Another 360 Exclusive From Capcom: Has MS Struck Gold?

One of the few bits of excitement - if not the only one - to come out of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 launch last Saturday in Japan has to be the announcement of yet another Capcom title in development exclusively for Microsoft’s new machine. The game, entitled Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, now sits peculiarly next to Dead Rising on Capcom’s list of forthcoming 360-only software.

The game is set on a frozen planet and is inhabited primarily by ice pirates and what seem to be their natural enemies called Eecrid. The Eecrid are another strange (albeit common in video games) alien race that is actually made up of a variety of very different creatures whose only shared characteristic is their allergy to the protagonist’s bullets. Perhaps as Capcom reveals more, exact details will be ironed out, but as it stands, it sure looks like a good time shooting them whether be they related or not.

Interestingly, the game is under the guidance of Capcom Research & Development division chief Keiji Inafune, the driving force behind Resident Evil 4.

The game appears to be based squarely in the third-person and revolves around blowing stuff up. Good. Players take control of a character whose name we don’t know yet, in a mission to avenge his father's father's unfortunate demise. How very Japanese. Apparently our hero, played in digitised form by 'famous Korean Star' Byung Hun Lee, has lost all of his memory except for his knowledge of fighting. As such, he takes up with the Ice Pirates who found him, and together they blow up many random giant bug/alien things. Imagine the Starship Troopers game, only a good version, and you should get the idea. Video of the aforementioned shooting as well as some hints at the game's plot can be experienced via the official trailer located here

While all this may seem well and good, 'angry natural born killer protagonist versus giant space monster, with a bit of pirates thrown in for good measure', one can’t help but wonder if this is really Capcom’s A-list. If you recall, the original Xbox game line-up from Capcom saw the announcement of a few choice exclusives that - to say the least - were under-performers. The incredible Steel Battalion was just too ambitious, and Dino Crisis 3 and Break Down both failed to convince Japanese gamers that they were anything more than what they were – below average rushed games. All fairly worthwhile exercises, but not exactly the Resident Evil 4-type sellers MS had probably hoped for. They certainly didn’t move the original Xbox from Japanese store shelves in any great quantity.

So is this a big windfall for MS or just another case of Xbox playing to host to Capcom’s more experimental/rubbish titles? Dead Rising hasn’t exactly impressed many, and our brief hands-on with it at Zero Hour left us more than a little disappointed. As ever, let us know what you think in the forums below.