Most people I know gave up on the increasingly ludicrous Lost a long time ago but I've committed so many hours that I'm loath to give up on the TV show just yet. But when it came to the videogame adaptation I couldn't have been less interested and was fully expecting a cheapo tie-in, probably with a polar bear or two. So the recent unveiling of the game in London was a pleasant surprise. Not only did the game look great, fully capturing the spirit of the show - "Previously on Lost" before each level etc - but the gameplay brought back pleasant memories of what used to be known as action adventures. Actually, they probably still are but you rarely get the right mix these days, with action usually winning out over adventuring (see Uncharted: Drakes Fortune for example). So Lost's mix of puzzling and item management looks set to bring a warm nostalgic glow to Monkey Island veterans as well as some welcome variety to the increasingly raucous next-gen catalogue.
My hands-on saw me fiddling through the plane wreckage on the beach and playing a flashback scene with Locke. Ubisoft were overly keen to stress the heavy involvement of JJ Abrams and the other producers of the show and Lost fans will probably play it for the storyline alone. You play another passenger from the plane with the game cleverly intertwined with key events from the first two series. Of course, a presentation and 30 mins hands-on is hardly enough time to get a real feel of the game, but first impressions suggest Lost is shaping up nicely. Excited then? Or is Lost the game for fans of the TV show only?
