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Rating: - Lost, Great Series, Average Game
I'm a big Lost fan so I carefully waited for the game to be available at the local Blockbuster and sure enough I was the first renting it.

First Impressions: The title screen is lovely and it led to an anticipation of whats to come. Turning it on however, I was greeted by blocky controls. At first I thought I had freedom to move about the island but turned out I was wrong, everything is set on paths. Your character kind of quirks and jerks around the island stumbling into unmoveable bushs with all his stiffness. Follow this up with 'what just happened' cut scenes and dabble on a self-centering bad camera angle and you have your opener of sorts. Jungles have never been accurately reproduced in games, I was hoping this would be an exception.

Play it Again Sammy: The game blocks it up like episodes of the show, think Matrix: the Game, only with intros and logos. I didn't like the 'previously on Lost' intro showing me what I played just seconds earlier but this works well when you go back to earlier episodes or pick it back up after taking a break. They could have canned the intro while you were playing and it would have been an improvement. Adding the Lost Logo at the mystery point near the beginning and the mystery at closing was a very nice touch but in some instances, out of place. While your running around you pick up loose items and put them in your backpack. You trade these for items you need, torches, oil, handguns. Collect everything you find and you won't have any issues with currency. Eventually this feels like your only collecting fuses and beer. You become the red neck Thomas Edison of the island with a backpack full of brewskies and the knowledge of electricity.

Getting Lost in It: There I am on the beach, this story doesn't follow between 2 and 3, it starts at the beginning. The wreckage scene was not accurately shown, bummer. Tech heads would point out the left wing was gone all together and the still running engine was originally mounted next to the fusalage not out in the open say between the blown engine and the fusalage. Here is where the game play gets really odd. Your first mission is to divert the fuel flow to prevent an explosion. How? Your best guess and stumbling around looking for something that glimmers that you can click on. Oh, its one of those games! You simply walk around and look for something to get shiny. Hmmm. From there on out its being an errand boy. Find your luggage. Another walk around, this time with dummy objects to slow your progress.

Let The Exploration Begin: "Find your camera"...okay now you get to journey off the beach and thank the light, not a moment too soon. Here is where you find another idea they came up with for you to do. Its 'find your waypoints' time in the jungle. Find your waypoint and it will point you to the next waypoint 30 feet away. Some waypoints are hidden, others can be skipped. All together its a romp in the park. Then you find the front nose of the plane. Again, not accurate at all with the film, they put it hanging over a cliff. Why? On board the plane is another puzzle to divert power to the electronically locked compartment. Sayid would be proud. Even after solving the puzzle you can 'steal' the fuses for later use, brillant.

Do The Hokey, Pokey: This is pretty much the giest of the game. Get your mission, get through the ever increasing difficulty of the jungle (way points turn into compass points you have to cross reference, the jungle has Ben's guys shooting at you and finally you have to make your way past a fast pathing Black Smoke...while walking...with Black Rock Dynomite), find your target and return, Rinse Repeat.

Mini Games? There is two instances of a 'run for your life' part thats interesting even with the blockly controls and bad camera angle. The two cave journey parts are interesting as long as you think ahead...Think fumbling around in Shadowgate back in the day with no torches. There is a Swan Station part that was very interesting with you playing with the computer doing things that Locke couldn't find that lends itself to an all inclusive venture of the station and here they really shined with accuracy, my hats off for this part and the equally thrilling Flame Station part.

ShutterBug: There is parts in the game where your clued in on taking a picture. Somethings are hidden and you must find the special path to find these things but there is usually some risk involved. Getting the snapshot is more thrilling then the Game concept art the game rewards you with back at the main menu. However, getting the right shot can be obnoxiously hard at times. I took a picture of a laptop a dozen times from different angles before it accepted the 'win'. Even my wife mentioned something was off with that. They could have really done better with the camera's rewards or even had hidden things for taking scenic shots ala Metal Gear Solid. Still a lot of the hidden item shots is cheeky fun to do.

New stuff! I'm not going to divulge into any of the new things that your adventure on the island will uncover. Up to now its been stuff we all know. There is one instance at the Flame where you go 'oh thats why that happened'. You also eventually get to see more of the Hydra and the Black Rock, no big deal but fun nonetheless. There is finally a 'gap filler' that is presented. This is a nice albiet short lived portion that had me screaming for my wife to check out. Its a wonderful present in the middle of it all making the rental much worth the money. Another piece of the puzzle and something I can finally breathe a sigh of relief on. You'll have to rent it to find out for yourself. Snicker!

Mi Capitane! The main characters presented for you to talk to in your flight. The talking sessions remind me of the blocky Knights of the Old Republic chat scenes, however, your questions have little bearing of consequences. Ask away! The voice acting is superb and most of the characters are believeable, some sound like they have a cold. All together it had my wife fooled into thinking they were the real deal. Mums the word! The character models are excellent but thier motions are very robotic. Its thier hands, they don't move thier hands. Thier face is expressionable and extremely close to the actor they portray but they end up looking like a talking head on a manniquine.

The Hills are Alive! The visuals, even with the exception of inaccuracies of special locales are stunningly beautiful. They put a lot of heart into how it looked. Even the jungle with its waypoint gimmick is something to behold. Sometimes I want to just look at what they done and all the hard work they put into it but they don't lend themselves to giving you said time because of dangers. Its not 'the' island, it 'an' island. The layout for the most part is great and leads itself to adventuring. Hi-res rocks the world!

It All Comes Out in the Wash: I wrapped this rental up in 8 hours. It has very little replay value which is a loss in my mind from all the work they put into it. I would only go back to find the picture opportunities I missed and the few hidden locations I know are still out there. Lost: Via Domus did not leave a bad taste in my mouth but its shortness was dissappointing. This game is worthy of a rental and your time but don't buy it, save your money for the blu-ray versions of the show :)

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