Capcom has opted to bring Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, its exciting Xbox 360 shooter, to the PC, complete with DX10 support. But all is not well with this port. Right off the bat, you'll detect signs of platform translation. The pop-up tutorials all refer to the Xbox 360 controller, leaving equivalent keyboard commands completely out of the equation--and if you're a keyboard jockey, the correspondingly awkward menu navigation will be the first thing you notice. You may also observe another major annoyance: Lost Planet requires you to be connected to the Internet via Valve Software's Steam client just to play the single-player game. Losing your connection during gameplay will cause the game client to quit, and since there are no midmission saves, you'll have to replay the entire mission from the beginning. Without the connection, the game can't start, and at press time, will not start even if Steam is in offline mode.
These are simple but exasperating blunders, but if you can overlook them, you'll find that Lost Planet's single-player campaign features a lot of cool action with larger-than-life shooting sequences. Furthermore, it's all capped with stunning visuals that surpass those of its console counterpart. Make no mistake: This is a beautiful game. You trudge through drift after drift of gleaming white snow, fending off towering insects in memorable scenes that will make your heart pound. The high dynamic range lighting is particularly stunning, and the game makes good use of it both in indoor caverns and wintry fields. It's also been touted as one of the first DirectX 10 titles, though running it in DX10 mode didn't yield any noticeable quality or performance differences. Either way, be prepared to turn down visual settings, as you need a beefy rig to run the game, let alone see it in all its frigid glory.
System Requirements
Minimum: Windows® XP, Intel® Pentium® 4 supporting HT technology or AMD Athlon™ 64 3500+ or greater, 512 MB RAM (Windows XP) / 1 GB RAM (Windows Vista), 8.0 GB free disk space, 640x480 minimum resolution, 256 MB VRAM, DirectX®9.0c / Shader3.0*, NVIDIA® GeForce® 6600 or greater**, DirectSound compatible. DirectX®9.0c, Mouse, Keyboard, Broadband connection (Internet connection required to play.)
Recommended: Windows Vista™, Intel® Core™2 Duo, 1 GB RAM (Windows XP) / 2 GB RAM (Windows Vista), 1280x720 or higher resolution, 256 MB VRAM, NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600 or greater, Gamepad, Xbox 360™ Controller for Windows®
* Operation not assured if VRAM is shared with Main Memory.
** NVIDIA® GeForce® 7300 is not supported.
