to the smaller, nimble humanoids running around, the Akrid is slow and cumbersome -- at least until it rolls up into a ball, jumps in the air, and crashes down on everyone -- but has enormous claws that impale, and therefore one-shot, any player it hits. Of course it still has its classic glowing amber weak point right on its ass, but it's up to the Akrid player to keep moving.
VS Annihilator is a variation of Capture The Flag game mechanics, with each team simultaneously trying to destroy the opposing team's Vital Suit while defending its own. So, it's more like Destroy the Moving Flag, but you get the point. CounterGrab is a timed session in which the team with the longest activation time of its Data Posts wins. Point Snatcher is a simple deathmatch, in which the person with the most thermal energy points at the end of the match wins the round. Akrid Egg Battle pits two teams against each other, with both teams trying to steal the other's Akrid eggs (and returning them to their respective bases), while protecting their own. Egg Bandit is a variation on that theme, with points awarded for the longest capture times.
SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Lost Planet Colonies screens.
In addition to the modes stated above, Colonies has four new multiplayer maps: Crossfire City (with wide open streets suited for Vital Suits, and loads of buildings which provide plenty of perches for sniper battles), Area 921 (which in theory resembles Counter-Strike's Militia map, with two industrial compounds set in the desert and separated by an underground pipe), Lost Arena (a huge arena suited for Vital Suit battles in the main area, and bleacher seating for on-foot skirmishes), and Assault Space (which is set on a space ship and its supply vessel).
Liberated Colonies players will appreciate the two new female character models, two new robot character models, and five other playable character models that have been added to the multiplayer modes, bringing the number of unlockable avatars up to 11. New weapons have found their way into the game for on-foot human models, including a Hand Gun (weak but accurate), a Revolver (for advance players, great for one-hit kills in close quarter range), a Flame Launcher (deadly, but uses thermal energy to power it), and a Hand Cannon (a rocket launcher in the shape of a handgun that's particularly effective against Vital Suits). And speaking of Vital Suits, they too get new weapons, namely a Pile Bunker (a fast-moving lance-type projectile), a VS Rifle (the longest range of any weapon in the game, which retains its power no matter what the distance), a Rocket Pod (fires a cluster of rockets to do area-of-effect damage), and a Laser Lance (sweeping arc-type damage).
Wrapping up all of that content are new environments (basically, more ice) and new perspectives, including first-person and Resident Evil 4-style camera angles. While it's a shame players of the original version of Lost Planet have to start over from scratch, Colonies boasts a
ton of new achievements to unlock (achievement whores, ahoy!). New players obviously won't mind either way, and at a $29.95 MSRP for the new content, Capcom looks to have made going through the motions a second time a pretty easy pill to swallow.