Turns out it’s a mix of old and new.With the first two Lost Planet entries built on Capcom’s MT Framework engine, tech specifically designed to run early Xbox 360 titles Dead Rising and Lost Planet (Lost Planet 2 used the updated MT Framework 2.0, which is currently powering Resident Evil 6), the most glaring change is noticeably smoother on-foot third-person movement and combat thanks to Epic’s ubiquitous Unreal Engine 3 this go-around. Not only does Lost Planet 3 realize an incredibly vibrant world of ice, snow, electrical storms, and crusty Akrid baddies thanks to Epic’s tech, but general movement feels more natural, less stilty and, well, less like a Capcom game. Also, the camera does little to annoy, another very un-Capcom plus.
General movement feels more natural, less stilty, less like a Capcom game.
Where it feels similar is in the hit animations, an element that appeared in the earlier games (and Dead Rising) that most players likely remember with varying degrees of frustration. If you recall, previously when you took damage from a Space Pirate or Akrid, it would send you into any number of lengthy time and resource consuming stun animations (especially in the first game). These unbrilliant moments would often knock you off of your feet, rendering you helpless, even against bosses who didn’t give a cluck if it meant not playing fair. In short, these egregiously cheap moments led to more than a few insta-deaths if they happened at the most inopportune times.Luckily, they don’t happen nearly as often (and they didn't happen when in the Utility Rigs, or URs, which pre-date Vital Suits and are more heavy-lifting tools, less lethal war machines armed to the chompers with giant chain guns and rockets), and the effects aren’t nearly as exacerbating, but they’re still in here so be warned.“
What's really new is Lost Planet 3's return to a frozen but scarier version of E.D.N. III. Introducing a simple if slightly generic Western character in colonist Jim sets you up to care about who you are, what you're doing and what might happen to your family if you don't survive. When we first detailed Lost Planet 3 a few months back, we explained how the game borrows more from crossover action horror shooters like Dead Space than it does older Lost Planet games, which is a great move for the series. It keeps almost everything else by the book; bad guys are insecty and still pocked with orange weak spots, and you’ll still die if you spend too much time outside. Let's just be thankful we don’t have to manage our thermal energy with any degree of concern any longer.
During the demo, after a lengthy cutscene intro explaining just what the heck our hero Jim is doing so far from home, and a primer on the new UR, I stomped out into the great white void under heavy threat from a storm, headlong into some juicy combat.The UR sections are all first-person, and using the combination of a giant mechanical loading left hand and a Big Daddy-esque drill for my strong right, I made my way through ice and enemies with satisfying crunchiness. Grabbing one of the pesky wolf-like Pack hunters that roam the unpleasant tundra, I crush the poor sap in my iron grip, the brute thing squirming and squealing when gored upon my drill, splattering my windshield with orange pulpy Akrid batter. Ewww.
Of course, my Utility Rig eventually freezes and I’m tasked with getting out into the cold on foot to break the ice off in order to continue, all the while the Akrid hunters circling me, hungry for revenge over the way I just totally flayed their second cousin. In these sections, the shotgun is your friend, which handily dispatches the things almost as easily as the UR equipment, though to lesser effect. Miss and you’ll face a strange quick time event that requires you to maneuver your cursor to attack with a blade using the right analog stick, which is disorienting as it feels like it would be better suited using my left stick. My mother always told me I was left-sticked.
Another section of the demo finds me exploring a Mysterious Base. I know it’s a Mysterious Base, UPPER CASE, because that’s what the game tells me, not because it looks mysterious. At least not at first. I mean, it sort of does, but not any more mysterious than most bases I’ve explored. Then stuff starts moving; up ahead, things fall off of shelves, something slinks and skitters away around the bend. Upgrading this to “Exploring the Terrifying Base”, thank you very much. I reach a control room and something reminiscent of a facehugger jumps through the frame. The game tells me, “Objective Complete – Explore Mysterious Base.” So wait, I did it? I’m done? But I’m in the middle of it, and it's really scary. “Objective Added – Escape the Base.”
Please, Lost Planet 3, make up your mind.There was also a boss fight against a GIANT GENJI CRAB AKRID. With orange spots. This fight switches from on foot (you don’t really stand a chance) to an up close, clamp-to-claw combat section. The UR has an effective block mechanic, which when used in tandem with the clamp attack, allows you to grab the crab’s claws and pluck off its arms like a curious gradeschooler terrorizing so many hapless insects. Declawed, I pulled the crab's torso down, revealing the glowy bits atop its back. This pulsy orange matter all but begs me – screams at me – to bury your drill in it. I accommodate. Fighting continues. I block, I grab, I drill. Crab dies, mankind wins, for now.
I’m feeling safe to assume there’s much more to Lost Planet 3 than all of this – dazzling environmental visuals, higher polished presentation and more satisfying gameplay than I would’ve EVER expected out of Spark. What I’ve seen so far has helped ease my combined anxiety over the averageness of Lost Planet 2, and the total let down that was Turning Point: Fall of Liberty. Hopefully the game delivers more scares, character and fun when it ships sometime in 2013. Casey Lynch is Editor-in-Chief of IGN.com. Follow his non-sequitur ramblings about video games, '80s films and Protest the Hero on IGN and Twitter.