Lost Planet: Extreme Condition receives the obligatory port to the Playstation 3 console a year after Xbox 360 owners have drudged through the frozen tundra on E.D.N. III. The PS3 edition of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition boasts a few improvements along with a lower price point. If you haven't tried your hand at alien bug extermination, here is your chance.

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition takes place on the distant snow covered planet called E.D.N. III. E.D.N. III is a newly found planet that is being colonized by the human race. It's not all quiet on E.D.N. III as another alien race know as the Akrid occupy the same space. The Akrid are a hostile race of intellegent bug creatures that come in an assortment of size and shapes sharing a hartred for humans and a hunger to kill. In design, the Akrid look they have been borrowed from the set of Starship Troopers, so fighting them will take the same persistence as Lt. Johnny Rico and the crew from the movie.

Your character is a survivor of an Akrid attack named Wayne. The giant Akrid known as Green Eye was behind the attack that also claimed the life of his father. With your memory lost, except the fact that Green Eye killed your father, you seek revenge against the creatures. This unravels a plot that is a deep then your typical shooter, but nothing too complex. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition storyline generates enough interest balanced between defening yourself against the alein creatures in the harsh conditions of the enviroment while hunting down rouge human militant movements.

On this frozen planet staying heated is important for survival; thankfully the alien bugs release thermal energy (T-Eng) and explode when they die. Conserving your body heat will require persistence since your temperature is always dropping. Keeping your enemies targeted and grabbing up Akrid discharge is the way best to staying alive in the harsh winter clement. Other areas you’ll need to expose are fuel tanks and other objects that are littered around the environments.

The human settlers have also figured out that they can use this energy as fuel and use it to power mechanized Vital Suits to defend themselves against the Akrid. Since you will usually be undersized, Vital Suits and quick feet will help you stay alive when these fiendish creatures that creep out of the snow. Lost Planet is one of the best examples in gaming that uses a depleting health system throughout the entire game. It definitely adds a lot to the gameplay making it more difficult in a good way. The winter climate also adds an extra layer of realism of the fictional world of Capcom has created for Lost Planet.

If anything is wrong with Lost Planet the port from the Xbox 360, it could be that Lost Planet still has questionable player controls that are a little awkward compared to other third-person shooters. It takes a while to get fluid response with your fingers instead of fighting with the controls. The PS3 version also feels a little underwhelming without the ability to gain achievements or even in-game PS3 accomplishments. Collecting coins was a fun exertion to boost your gamer score for the 360 which is one downside to picking up the PS3 version of Lost Planet. PS3 hardcore gamers might not think achievements matter, however with any real reward for cashing in items it seems like waste to spend extra effort collecting items for nothing... at least a pop-up achievement badge is better than nothing.

Another flaw that plagues the Playstation 3 port is the noticeable amount of frame rate stuttering, along with a diluted translation of the graphics as a whole. I was surprised that the PS3 version had problems chugging along because the Xbox 360 version is fairly smooth. The development team over at Capcom had a year to work out the bugs after two other versions of the game has been released, one for the obvious Xbox 360 and the other for the finicky personal computer. Devil May Cry 4 certainly performed better cross-platformed then Lost Planet, however that was built up for both systems and Lost Planet is of course, a port. The graphic quality seems a little dulled out compared to the Xbox 360 version, but if you haven’t seen the game run on another machine you will be happy with the quality. The questionable quality of the graphics and the occasional frame rate jitter isn't going to stop your from enjoying Lost Planet, it's just a minor drawback that should have been avoided.

The framerate stuttering caries over to the multiplayer world which isn’t as forgivable when dealing with online lag as well. Online, Lost Planet is a fun game to try out, unfortunately it doesn’t have the same appeal as when it was released originally on the 360. It is nice that Capcom included the add-on expansion packs offered on the Xbox Live Marketplace along with some new character skins. This saves a bit of cash that you would have to shell out on the Xbox 360, but it’s not going to tip the scale on deciding what version to purchase. Frank West saved the Willamette mall, but I don’t know if he can do the same for E.D.N III.

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition exhibits the extreme condition of being an average port to the PS3. Sure, Capcom has added some new online bonuses including new character skins and maps, but the graphical downgrade and loss of achievements is brain freezing.  If you have the luxury of picking the Xbox 360 of Lost Planet, that is the way to go. If you’ve only have a PS3 is still worth a look. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition is a fun and challenging shooter that will give you another climate to run around and gun besides Drake’s jungles. I’m a little disappointed in Lost Planet’s translation; however it’s still a solid game even if it’s bugged up by more than Akrids.

Gameplay:7, Graphics:7,Sound:8, Innovation:6, Mojo: 8 Final: 7.1 / 10