Thursday 16 November 2006
In keeping with Capcom's Onimusha and Devil May Cry series, Lost Planet is a cinematic adventure that mixes some of the best virtual acting with eye-popping style and epic set-piece battles. It's no wonder blasting though Lost Planet feels a lot like Devil May Cry either - it's by the same development team at Capcom.

From the moment you step onto the icy tundra Lost Planet explodes with fire and ice. Your hero, erm, Wayne is on a mission to uncover new sources of life-giving thermal energy, a natural power source that's used by humans to survive in the cold of this new Arctic-like waste of a planet.

Like the hefty sci-fi epic Dune, there is a struggle for this natural resource, a fight between the new human settlers, the Ice Pirates (a group of feral humans left to survive in the frozen waste) and the mysterious Resi-style Neo Venus Construction Corp (NEVAC). Oh, and there's also the indigenous insect-like creatures known as the Akrid, a species with a secret relationship to the thermal energy.

Though Capcom will have you believe Wayne is the star of Lost Planet, a character played by and based on the Chinese actor Lee Byung Hun, the true stars of the show are the Akrid and the planet itself. Appearing in many shapes and sizes, usually from under your feet as they burrow to the surface, the Akrid are a fantastic creation.