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Categories: Review
Tags: action, adventure, lost, xbox 360
LOST: Via Domus
Developer: UbiSoft Montreal
Publisher: UbiSoft
Platform: Xbox 360
Released: 2/26/2008A television series with an interesting cast of characters, shifting alliances, and layers of mystery bordering between the scientific and the supernatural seems like the perfect source material for a compelling video game. However, UbiSoft’s take on the show about plane crash survivors who find themselves on the least-deserted deserted island in fiction comes up short. Beyond the poor blend of action and adventure, Via Domus requires knowledge of the show’s complicated mythology to follow a story which isn’t canon anyway. Diehards will recognize this incongruity early on, when they assume the role of main character Elliott Maslow, newly created for the game, but suddenly the most important survivor on the island.
Maslow is a photojournalist, but the crash has robbed him of his memory. Quick thinking at the crash site prevents an explosion and sets Maslow up as a hero, but the other survivors grow suspicious of Maslow after an attempt is made on his life. Without his memory he cannot convince them that he was really on Oceanic Flight 815 and when he finally recovers his belongings, suspicious files on his laptop set him in opposition to the castaways. Eventually Maslow is caught in a conflict between the survivors and “The Others,” the island’s original inhabitants headed by Ben, Juliet, and Tom. The only way for Maslow to survive is to learn out who he is and why he keeps seeing the ghost of his girlfriend.
If you’ve ever watched LOST, then you are familiar with the show’s structure: events in the show’s “present” timeline are punctuated with flashbacks to a character’s past. These flashbacks relate to the episode’s storyline, but also flesh out the character’s backstory. Via Domus uses flashbacks in a similar manner.
Flashbacks are triggered by an in-game event like the first time Maslow sees Kate. Maslow remembers noticing something about her on the plane, but his memory is cloudy. The player is shown a torn photograph and they must retake the photo in the flashback to unlock the memory. The player must identify enough elements in the torn photo to figure out what Maslow was focused on, where he was standing, and when the event occurred. Once the photo is taken, the memory is fully unlocked and the player can then explore the memory, collecting additional items which explain the story Maslow was working on before the plane crash.
Photography is fun and it works well early on, but as the game progresses it becomes a trial and error process. Back on the island, photography is reduced to unlocking secret achievements — luckily descriptions of objects include hints to take a picture. It would be nice if you could actually look at the photographs you take, but Via Domus doesn’t have that option.
When Maslow isn’t taking pictures, he’s controlled through a clunky third-person perspective in an attempt to hit hotspots, talk to castaways, and run through the jungle. Via Domus has a bartering system which assigns monetary value to the coconuts, water bottles, and Dharma supplies scattered around the island. These can be exchanged with for torches, oil cans, guns and ammunition. While Maslow is effectively stealing from people’s campsites and then trading their belongings back to them, it’s an interesting mechanic.
Less interesting is the conversation system. The player simply selects from a handful of topics to have short one-sided conversations with the castaways. Not only is there little exchange of information or development of character, but often Maslow only has the same set of topics to draw on and all the castaways give similar answers. I should mention now, that only Ben, Desmond, Claire, Mikhail, Sun and Tom are voiced by the original actors. Sayid’s sound alike is near perfect. Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Juliet are near misses. Locke, Sawyer, and Charlie are plain old bad.
Poor Sawyer, The first time we meet him, he’s a snarky Southerner spouting one nickname after another. The next time we meet him he mentions having been tortured by two other characters. Then he’s gone and we find out that he’s away on a raft. Finally, he reappears and there’s no mention of the raft. Due to Via Domus’s insane level of time compression, it sounds like Sawyer just had one hell of a weekend.
If there’s one aspect Via Domus excels at, it’s the freedom it gives the player to explore famous LOST locations. The Hatch, Hydra Station, Black Rock, and other locations are fully realized and probably the only reason why a LOST fan should pick up this game. While the game has audio issues, there’s no denying that Via Domus has great graphics from a lush jungle to great character likenesses. Ultimately no questions are answered, except maybe a few about the Dharma Shark, but being able to hangout in Swan Station and punch in 4-8-15-16-23-42 every 108 minutes (real time) has a nerdy appeal.
Of course getting to these locations involves traversing through the jungle while avoiding the Smoke Monster and The Others (who take potshots at you). You lose the Smoke Monster by dodging into clumps of trees when it approaches, or vaulting over and sliding under obstacles if it’s chasing you. These are nerve wracking sequences weakened a bit by the repetitious nature of the jungle. Once you’ve acquired a gun you can simply shoot The Others, but gunplay is frustrating since you can only draw your weapon in select areas. The worst gunfight comes during an endgame sequence which is so scripted that you die if you try to take any initiative.
Puzzles take a few forms in Via Domus. Dharma computers ask brain teasers, like complete the sequence Z-X-C-V-B-?. However most puzzles are fuse puzzles. The player has to restore multiple fuse panels, channeling energy from its source to a meter, while making sure that enough energy is siphoned off to fall within green areas on the meter. These are challenging and rewarding, but Via Domus cries out for more variety.
Via Domus is incredibly short. It’s not inconceivable that a player could get through the game in five hours and see everything. The game is divided into seven episodes, retaining the “Previously on LOST…” intros which makes continuing a game nice, since the player gets a quick refresher. But the episodes aren’t discrete. They flow into each other and you can’t go back and replay a favorite episode. Plus the game autosaves, so you have no control over when you stop and start.
Bluraven79:
Wow, good review! I almost considered getting this game over the weekend, when I traded in two others that were less than satisfying. I am a HUGE fan of the show, and have followed the mythology fairly closely, so the ability to explore certain areas does have an appeal…but since none of this is canon, it also seems a colossal waste of time. Thanks for the heads up!
Terry:
Thanks! Yeah, I wish they had pulled out the game elements and just left a 3D model of the island to explore.
Silvercube:
I am near the end of season 2 right now.. when I heard Ubisoft was going to be making it.. I thought “Ubicrap.” Guess so.
Well the game looks nice, has some cool features.. but its not worth a purchase at all unless you are a really REALLY huge Lost fan.
Very nice review :)