Do it for the baby Charlie
LOST: The Videogame certainly does have its highlights. The action runs in the form of seven chapters that play out as if you were watching an episode of the drama on TV. You get the 'previously on LOST' intro, the music, the branding and the obligatory end of episode cliff-hangar. The chapters are divided well and have a solid starting point and a strong climax to each one, which leaves you eager to find out more. The script is well-written and interesting, and fans will be delighted to hear that some of the character's dialogue and quirks are taken directly from the show. There are even some in-jokes and references that you won't get unless you're a fan. Meeting the characters and hearing their familiar sayings, such as when Charlie sings 'You all everybody', will appeal to the fans.Most of the characters certainly look like their real-life counterparts, even if they don't sound like them, and the locations ooze the quality that we've come to expect from Ubisoft Montreal. The problem is that it's just not enough to make the game enjoyable.
Throughout the adventure you come across a fair few puzzles. IQ tests spurt out of the Dharma Initiative workstations and take the form of numerical tests (name the next number in the sequence), similar to those that you would have carried out at when you were at school. However, you'll spend most of your time solving fuse puzzles, which involves placing fuses, which have different connectors, into an electric board in order to create the appropriate amount of power in order to open a door, or to switch something off. Nothing can prepare you for how many of these puzzles you have to solve. Fair enough, when you solve the first fuse puzzle which stops the middle section of the aircraft from exploding on the beach, you don't really mind too much, but as soon as you get down into the hatch where you come across three of the same puzzles in a row, it becomes a bit of a joke. Considering the game took me approximately 8 hours to complete, I probably spent 2 of those hours solving fuse puzzles.
Click for larger image
Click for larger imageIt feels as though the developer spent so much time on the storyline and getting the look of the game right that they simply ran out of time to think of any more puzzles, so instead they slotted these fuse boxes all over the island.
In addition to puzzles there's also a rather weak trading mechanic. You're encouraged to pick up items from each location, all of which have a monetary value. You can then trade them in for a weapon, a lamp, so you can navigate through the dark caves bottle, or components of the two items (i.e. bullets, oil). You can collect dozens of items, but because there's little to choose from it just feels as though the whole trading mechanic was an afterthought. The crude 'ker-ching' sound that echoes every time you make a transaction just reminds you that you've paid way over the odds for a game that is only worth a weekend rental at most.