User Reviews
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 Lazy attempt on golden license |  2.6
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by  PangTong_Blademaster
from Oxford, , England | Jul 9, 2008 |
Ever since the launch of the first series of Lost a few years back it has proved to be one of the most tense and gripping television series of all time but when I heard a game was to be made of it I wasn't too sure about it. Lost isn't too inventive but is definitely a change in action games while trying to maintain its "Lost" feel. Was Lost as big of a flop that people say? Read on…
STORY
You are aboard Oceanic Flight 815 from Sydney to Los Angeles, all seems well until suddenly your plane rips into two and both ends come down hurtling towards a deserted island. You are one amongst few survivors and you happen to become amnesic from your fall in the crash. Luckily you're still alive and after a brief encounter with a handful of characters you manage to make your way to the beach where the surviving passengers are running around trying to avoid be blown to pieces by the various parts of broken plane scattered over the sand. As you make your way over to the scene you will introduced to yet more characters. John Locke, so called wise-man and believer of fate asks for your help and you have to stop fuel from leaking from the plane. Soon after the survivors group together and are waiting for help but when it doesn't come things start to get restless amongst them. This is worsened by sudden kidnappings of the survivors and a terrifying creature that stalks the jungles of the island.
For Lost fans you will find that the main plot is there but the character you play as isn't involved in the TV series and has a separate yet interesting story of his own. The character you play as has lost his entire memory and begins to search for luggage in hopes that something might trigger. After finding his belongings he is attacked by a stranger who flees after he is spotted by other survivors. Now determined to recover his memory but this will inevitably lead to venturing into the perilous jungle and into the looming caves. Will you find your memory or die trying?
GAMEPLAY
Lost is played in stages called episodes which suit's the TV tie in theme but they are lowly numbered at only six episodes in which pretty much the entire plot of the two first series are summed up. For Lost fans and myself we were probably wondering how such an epic TV series could be played out on our consoles. There are so many unexpected and expected Gameplay features that tend to balance each other out. First off the only kind of action you do is walk and run. In the first level you are required to follow Vincent (a dog belonging to one of the survivors). This is very tedious and requires you to follow Vincent's bark whilst pressing triangle every now and then. After playing through this first level I was seriously having doubts about the game. Secondly is the whole concept of fiddling with machinery and fuse boxes. The use of fuses is made into a puzzle in which you have a power source of a certain number at one end and need to use the fuse plug to get the energy to the other end of the fuse board and match up the right power number with the right output. I was impressed with the first one but I first found it initially confusing and there are some fuse boards found later in the game that can have you tearing your hair out.
In Lost there are a few things you would assume about Gameplay features including the use of guns (yes there is guns), scavenging, exploring and bartering. In Lost to get around you need to carry basic supplies in a inventory to keep safe. These items can either be found or purchased from other characters. Finding items is pretty simple, all you have to do is keep an eye out for objects on the floor that develop a white outline when your in close proximity. Pressing cross will but the item into your inventory. The most common items are coconuts (which are totally useless but you can make a small profit off of them), bottles of water and torches which are used to light up caves. Items you don't use can be taken back to vendors (such as John Locke or Sawyer). Here you can see what items they have up for trade and then offer them something of equal value. It's an okay system and to be fair designers wouldn't have had any other option but to add the barter system.
As I explained earlier, the character you play as is trying to regain his memory. Occasionally he will have involuntary flashbacks. You find that your character was a photographer before the crash and the only way of receiving fragments of memory is to go back to the past and frame certain moments in the past which will unlock memories. Just like Pokemon Snap, you are required to fit in the event, characters and correct time into a single photo which can require a few retries. Exploring is the biggest feature in Lost. You will spend a good 85% of the game exploring the caves and vast jungle for items and mysterious locations such as the iconic hatch.
Graphics & Sound
The first thing you will notice is that the graphics, for such a poorly rated game are actually up to standard and the first few cut scenes show off what this game can do. However this is ruined a bit by the tardy and awkward movement of characters and objects. Invisible walls are so horrendous in this game that even little sticks can hinder your path. On the whole you can say the graphics are very average and in some spots plausible. The sound however is a completely different kettle of fish. It's nice to see they have kept pretty much all of the music from the TV series and added a few additional tracks. If you are a diehard fan of the series you will be disgusted to know that a good ninety percent of the voice actors from the TV series have been replaced with cheesy and downright awful voice actors who sound almost nothing like their intended roles. Hurley's voice sounds very convincing and may well be the original actor but even having his voice in the game doesn't make up for the other voices.
In conclusion Lost has its good moments there is no denying that but I still stick with saying that a Lost video game should never have been attempted. It kind of ruined the image of Lost for me and the ending to the game isn't rewarding. All I will say is hardcore fans stay far away even if you are interested in the new featured character.
Gameplay: 2.8/ 5.0
Graphics: 3.8/ 5.0
Story: 3.7/ 5.0
Sound: 2.5/ 5.0
Layout: 3.8/ 5.0
Lifespan: 2.5/ 5.0
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| This will make you glad to be LOST |  2.5
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by  ShadowJ
from Derby, Derbyshire, UK | Mar 15, 2008 |
I shall just get down to the nitty gritty and bypass the usual good/bad areas.
This is game is certainly for only two types of people, first the hardcore franchise fans. If you follow the series on TV or love the concept of the whole thing then yes this game if for you and you will feel right at home. The other group the game will appeal too is the group that are bored and have time to kill.
Now to the reasons why. Firstly you do not need to watch the TV series to get into the game, to understand the characters or to get the feel of the game. This is a good thing since you don't have to sit through four seasons to understand who is who, however the game adds in several new characters along the way, the obvious one being the character you play.
You play as a mysterious person who due to the crash of plane has lost his memory and so your job is to find out who you are while trying to help the fellow survivors get off the island. Straightforward? Not a chance.
The writers have done a good job keeping vital evidence and clues to your identity a secret from you until the right chapter comes along to reveal that specific piece of information. Unfortunately there is no variety within the puzzles you come across, I believe altogether excluding the optional task of taking pictures of things there are two puzzles used throughout the game. Although one is more or less classed as an action mini-game rather than a puzzle as it involves being chased by the enemy and avoiding obstacles.
A good feature is the bartering system, an aspect that I actually enjoyed since instead of working with money it works with items you trade that hold a value. Such as a fruit would be worth $5 yet a can of beer would cost $25. This for me gave a breather to many other games that use bartering systems and it is also user friendly, meaning it doesn't cause mass confusion.
Another good feature of this game is the camera and flashbacks. I enjoyed the flashbacks but the only nagging thing about them is you can take your time on them and a few don't make sense as in when a flashback occurs, you are shown a ripped up photograph. Within this photograph, two to three pieces of it are highlighted to show what is needed within your photo to progress. Normally the flashback places you exactly where you need to be, others require you to move around.
Another nit pick of the flashbacks is that it constantly rewinds so you don't miss that all important shot if you haven't figured it out yet, though combine this with being too relaxed. I feel they should have given a consequence to players who don't get that all important shot. This would allow for a "bad ending" to occur within the game or at least stretch the game out once your character wouldn't remember that piece of information he's trying to remember.
This brings me to my next and final point. The game is too short, it consists of seven chapters with each one not lasting too long for the average gamer. I completed it within a week, making it the second shortest game with Fable still at the top of that list.
Overall:
Many state this is the worst game out, many state it is terrible and shouldn't even be rented out. Though it isn't as bad as they say it is, yes it could use with more tweaking and yes it could use with being longer. Yes the game follows the same confusion as the TV series does and leaves you more confused than ever but that is what the concept of the story is meant to do and that is the reason the franchise is called LOST.
To be honest the concept is what saves this game and what makes it a rental and not a buyer, however like I said at the beginning, if you are a fan or someone to kill time then this game is for you. If you are an average gamer looking for a new game to play over the holidays or a long period of time then don't bother. |
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2.55/5.0
