Thanks to Doomed for the article.
I have to admit, I am a big fan of the TV series Lost, so when I heard that Ubisoft where making a game based on this popular program two things crossed my mind, the first being, would this game be any good? And secondly and perhaps more importantly, how was anyone going to make a game out of this? Well I am about to tell you the answer to both these questions and if you are a Lost fan, then you are going to be pleasantly surprised.
Lost (Via Domus), sees you take control of a photojournalist who is one of the survivor’s of Oceanic Flight 815. At the beginning of the game you soon discover that your character is suffering from amnesia and cannot remember who he is (I know now but I’m not telling you. cruel I know). As in the TV program most of your time is spent discovering all about the island, however along the way you will also unlock memories from your characters past, which in turn helps him to remember who he is.
Drama is never far away in this game, from the first moment it just drags you in and doesn’t let go. To be honest I wasn’t really impressed at first due to the frustrating load times at the beginning of the game, however once the mystery starts to unfold you really start to feel hooked and the load times become a distant memory. The game is separated into seven episodes, at the beginning of each you are treated to that ever so familiar “previously on Lost” scene which shows you the highlights of the last level you completed, it’s all very impressive and really makes you feel like you are playing a character on the show, Ubisoft must be applauded for this.
During the game your character will have many flashbacks, as he remembers his previous encounters with his fellow islanders and other characters, flashbacks take the form of a broken picture, which you must piece together by recreating the scene with your camera, take the perfect picture and you will then be able to interact with the past to find out more information, this may all sound a bit strange but when you see it in action you will understand.
Interacting with other characters during your adventures is pretty simple, all you need to do is walk up to them and then the option to chat will then appear, once selected you are then able to interact by selecting the highlighted questions. When talking to an NPC you are also able to trade items and if you wish to ask about an item you have in your possession, check your inventory. The game also offers you the chance to take photographs of certain items, in some cases this will even update your quest log, which is basically a diary of what you have achieved and what you need to do next.
While Lost isn’t an all out action game there are some moments where your heart will jump out of your mouth, the perfect example being when you meet the black smoke for the first time, although there are ways to escape it’s grasp. There are also a few on the rails moments when you are trying to escape the black smoke and later on The Others, but the main bulk of the game though is spent solving puzzles which come in all shapes and sizes, such as the fuse boxes where you need to get the correct voltage to each meter, thus enabling it to turn green, it’s all very taxing stuff, I sat for at least 30 minutes trying to get all of the meters in one fuse box to change before eventually managing to move on.
Each stage of the game offers many different and challenging environments, of these the jungle and the caves are probably two of the most difficult to navigate. Personally I found I kept getting lost in the jungle due to the amount of wrong turns I kept taking, although helpfully there are markers on trees, which when activated point you in the right direction, though if like me you still get lost then the game will then allow you the option to return to where you began. The caves pose an entirely different challenge due to the dangers that lurk in them, the main rule of entering a cave is always take a torch, the reasons for this are many, however the main one is that if you enter the cave without a light source the darkness will kill you, well that’s if you don’t fall down a dark pit first.
The presentation in Lost is absolutely stunning, the character likenesses are pretty much spot on and although only some of the actors have been recruited to provide the voiceovers this really doesn’t take away from the general feel of the game. The same can be said of the environments, each area of the island has been perfectly reproduced making the game feel very authentic, however the most impressive thing of all has to be the musical score, just try not to imagine you are not really there when the beautifully created music increases in speed and intensity, it’s just perfect what more can I say?
It is very difficult to talk about this game without giving away any of the story, but it really is one of those play it for yourself adventures that you must experience rather than read about. When I began playing this game I really didn’t think I would like it due to the impossible task I felt the developers faced in making it any good, however I was so wrong, I managed to complete the game start to finish in twelve hours and I tell you what, the ending is just typical of the TV series. Lost is a brilliant game and therefore I have to say that in my eyes Ubisoft have achieved the impossible, hats off to them.
Source: WonderwallWeb