‘Lost: Via Domus’ Arrives to Average Reviews
The official Lost video game, Via Domus, hit stores this week and is available on a variety of different gaming platforms. However, before you rush out and spend 60 bucks on it, you may want to check out Metacritic.com. The website collects video game reviews from many different publications, then assigns a number score between 1 and 100 depending on how positive or negative the reviews are. Via Domus currently has a score of 60 on Metacritic, which means that you may want to think twice before plunking down your hard-earned cash.
Some blurbs from the reviews are below:
"Lost: Via Domus is above the average movie/show turn video game, it has its faults but does have some very nice touches." — MS Xbox World
"It had the incredibly difficult job of creating a new character in the Lost world with an interesting enough side-story, able to exist without disrupting the timeline or feeling like an aberration, and able to expose fans to at least a handful of things with which they would be satisfied, even eager, to tinker. There’s no question it achieves that." — EuroGamer
"Despite the fairly clunky gameplay mechanics, the so-so acting and the new character, you’re still wandering around an island that you’ve spent hours watching on TV, doing things that you’ve seen characters do, which makes up for many of these problems." — VideoGamer
"At least it only takes five hours to reach the conclusion." — IGN.com
"One gets the feeling that the show’s creators are trying to wash their hands of Via Domus, awkwardly placed as it is in the series’ now-sprawling legendarium. But above and beyond that, fans should approach it as a lark; it’s not very accomplished as a game." — GameSpy
If you’ve picked up Via Domus and would like to submit your own review to be posted on TTS, check out the guidelines below.
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Its a ok game, graphics are great, but way too short. Rent it rather than buy it.
Even for a die hard fan like myself, the story of this new character revoving around Season 1 & 2, is just not interesting enough. Especially with the quality of the new episodes, which are jaw-droppling awesome!
This game reminds me of “Enter the Matrix”, which was corrected by releasing “Path of Neo”, i just hope they follow suit, i’d much rather re-live the surivors
Comment by Steve Hill — February 29, 2008 @ 1:21 pm
I like it.
It’s not a revolutionary gaming experience and it’s not going to send the lost fanatics wild with speculation but it is good fun and has some nice touches if you don’t let the inconsistant voice acting get to you (Charlie in particular ground on my nerves)
I don’t think this game could ever live up to the expectations of the fans but it has sufficiently amused me.
Comment by Jo B — February 29, 2008 @ 2:27 pm
Poor game, has its moments but is far too short! And wtf @ some of the voice actors, especially Locke an Sawyer.
Swan station is immense though.
Comment by Matt — March 1, 2008 @ 4:51 am
Ok I’m standing on the beach trying to take a picture of this crate with the number 16 on it. Am I wasting my time? WHat my character is saying leads me to believe there is a picture here…….. but I’m not sure. My main complaint thus far, and I’m not that far into it ( Just found out my name is Elliot). Is that when I’m wandering around the jungle and I get off course, I could easily find my way back on course. But this game gives you no option but to restart your path. If you choose to not restart it, you just get an annoying popup menu that comes up every five seconds asking if you want to restart it. So much for free roaming, you either stay on course or, you get to relive web browsing before popup blockers!!!!!
Comment by hms. — March 1, 2008 @ 9:39 am
I thought it was a pretty good game I payed 30 bucks for it on pc so I feel as if i got my moneys worth if I had payed 60 Id feel a little gipped
Comment by Tyler — March 1, 2008 @ 2:10 pm
As a novice video game player and AVID Lost fan, I settled in Thursday night to play what I hoped would be the ultimate experience for a Lost fan. Well, the graphics were great, it was fun to visit old places, characters an story elements(the Black Rock, Mr. Friendly, the Black Smoke) and the new characters didn’t seem to take away from or mess with the integrity of Lost. BUT………… I finished it in about 6 frickin’ hours!!!!! This is what I spent $60 on?!? I hope the replay value is good on this game. Maybe I can go back and investigate the island more. I don’t know, I’m just a bit let down with the short game and abruptness of it’s ending.
Comment by Lee — March 1, 2008 @ 3:13 pm
yeah as a game it was terrible, u literally do nothing except walk around and one puzzle thats only SLIGHTLY different each time, but i didnt care, i actually really enjoyed the story up until the end, but yes it was WAY to short, i read that there was 12 hours of gameplay, which compared to most other games today, is still really short, i played for no longer then 3 hours the daay it came out and not only beat the game, but did some little extra exploring things as well, o in that aspect it was dissapointing, but i got for xbox 360 for 50 bucks at my local best buy and its still LOST so it was more then worth it, and every few days i still pop it in and spend a few minutes re playing an episode so its enjoyable
Comment by steve c — March 1, 2008 @ 4:17 pm
ITS DOG SHIT DONT BUY IT!
Comment by jack smith — March 2, 2008 @ 10:41 am
so there i was on a saturday afternoon with the new lost game in my hand i couldnt wait i had an erection aswell…so i put it in my xbox and begin to play LOST….and then i start it and keep fucking dying!….this game is so bad if you like it theres something strange about you….i would rather shit on my face than carry on playing this game wiff charcters who dont even sound like they would….y cant u just b hurley insted of sum mug!….god bless…my owngoal was sick
Comment by jack own goal smith — March 2, 2008 @ 10:48 am
i like this game so much i made love to it. the hole was jus the right size for me to fit my little penis in.
Comment by jack my sisters peng bruv smith — March 2, 2008 @ 10:54 am
i got 2 goals this season
Comment by sam sayer hoo looks like steve young — March 2, 2008 @ 10:56 am
jack smith is a full on puff
Comment by morty — March 2, 2008 @ 4:28 pm
***SPOILER WARNINGS FOR THIS REVIEW***
I bought Via Domus the day it came out, purchasing it for my 360.
Visually, The game is beautiful. Everything looks great, Straight out of Lost!
There are a number of detailed, fully explorable locations from the show’s first and second and third seasons such as the Swan, Staff, Flame, Hydra Station and Pearl Stations, The Black Rock and the Cabin of 815.
The score is straight from the television series, but for the most part, the music isn’t really noticable… except for when you’re trying to listen for Smokey in Dark Territory. Right when you *Don’t* want to hear it.
The voice acting really could be improved, The main characters’ voices have been done by people who don’t sound anything like the people they are supposed to be.
Thankfully, A few characters were voiced by the proper acters: Claire, Sun, Desmond (Yay!), Ben, Juliet, Tom and I *think* Jin, Michael and Mikhael. Locke sounds awful, Charlie sounds wrong, Sawyer doesn’t work for me.
The controls feel rather clunky and awkward all through the game, this may just be for the console versions however, But more times than not, I found myself becoming frustrated with them.
The storyline is… interesting, True to Lost’s style, your character experiences flashbacks in order to reveal vital clues. However, to remember the Flashbacks, you need to capture an exact picture with your camera - Something that can be very frustrating at first. You are Elliot, a previously unseen survivor of 815, you suffer from amnesia and keep seeing the Island’s manifestation of a woman you knew back in Sydney, A reporter named Lisa. I won’t spoil much more, But in the course of the storyline, you learn about a ‘behind closed doors’ relationship between Thomas Mittlewerk (Lost Experience) and a previously unknown buisnessman whom is being supplied some *HIGHLY* contrabanned items. On the island you shift alliegences between the survivors of 815 and the Others in order to find your way home. I won’t spoil the ending, but it, like the finale of season 3, is a real mind-f*ck. True to Lost Style.
The gameplay itself is what really lets the game down. The game is so very linear with no choice for deviation. Go here! Ok, Now go there! You should probably talk to Hurley! Oooh! Go to the Black Rock! Don’t get eaten by Smokey! Carry Dynamite -slowly- and don’t get shot or eaten by Smokey (Easily the MOST TEDIOUSLY EVIL part of the game. Seriously. Whoever came up with this needs to be shot with a hammer and slowly fed through a woodchipper!)
More often than not, if you’re running from something - be it an Other with a gun or Smokey - and happen to bump into something trivial and walk-over-able like a flag… You’re going to stand there and die horribly.
Throughout the game, there are a number of fuseboxes which you need to re-route in order to proceed. Some of these are downright freaking annoying! Half the time, you find yourself wishing Elliot would just electrocute himself!
Another of the game’s failings is how darkness is handled. While wandering through a cave, if your torch goes out (Via bats or falling water), Jacob himself won’t be able to help you if you don’t light it again within ten seconds. “Ooops! You randomly died because it happens to be dark!”, You also obtain a lighter from Michael, which lights up a smaller area, but conveniently burns your hand if left open for more than ten second! Oww! Hot! Oww! Hot! Oww! Hot!
And wandering through the Flame? Oh! It’s black as sin and you have to find iddy-biddy fuses! Don’t burn yourself too much there buddy…
As for the length of the game, You’re looking at three to five hours at best with zero replayability. You can play individual episodes once you’ve completed them (The game is divided into six or seven Episodes.), Unfortunately, for some of them you can die right at the beginning of the episode and have to sit through the “Previously on Lost…” a dozen times in a row. (Episode Five or Six: “Run the hell away from Smokey!”)
For my fellow 360-players out there, you can get all of the achievements - All 1000 gamerpoints - in one play through. Seriously… All but three of the achievements are pretty much right there in front of you.
Thus concludes my review of Lost: Via Domus.
I spent $60 dollars on it. Finished it in a night and got a refund later in the week.
Worth renting, but buy at your own risk. It had the potential to be great, but there’s a lot to be improved.
5.5/10. The .5 because they included the Dharma Shark!
Comment by Chris, An honest reviewer — March 3, 2008 @ 2:57 am
im sure i heard it took 2 years to make this. it doesnt seem like it.i spent ages accumulating ammunition just to fire 3 bullets. 3 FUCKING BULLETS! why get given the oppurtunity to buy ammunition that isnt needed. the story is none existent. places look nice but they somehow made juliet look ugly. how is that possible!
it didnt even make sense. locke helps you off the island at the end. mr friendly didnt have the right gun and the door that jack opens (in the season 3 opener) which nearly drowns him didnt have a great expanse of water behind it. the areas were extremely small and the overall enthusiasm from the makers seemed non-existant.
This game reminded me of movie adapts that i used to play on the game boy, i would rather cut through my right testicle with a rusty bread knife than suffer that wank again. HOW WAS JULIET UGLY
Comment by angry from cheadle — March 3, 2008 @ 10:09 am
I played through the game in a day and half and while it is somewhat buggy, and low-end, there are some enjoyable moments. The hiding from smokey section was a pain in the butt but did have a few interesting intense moments. I guess if you force the viewer to revisit the same 5 minutes over and over, eventually they’ll make a connection with what you were trying to do and sort of enjoy themselves. Sorta.
So, a proper quick score from a high end PC running it maxed out (and a rabid lost fan):
Graphics: 4/10 - There are moments when things look good, i.e. coming up to the Blackrock, but for the most part everything is too simple. The developers saved the best post filters for the flashbacks. Pitty. Though I did notice for a graphically simple game, it taxed my machine somewhat heavily. There are moments that made it more resource hungry than Crysis.
Design: 4/10 - Where are the other 40 or so people on the beach? Why are there shelters set up and no one in there. Why can’t I actually explore? Why bother having a choppy tracking system for aiming a gun when there are 3 guys to shoot total? Also, trading? I mean honestly. Who thought up this idea. Pathfinding is pretty horrible, especially if you expect a character is gonna follow you: they won’t. Instead characters say “See you there” and stand still. The puzzles? More like puzzle. Same one, each time, a little more frustrating each time.
Story: 6/10 - The story is probably the best part of this game. However, walking away you will be VERY confused. For the most part, things are slightly revisited. The only original element in the game is when you travel to the other side of the sealed up section in The Swan. This brings up the question of continuity and relevance to the overall universe. Is it it relevant? Please say no. PLEASE!
Some things are just skipped over, including entire characters. Wheres Russo? The others consist of 4 people over a sudden? You never meet the tail section survivors. Walt doesn’t show up despite Michael looking for him. Didn’t see smokey at all on the beach during the crash (How hard would THAT be with particle effects built in already).
As I finished writing this, I lowered the score by one: re-using a chunk of dialogue verbatim does not equal good writing.
Overall: 5/10 - Its playable, but there are so many quirks and bad design issues that, frankly, it might not even be worth it. Though I have to say, finding the secret entrance to the other part of the Swan Station WAS sweet. Finding what was inside it was too, but the whole thing ended pretty fast.
I guess I was expecting something like the upcoming Fallout, based on Oblivion: A large open platform where theres a real economy going on in the background (why am I trading 2 Apollo bars for 4 ammo clips. Why the hell is Locke trading papaya’s for a torch? Don’t I need the torch? Isn’t it a crucial element that should just be handed to me?) and characters doing their own thing.
Maybe next time.
Comment by E.Malkin — March 4, 2008 @ 12:41 pm
Thus, why if you are going to buy it, buy it for the PC (half the price).
Comment by Kris — March 4, 2008 @ 5:49 pm
It’s a terrible game. It really really sucks. If you’re a Lost hardcore fan like me, don’t even get close to it. It’s plain money digging. The dialogs are poor, the gameplay is horrible, you get blocked by air when moving to where the game doesn’t want you to move. And the graphics? COME ON! THEY SUCK! It’s 2008 god damn it! It has no realism whatsoever. I though at least the plot would be good but… no. It isn’t.
Anyone who loves Lost understands that there’s NO WAY a Lost game could ever be successful. And this one doesn’t even try. STAY AWAY.
Comment by null0 — March 10, 2008 @ 2:21 pm