SHADOWS OF THE DAMNED

The textbook example of a diamond in the rough, Shadows of the Damned is the perfect game to kick this feature off with. Grasshopper Manufacture’s 2011 cult classic is a game that has garnered an increasingly sizeable fan following over the years, and it’s easy to see why, whether that’s because of its stylish action, its sense of humour, or the abundance of character and personality that it’s overflowing with. Hopefully, its upcoming remaster will bring a much larger audience to the game.

Falling into the latter category is a little franchise by the name of Lost Planet, which sought to combine third-person shooter action and Mecha brawls against the backdrop of a sci-fi dystopia. Over the course of less than a handful of entries and a handheld spin-off, the franchise faded into obscurity. This begs the question – what the hell actually happened to Lost Planet?

Lost Planet was a bit different from other action games by Capcom, one of those being that the game was exclusive to Microsoft’s Xbox 360, as opposed to most of its other titles which found a home on Sony’s PlayStation 3. The game is set against a futuristic dystopia, wherein the planet Earth has become uninhabitable due to factors such as pollution, wars, and global warming – and humanity is on the lookout for alien planets to colonize and potentially, inhabit. Upon stumbling on the alien planet, the expedition team comes face to face with an alien race by the name of Akrid – and you embark on a long and arduous journey to help in colonizing this hostile planet.

While the story setup isn’t anything to write home about, it formed a solid basis for an enjoyable and action-packed gameplay loop nevertheless. As protagonist Wayne, you have the ability to wield different kinds of weapons – from rifles to grenade launchers to miniguns – to defeat a multitude of enemy types. On top of that, you could also use a grappling hook to reach higher vantage points or hack a VS which is essentially a Mecha to wreak havoc upon your adversaries. You also have to keep tabs on your Thermal Energy at all times, as it will deplete constantly in the face of adverse weather conditions and you have to keep recharging it through the use of heat generators or killing enemies.

Apart from the fun single-player offerings, Lost Planet also offered a decent suite of multiplayer options as well – which mixed the game’s thermal energy management systems with standard game modes like CTF and free-for-all – resulting in an experience that was as addicting as it was fun.

Lost Planet released in December 2006 in Japan followed by January of 2007 worldwide, and critics and fans unanimously praised the game on account of its fun gameplay and engaging multiplayer mode, and it stands at a respectable rating of 79 on Metacritic. As mentioned before, Lost Planet was originally an Xbox 360 exclusive – but the game would soon be ported over to PC and PlayStation a few months later in the form of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition which added a few new bells and whistles to the game’s multiplayer offerings. Lost Planet also enjoyed a great commercial reception, selling over 2.8 million units in lifetime sales for both versions of the game.

Following the breakout success of the first game, the developer already began laying plans for a sequel. New ideas would be added into the mix, such as a fleshed-out co-op mechanic for the single-player campaign that would allow players to work together and share important resources like Thermal Energy as a team to overcome new threats. Apart from that, the game would also have a change of scenery from the first game, among a slew of other things. Lost Planet 2 finally released in 2010, although unlike its predecessor – the game was released on both Xbox 360 and PS3, which was followed by a PC release a couple months later.

While Lost Planet 2 had a few neat ideas that were an improvement over the original, the game was criticized on account of some of its bizarre game design choices, particularly with regards to the interface and encounters. All in all, Lost Planet 2 was met with a lukewarm critical reception – and the game stands at a rating of 68 on Metacritic, which was still respectable albeit lower than the first game. Over on the commercial front, the game sold 1.5 million copies in around a year – which was obviously lower than what the developer had projected.

The developer also produced a handheld spin-off for the franchise in the form of E.X. Troopers that released for the PS3 in 2013, which added new elements such as a melee fighting system and a jetpack among others. The game didn’t have a strong critical or commercial reception, and at least the latter of these problems can partly be attributed to the game being released in Japan only.

For the third mainline game in the franchise, development duties shifted to Spark Unlimited. This prequel would veer away from its predecessors as it incorporated some role-playing elements into the mix, such as side-quests and crafting equipment among others. In addition to this, the game would also add an element of survival horror into its gameplay – as the camera jutted really close to the protagonist’s shoulder and the mission environments felt claustrophobic.

Lost Planet 3 finally released in 2013 for all major platforms, but failed to really impress critics once again. The new direction for the series was criticized by players as it made for a repetitive gameplay experience that goes on for way longer than it needs to, and the gameplay mechanics didn’t boast much depth either. Between having the series’ lowest Metacritic score of 61 and the game being developed by an external studio not previously involved with the franchise, Lost Planet 3 flopped on a commercial level as well. Unsurprisingly, there’s little to no information available with regards to its sales figures.

With three commercial failures to weigh against one breakout success, the developer naturally put the series on indefinite hold after Lost Planet 3. Rumors of a franchise revival started doing the rounds as the developer had allegedly pitched a potential Lost Planet 4, but the management refused since the investment needed for the project would be too risky for a niche franchise. Jump to the current day, and it seems highly unlikely that Lost Planet would be resurrected once again – and that’s a shame because these games could end up being a lot of fun when they were firing on all cylinders.

As for what happened to the series, it’s rather obvious. Ever since the release of the first game, the sequels didn’t quite hit the mark in their gameplay and story departments – resulting in an underwhelming critical and commercial reception over and over again. As a result, the developer had to put an end to the series since the investment didn’t bear any fruit. All that said, we do really hope to see the franchise return to the mainstream once again – but we can only wish for now.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

LICHDRAGON FORTISSAX (ELDEN RING)

Lichdragon Fortissax – well, look at it. The thing’s massive, and with that and a bunch of deadly attacks in its moveset, this dragon is the most formidable enemy you’ll fight in the entire game. Of course, this is an optional boss fight, but you will have to seek it out if you’re going for the Age of Duskborn ending.

Lair (2007)

The PlayStation 3’s Six-Axis controller might not have been the most ergonomic when compared to its competitor the Xbox 360 controller, but it was certainly ambitious – sporting a fully-featured motion control setup. Factor 5’s dragon warfare game Lair was made to utilize the motion control functionality, and a big-budget and marketing coalesced to form huge hype and of course, expectations for the game. After a year-long delay, Lair would finally release in 2007 – to middling critical reception. Reviews at the time criticized the game’s motion controls as being cumbersome and unintuitive among a number of things, and the game quickly became one of the biggest disappointments of the year.

Usually, when the time of the month comes around to roll over the clock month to month it means a refresh of your subscription service with the new games being given out and discounts that come with. Well, it seems February is going to be quite different. Instead of the usual three titles that you traditionally get with Games with Gold, you’ll be getting a whooping five. However, alongside that comes a rather steep hike in overall price for the service.

First off, getting to the games for the month, the headline title is almost certainly Gears 5. The most recent entry in the long running series will be free to claim through the entire month. Also available for the entire month is Resident Evil, the acclaimed remastered remake of the very first title in the franchise. From February 1st-15th, we’re going to get Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb, an original Xbox title based on the franchise, no doubt perfectly timed to the recent announcement of a new game in the series. From the 16th to the 28th will see Lost Planet 2 on the Xbox 360, a Capcom series from the era focused on shooting aliens on a foreign planet with fun co-op. To round it all off, there’s Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition, a metroidvania title that will be available from the 16th and running into March.

While all these games are exciting, and there are some great gems here, there is some big news that you may be less excited about. On a post from the official Xbox news site, they have confirmed that Xbox Live Gold will see a hike in price. It’s actually quite steep, with the new pricing scheme being 1-month for $10.99, 3-months for $29.99 and 6-months for $59.99. Existing members will get a choice to renew at the current price, however, and they are allowing options for converting Gold into Game Pass Ultimate.

“If you’re an existing online 12-month or 6-month Xbox Live Gold member, there’s no price change. If you choose to renew your membership, it will renew at your current price.

“The price of a 1-month Gold membership is increasing $1 USD and the price of a 3-month membership is increasing $5 USD or the equivalent amount in your local market.

“If you’d like to upgrade your Gold membership to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate your remaining Gold time will also convert directly to Ultimate (up to 36 months). For example, if you have 11 months of Xbox Live Gold now, and you upgrade to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, those 11 months convert to 11 months of Ultimate at no additional cost.”

The games outlined for Games with Gold will become available starting February 1st with Gears 5, Resident Evil and Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb. Microsoft has not put a time frame on the rollout of the price increase, but says to check emails as it happens in your region.

CRONOS (GOD OF WAR 3)

The bigger they are, the harder they fall- this is something that’s doubly true for anyone squaring off against Kratos. Cronos is by far the biggest monstrosity Kratos has ever come up against, but he wrecked the Titan like it was nothing. As Cronos swallowed Kratos, he told him that it was going to be more unpleasant for him than for Kratos- little did he know just how right he was.

Microsoft continues its never ending quest to have Xbox and Xbox 360 games be playable on the Xbox One via its backward compatibility initiative. Of late, we have begun to see new batches of backward compatible games be released from a single series or publisher. Today’s update is similar—it’s four new games, all from the same publisher, three from the same franchise.

The publisher in question is Capcom, while the games are Lost Planet, Lost Planet 2, Lost Planet 3, and Resident Evil: Code Veronica X. While the latter two Lost Planet games are nothing special, the original was one of the most unique action games available at the time, and one of the original “killer apps” for the Xbox 360 in its early years, so it’s good to have it be available on the Xbox One as well.

Code Veronica represents one of the more divisive Resident Evil games; nonetheless, it has its fans, who will, I am sure, be more than happy to play through it again.

You can see Microsofr exec Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb’s tweets making the announcements about these new games below.

https://twitter.com/majornelson/status/1098629230814887937?s=21

https://twitter.com/majornelson/status/1098629079505371136?s=21

This is a video showing off what a great job they did with the physics of an ass jiggling in Lost Planet 2.  If only they worked this hard on making the actual game as good as the physics seen in the video, Lost Planet 2 might have been the game of the year.  Well enjoy.

Via D’toid via Twitter

– Respawning points are changed – e.g. the player can start from the beginning of the boss fight, rather than start the level from the beginning and so on.
Applies to the whole game.

– The player’s attacking power has been strengthened.
This applies when the difficulty level is set at either Easy or Normal and when only one player starts the game.

– The level of animations for the player being affected near by attack/explosion is lowered.
This applies when the difficulty level is set at either Easy or Normal and when only one player starts the game.

More patch notes and when to expect the patch after the jump.

– The level of damage to the player is lowered.
This applies when the difficulty level is set at either Easy or Normal and when only one player starts the game.

– Harmonizer is adjusted to be more powerful.
This applies when the difficulty level is set at either Easy or Normal and when only one player starts the game.

– The level of animations for the enemies being affected near by attack/explosion is increased.
This applies when the difficulty level is set at either Easy or Normal and when only one player starts the game.

– Tip texts are added to the objects that require the B button action such as Data Posts.
Applies to the whole game.

– Weapons’ parameters are adjusted – i.e. they became quite evenly balanced (not too strong, not too weak).
Applies to the whole game.

All these apply to the Playstation 3 version, which by the way the update will be released on the 7th of June, While the Xbox 360 version is still planned.

There is a trophy that you can earn in Lost Planet 2, this particular trophy unlocks once you have played Lost Planet 2 for 6 months, so those trophy whores (and there are a lot of them) will not sell their copy to their local game store just to be able to get the trophy, a clever thing, yet its only effective for 6 months, and on top of that, gamers found a way to get the trophy without playing it for 6 months:

1. Before starting the game, remove the LAN cable and set the clock seven months back.
2. Create save data file.
3. Return to the dash board, connect your LAN cable, and connect to Live.
4. Start up the game and load up the save file.

I’m gonna take a shot at it and say that Activision will also try and do something about it, the biggest game publisher wouldn’t want to feel left out in this used games war.

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