Lost Planet™: Extreme Condition Review Summary

Enjoyable mech gameplay and impressive enemy variety with excellent graphics for its era, but the weak story, clunky controls, and frustrating final boss hold it back.

Enjoyable mech gameplay: The Vital Suit mechs are a highlight, described as varied, fun to pilot, and slow but powerful. Players enjoy switching between on-foot combat and mech control, noting good feel and customization options.

Excellent graphics for its era: Multiple players note the graphics are impressive for the game's age, with beautiful settings, explosions, and snow effects still holding up well today. The visuals and aesthetics remain a strong point even by modern standards.

Impressive enemy design and variety: The alien Akrid and other enemies are noted for their high-quality design and intimidation factor. There is good variety in enemy types, from flying creatures to large bosses.

Challenging and engaging boss fights: Boss battles are repeatedly praised as challenging yet fair, with well-crafted designs and epic scale. They are considered a standout feature of the game.

Satisfying weapon variety and feedback: Players appreciate the wide array of weapons, all of which are viable and have satisfying feedback. Visual effects and impact contribute to the enjoyment of combat.

Weak story and characters: The story is called forgettable, boring, confusing, rushed, and poorly written. Characters are not engaging and the plot is weak.

Frustrating final boss: The final boss is widely criticized as a damage sponge, extremely difficult, unfair, and disappointing. Some find it cheap or cheesable.

Clunky controls: Controls are described as clunky, rough, janky, and cumbersome, especially on keyboard. This affects overall gameplay feel.

Poor enemy AI: Enemy AI is inconsistent, either too weak or too strong. Human enemies have particularly bad aim and movement.

Poor cutscenes and voice acting: Cutscenes are described as dry, uninspired, forgettable, and unnecessary. Voice acting ranges from mediocre to bad or overdone.

Mech piloting is core: The ability to pilot Vital Suits (mechs) is a frequently mentioned feature, with players highlighting how mechs are central to combat and traversal.

Third-person shooter hybrid: The game is consistently described as a third-person shooter that blends on-foot combat with mecha piloting, sometimes including vehicle sections.

Akrid enemies with weak points: The Akrid enemies are a major focus, noted for their glowing weakpoints that encourage strategic targeting during combat.

Boss fights against Akrid: Players repeatedly mention boss fights, especially against giant Akrid monsters, as a significant part of the gameplay experience.

Diverse weapons and exosuits: Players appreciate the variety of weapons and exosuits available, allowing different combat approaches on foot or in mechs.

Steam Deck runs excellently: Multiple users report that the game handles and runs well on Steam Deck, achieving consistent 60 FPS without any tweaks. No issues were encountered on this platform.

DirectX 10 version broken: The DirectX 10 mode is broken, does not work, or causes graphical bugs. Users are advised to avoid DX10 and use other rendering modes.

Cutscene audio desync issues: Audio and video desynchronization occurs during cutscenes, which can break immersion. Some users suggest enabling V-sync specifically for cutscenes to fix sync problems.

Windows and modern system performance: On Windows and modern systems, the game runs very smoothly out of the box with no crashes or performance issues. This suggests the game is well-optimized for current hardware.

High system requirements and heat: The game pushes computers to their limits and runs hot even on newer systems. Users may need to limit to 30 FPS or use 720p resolution to achieve stable performance.

Generally recommended despite flaws: The game is widely recommended, but players should be aware of issues like a difficult final boss, clunky controls, and bugs. Many suggest playing on console or with a controller.

Best purchased on sale: A significant number of reviews advise waiting for a sale before buying, as the game is considered worth the lower price but not the full price. Frequent sales make this easy.

Recommended for mecha/kaiju fans: The game is particularly recommended for fans of mech combat, kaiju, and third-person shooters. It appeals to those who enjoy anime and mecha genres.

Not recommended without nostalgia: A subset of reviews state the game is not worth buying unless you have nostalgia for it, finding it dated and clunky otherwise. Some even advise avoiding it entirely.

Great for nostalgic/retro experience: Many recommend the game for those seeking an Xbox 360/PS3 era or mid-2000s arcade action shooter experience. It is best suited for players who appreciate older games and can overlook jank.

Community fair range: $5.00 - $10.00.

Story completion: 7.0h.

Session length: 0.3h.

Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions delivers immediate fun through its grappling hook and mech gameplay in short bursts, but repetitive combat, clunky controls, and a weak story cause interest to decline over time.

Friction: clunky grappling hook controls; repetitive combat missions; poor human enemy AI; Windows Live requirement for multiplayer; unrewarding collectibles; uninteresting story.

Unlock drivers: using Vital Suits (mechs); engaging with grappling hook mechanics; playing in short bursts; using varied enemy strategies.

Old-School Sci-Fi Enthusiast: Plays carefully, explores environments, appreciates design and difficulty. Motivation: To experience a retro sci-fi third-person shooter with unique mechanics and atmosphere. Stance: buy.

Mech & Monster Slayer: Aggressive, engages enemies directly, experiments with weapons and mechs. Motivation: Piloting mechs and defeating giant bosses with big guns. Stance: buy.

Nostalgic Multiplayer Veteran: Replays the campaign, reminisces about multiplayer, may use mods or LAN. Motivation: Reliving past memories and experiencing the game's original charm. Stance: sale.

Steam Deck: The game receives highly positive feedback for performance on Steam Deck under ideal conditions (low power, solid framerate) but is critically undermined by a DRM update that introduces crashes and breaks Deck support. Additionally, users must tinker with a 30 FPS cap and expect controller-centric controls. The presence of crashes and broken support places the experience in the 'Broken' category despite the strong baseline performance.

Linux and Proton: The game generally runs very well on Steam Deck and Linux via standard Proton, with multiple users praising its performance and stability. However, a single review reports that a recent DRM update has broken Steam Deck support and caused crashes. Overall, the consensus favors good compatibility, though the DRM issue warrants attention.

Settings guide for authenticity: A player provides a detailed guide on adjusting graphics and audio settings to recreate the original experience, addressing concerns about changes in remasters.