Lost: Via Domus

Lost is the first and only TV show that I currently faithfully follow. I love it. I read about it. I'm interested in anything to do with it.

As such, I was skeptical about that game from the start, as any gamer would be of any kind of movie/TV show that is shoehorned into a videogame. I didn't buy it on release, but after reading up on some reviews, I decided to rent it. This was a very good move, and if you are considering playing this game, before you read any further please note that I strongly encourage you to rent this game. You will beat it easily during that rental time, save yourself over $30, and you can beat the entire game to 100% completion in that time frame to boot.

Now onto the actual review. The main character of this game is Elliot Maslow. You control him throughout the game from a third-person perspective. Within the game, he is a photojournalist on flight 815 (this character was created solely for this game and does not appear in the show) who crash-lands on an island alongside the Lost characters from the show. He gets amnesia from the impact, and the whole rest of the game is hinged upon recovering his memory. This is done in a very linear fashion, as the game is split up into "episodes," with a flashback taking place at the beginning of each episode. In this flashback, you use your trusty camera to photograph a special detail/event that takes place within the flashback in order to advance to a cutscene which advances you in your quest to learn about your past. If you miss the detail/event when it happens, the flashback simply loops until you figure out what to do, which makes everything run a whole lot smoother.

The flashback segments are interesting and fun the first few times, but since you can predict it happening very close to the beginning of each level, it gets to be very repetitive. After you take the photo, you are allowed to roam in the environment that your flashback encompasses, looking for three special "hidden" items each time, usually the same things over and over again. They're easy to find. This is a good concept but poorly executed. Mostly, it contains little easter eggs for fans of Lost with mentions of such things as the Hanso Foundation.

As a side note, at the beginning of each level/episode is a cutscene that details what happened previously-where you left off on the previous level. Some people have complained about this feature, but I actually enjoyed it because it is very reminiscent of the show. Overall, it's not a big deal.

If you are a fan of the show like me, you may have been looking forward to interacting with the characters from the show. The characters hang out on the beach for the most part, waiting for you to come talk to them. As I was playing, I was trying to figure out how the heck the developers intended for anyone but a Lost fan to play this game, because there really is nothing to help you understand the plot of the show. The problem is they just don't have much to say. What's more, very few characters in the game have the voices of their real life counterparts. I laughed a lot because of this. Especially Sawyer's voice actor. I know they try so hard, but it just doesn't work. The music in the game, however, is noticeably better than the voice acting. It just makes everything feel like Lost. If you appreciate the music from the show, you will appreciate it here.

As far as gameplay is concerned, there just isn't much. What's there would be all good fun if there was variety, but everything that acts as a novelty early on is rehashed until you can't wait until you are finished. You'll do a lot more running from the Smoke Monster than you might expect. I had imagined some epic chase scenes where I'm running through the forest at a blistering pace, dodging trees and bushes and such with the Smoke Monster hot on my heels and ripping up trees along the way. But it was completely dumbed down to "hiding in bamboo." You go from bamboo patch to bamboo patch, with the Monster seeming to be hunting you down. There is no reprieve. It's just waiting for you. All the freaking time. It's annoying. You progress little by little, looking for markers to guide you to the next bamboo section. There is no epicness whatsoever.

There is another segment that is frequently repeated where you have to travel through caves, apparently because this character is too cool to climb over things like the people in Lost the TV show do. This part of the game is far more frustrating than the Smoke Monster segments. It's pitch black in the caves, and you start with just a lighter. Then you can buy (via trading items such as coconuts. Yea. I was thinking the exact thing you are now), torches, and eventually a lantern, each of which have a time limit on how long you can use them before they need refueling. You have to avoid pits in the ground, tediously put out your torch at the sound of bats so they don't damage it, and of course put it out for waterfalls you have to walk under, relighting it afterward in a longish animation. And if you decide to sit in the dark, just for kicks and giggles, apparently the Smoke Monster is in the cave with you waiting to rip you to shreds in the first 30 seconds of darkness. Yea, I did it just to see what would happen. It wasn't even close to satisfying. It's just pitch dark, the controller starts to vibrate like a heart beat, and then the game notifies you with text that you died. Woohoo. The caves were the worst part of the whole game. A small one would have been fun once. But they are long, tedious, and frequent. Locke sends you into one to go soul searching. All he had to do was go in a tent and sit down (in the TV show), but yet he makes you traverse a pit-riddled cave without even giving you a flashlight.

The highlight of the whole game is, unfortunately, the graphics. I know it's cliche, but it's true. The jungle and beach and wreckage all look wonderful. And the character models, while they by no means stack up to the likes of Crysis, are much better than they could be. I don't really expect anything less than this from Ubisoft, which in my mind simply doesn't release ugly games. I thought it was a beautiful game. Not nearly as detailed as you might hope (wandering through the jungle is not fun, it just feels like wandering around in someone's backyard that happens to strongly resemble a jungle, then you run into their fence which happens to be an invisible border inside the game telling you that you have to turn back, or else), but beautiful in the grand scope of things.

The plot is good, especially so at the ending. It's one of those "What the crap?!?" endings. So if you like those, then you'll like this. I still don't know what happened in the story. One main issue with the game is that everything major in the show is trivialized. The loss of your memory seems of greater importance than the button in the hatch that must be pushed every 108 minutes. Imagine that. On a side note, I'm not sure why they included Michael in the game when there are other, better characters that didn't make it into the game. All he ever does is scream for Walt. Yes, even in the videogame. It makes me cringe. Also, the fact that the game portrays the Others as sitting up in trees, waiting for the Losties to wander through the jungle so they can shoot from their perches pisses me off. This is nothing like the show, and a feeble attempt to spice up the game. They are neither cool nor mysterious.

Basically, just rent it for the gamer points. You will be hard pressed to make it through this game in a reasonable amount of time without a guide. I recommend gamefaqs.com or if you have real trouble, Youtube for the caves. It's an easy 1000 points. You can get them all in a rental though. However hardcore you think you are as a fan of Lost, nothing warrants buying this game as there is absolutely no replay value. Also of note, I played this game thinking I would learn some cool stuff about the show, but then I found out that none of it can actually be counted as part of the real Lost TV story. It's all just fanfiction, essentially.

All of this is very unfortunate.
Sorry.

I'm going to just come out and say it, I enjoyed this game. There were certainly some gameplay instances that I found annoying, but overall it was a nice addition to the lore of Lost. Let me give some background on the game. Lost: Via Domus takes place just after the crash of Oceanic flight 815. You play Elliot, a character once unrelated to the Lost lore and you make you way through the first couple of seasons coming across and interacting with main characters and set's from the show.

Ubisoft did a good job in making the surroundings and character models look like their real life counterpoarts. Everythingand everyone is recognizable. Are the graphics up to the standards of what an Xbox 360 game can be? No, but this is a story driven game so having nice flashy graphics isn't as crucial as having a strong story to help support and explain the source material.

Well, it sorta faulters there as well. Lost the TV show, while is heavy on story, deoesn't really explain much, and the game follows that same formula. Ask a lot of questons, and get a lot of questions in return. Don't expect to walk away from the game, knowing what went on. So when a game is light on story and light on graphics, gameplay is what really makes this game playable.

Alright, so the game play in Lost, also doesn't really live up to the standard expected in games for this generation. There are some fun puzzles, but most of the time you're running through a forest running into trees to escape the black smoke or walking through dark caves. That's kind of fun the first time, but having to repeat it over and over again, is exhausting and repetitive.

Even when everything that makes a game fun is not good, why did I give it such a high score? I'm a fan of the show. I know what to expect of the story and in that respect it delivered. I liked interacting with the characters and roaming through the sets from the show solving puzzles and discovering all the little nuances. The experience was fun and since the game is short, I didn't feel like I wasted a lot of time playing it.

Give me back my time! Ok, it wasn't even much time I have "lost", but after that ending I'm just furious with rage. Oh, the pointlessness. And don't get me started on the money I've spent. I will try to give it back tomorrow and say that my PC couldn't run it...
Lost is without a doubt one of the best written and most intriguing series out there and season four contained some of the best moments I've ever had watching TV. But this has nothing to do with Lost: Via Dum**ss. When I read the first reviews I didn't want to believe it. I thought you had to review it from two perspectives: as a gamer and as a Lostfan. Sure, it would be a bad game, if you had never watched an episode. You shouldn't bother with playing it, because the game requires you to have at least some knowledge about the Island. But I thought that Losties would just love it. I just finished the game and it was so incredibly disappointing that it inspired me to write my first review ever.
I'll start with the (few) good things: Apart from the graphics which are fine (most characters look like the actors and the Island is beautiful), the only good thing about the game is the main character. I can't remember how often I've played a game with the amnesia scenario and it has been done better but the history you get in the flashbacks fits with Lost. He has flaws and finally overcomes them which is just very lostlike. At least that's what i thought before I saw the ending.
**spoilerrant**
Whoever made this game (and I hope neither Cuse nor Lindelof had something to do with it) found this nice trick so you don't have to bother with the question if it's canon or not. Afterwards, everything is questionable. There's absolutely no point in the whole game: Amnesia (cliché but ok) - You find out something about the past of the character (that's just how those games work)- everything you just found out was a dream?!? And it's not like in the movie "Identity" where at the end you realize that something really cool just happened and have to watch the movie again, no! Everything you did, everything you learned is redundant. And when I saw the plane crash over Eliott I thought it had something to do with a timerift. Now that would have saved the game.
**end of spoilerrant**
The gameplay is just as pointless as the story. It consists of mostly running. And then there are two different kinds of puzzles: "finish that sequence" and some minigame where you have to put different fuses in a panel to blah blah blah. Both are way too easy. No adventureelements, no real multiple choice dialogue, no sneaking and definately no good action. You pick up stuff all over the island so you can trade with sawyer. But the only things you'll ever need are a lamp, max four cans of oil for it and the gun. Don't buy any ammo. I only shot two guys. Two!! I bought 90 rounds of whoopie! So the tradesystem is broken as well. At least the controls work. With a Xbox360 gamepad that is.
What made the game even worse was that they tried to put as much famous quotes from the series in there as possible. It just feels so forced and phoney. Which leads me to the voices. The characters whose actors weren't available were done by standins. But I think you already read enough about how ridiculous they sound. The music although is ok.

So let's sum it up: graphics are good, music is ok, voices bad, gameplay none, story none, replayvalue -1. This is nothing but a piece of bad merchandise. A total ripoff. Don't buy this game. Don't even rent it. Heck, don't even download it. I only gave it more than one point because of its graphics and it's bugfree (yay)

I assume the viewers of Lost, at least the gamers as well, were looking forward to this game. I hear all about Lost and it's numerous plot mysteries and the show being great just in general. It led me to believe this game might be decent, but it truly fails on that front. I mean take any game, add average graphics (which is above-average than most developers), uninspired puzzles, take away any form of action, and add a terrible spin off script to the show.

The story follows some guy named Elliott who is a journalist, you get 'Lost' on an island when your plane crashes somewhere or other. Anyway, you pretty much start from scratch since you lost all of your memory, and you pick it up as you progress along the story and learn the "secrets" of the island.

Your basic gameplay mechanics are in the game, for the most part. You run around the island (i.e. a long path that leads you to your destination, it's that linear) and can examine numerous objects, take photos, and figure out the puzzles. I.e. you play some dull circuit rewiring puzzle to open certain doors. You also have an inventory, which holds your camera, torches, lanterns, etc. For some reason they felt the need to tack on some odd "trade" system in which you trade your acquired goods (coconuts, metals, papaya, etc.) for others' goods (torches, gun, ammo, and so on). The reason this feels tacked on is because it isn't explored the least, you barely have to trade and why would you.

So the game has 7 episodes, which, are the only part of the game that really captures lost. Each time you complete an episode, which normal people call a level, you get a recap of the story thus far. Ever watched Lost or any cable TV show and usually the hour-long show has a quick summary at the beginning, well it does that when you start each episode. The game has 30 achievements, 1000 gamerscore, and can easily be completed as you go through this 5 hour game. With the help of the internet and knowledge of what I should take pictures of, it's pretty simple.

You only explore the island partially in some crappy storyline. The ending is probably the best part, but only because it sets up, quite heavily, for a sequel game. Here's to hoping Lost fans get a proper game.

[Originally reviewed by me on GS; May 13, 2008.]

If you are not a LOST fan then please stay away from this game. And even for the people who are true LOST fans, i don't recommend you waste $60 on this game. Also, if you are buying this game to get some answers from the show, well you ain't getting them here.

In the game you play as a new character not in the show. You are a photojournalist who loses his memory after crashing into the island. Not knowing who you are your main objectives are to find out who you are and find a way out of the island.

As you journey across the island you will meet up with key LOST characters from the show. It's just too bad that most of them don't have real voice actors. Sawyer and Charlie by far have the worst voice actors in the game, just listen to charlie sing "you all everybody" and you will know what i mean...

There is not much gameplay to this game. It's mostly just talking and fixing fuse circuits. Yes, fuse circuits. There's a lot of them in the game... by the time you finish the game you will be a electrician! It does get repetitive after a while. There is also some shooting here and there, but very little of it. I think the most action i got from this game was hiding from the smoke monster!

I have to say the best part about this game are the graphics. Character animations aren't the best, but everything from the jungles to the black rock look sweet!

It won't take much time to beat this game. I say like 6 hours, unless you get stuck with one of the fuse puzzles. This game is more of a rent then anything. I bought it for 20 bucks and i say it was worth it, because i'm a big LOST fan, so i enjoyed it a little. But no way i will pay 60 for it!

Sometimes you think games are going to just own the world and be sweet. This is clearly not the case with Lost – Via Domus. It is extremely boring and most of the time you’re just walking through the jungle and caves. If you talk the main characters on the beach, they will tell you to buy as many bullets as you can…ok…I literally fired 5 shots throughout the entire game (which was extremely short). This is not one of UBIsofts greatest triumphs.

This is the first game (and hopefully the last) of the lost series. The game is pretty boring all around except for one scene were you run from the black smoke. You play as Elliot Maslow, except you don’t know that right away. You suffer from amnesia when you go crash and the other survivors don’t trust you because you can’t tell them if your name was on the manifest. So you spend a good half of the game looking for the cockpit of the plane where you find your laptop. When Sayid looks at your computer he finds information about illegal weapons. After this you are basically an outcast until Juliet helps you escape. Ben actually gives you a boat and Locke tells you to go home because it is your “destiny”. You sail away………
The gameplay sucked. You are just walking around through the jungle and trying to “discover your past”. To remember things you have to go into a flashback and take a photo to remember something, which annoying because you don’t know what to take a picture of. The only exciting parts is when you have to run from the black smoke and jump over stuff like logs. And when you are walking through the jungle you constantly have to hide in trees to avoid the black smoke. And you actually end up in the hatch entering the numbers so the world doesn’t end. Another sucky part about this game is the fuse boxes.

You basically have to get the right fuses in and in the right places to open a door…boring…sucky.

Pros:
Feel’s like the actual show

Cons:

• No Action
• Hard Puzzles to Solve
• Very Short
• It Sucked

http://bizzlebros.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/daves-video-game-review-lost-via-domus/

Have you ever been watching Lost, enjoying one of the best shows on television today, and wondered what it would be like to be a survivor of Oceanic flight 815? Then Lost: Via Domus is the game for you! Or at least… it wants to be.

 

The game centers around a survivor from the crash that you will never see on the show itself. The action picks up immediately after the mysterious crash, and your character is quick to realize that he lost his memory. You know nothing about the man or his past, save that he was evidently a photojournalist – even his name is a mystery when you first begin. This serves both to differentiate itself from the hit television show and to give you a somewhat fresh perspective of life on the island.

 

The game tries to be as much like the series as possible, going as far as to make each section of the game a separate “episode” beginning with the all-to-familiar, “Previously, on Lost” voice-over before a short recap of earlier events. If you’ve ever watched the show, then you probably know that each episode prominently features flashbacks of various characters, giving you a look at their life before the fateful crash. Via Domus works in much the same way. While most of the game takes place on the island, there are many flashbacks in which you get a brief look at your previous life, and are required to take pictures of various items, people and events in an effort to help your character piece together the loose bits of his lost memory. This works well as a story element, and is an interesting way of handling the main character’s amnesia.

 

You’ll encounter all the major characters you would expect to see. Jack, Kate, Locke, Sawyer, Charlie, Hurley, Ben, Juliet… They all make appearances, sometimes long, sometimes brief. The storyline takes place during the events of the first two seasons of the show. Trouble is, while Lost fans will certainly recognize events and know what’s going on, anyone who doesn’t follow the show religiously will be entirely… well, lost. They events are depicted nicely, but nothing is explained in any detail whatsoever. I expect it would be near impossible to fully enjoy the game’s story if you aren’t already familiar with the plot. Which is something of a shame, as the story is indeed an interesting addition to the Lost saga, even if it’s not considered entirely “canon”.

 

The gameplay itself is a bit on the average side, but this could actually be considered a blessing. Video games based on licensed franchises are very, very rarely known for being quality products, but Lost: Via Domus is certainly acceptable. The team at Ubisoft did a nice job of capturing the essence of the show, focusing on plot and adventure rather than action – most of the time, anyway. They also did a fabulous job with environments, for the most part, giving everything a very “Lost-like” feel. As a fan, it’s admittedly exciting to enter the infamous hatch, only to find a computer inside beeping loudly, begging you to input “the numbers”.

 

But while you do indeed input said numbers, carrying dynamite from the Black Rock, and evade the Black Smoke, there are still things that you might want to do or see if you follow the show. Where’s Walt? Why can’t you play ping pong with Hurley? Why does Charlie sound nothing like Dominic Monaghan?

 

But it would perhaps be possible to look past all of this if it weren’t for Via Domus’ biggest problem: it’s far too short. The game can easily be completed – having seen everything there is to see – within six hours. Seeing as how the game retails for $60, that’s pretty unacceptable to most people.

 

If you don’t enjoy or aren’t familiar with Lost, then stay away. There’s nothing for you here. But if you’re a diehard fan of the show, then this is easily worth a rental – probably not a purchase.

I’m a huge Lost fan. It’s my favorite show of all time. I really do have most of it memorized as far as plot lines, locales, and characters. I never have and probably never will follow anything as close on TV again. So I was pretty excited for a game that had infinite locales, ideas, and storylines to pull from. Lost is a game that was looking pretty good at one point, as I remember. But it seems like adapting any show into a game would be difficult. I’m still waiting for a good Battlestar Galactica game here. With some shows the presentation is part of the experience, like Lost. Flashbacks and how it’s formatted/written, etc. I think Lost is actually a great property to adapt.

Lost: Via Domus is a simple premise. You’re a survivor that was on Flight 815. The main character is one of those poor red shirts. And along the way you are trying to recover from amnesia, and piece together who you are. So each episode (level) of the game adds layers to that story, while also following the timeline of the show. So you start out at the crash, then visit the cockpit, then the hatch, etc. Each level has some neat things here and there. If you are a fan, then seeing Locke’s wheelchair is kind of a neat geek moment. The same goes for actually visiting the cockpit, or getting to walk around the Swan and Staff stations. So the fan service is nice.

Each episode reveals flashbacks. Those are handled pretty well. Just like the show, you will see people from 815 in the flashbacks. And you can explore the flashbacks for information related to the character. So it does that well. And the story isn’t completely awful. I think if you put it up against some episodes of the show, it would be the best of the worst. Hanso makes an appearance in the game, trying to acquire information on ESP and deadly weapons/[insert plot device here]. This could actually make a lot of sense when it comes to Lost and the island’s importance.

The producers have also said that the game had no bearing on the show. I hope that’s true because it would have changed everything. See, after you betray Jack at the Black Rock with Tom Friendly, you save them and escape. You run down to a boat. You talk to Locke, who seems to pop up awkwardly in every episode. And you leave. You wake up back on the beach just after 815 goes down. Your girlfriend comes up to you and the game ends. So its Dark Tower/The Matrix type story telling. Is Jack going to wake up after the crash at the end of season six? Not likely, fans would destroy the internet. But I can at least respect what they wanted to do.

Between that there is the actual game. Each section of the game is connected by jungle sections. These are more or less point to point missions. I loathe this. You don’t explore the jungle. They give you goals like “follow Vincent”, “follow the compass”, and “follow the wreckage”. I understand the need to keep it linear and direct the player towards a goal, but after I got killed by the smoke monster for the 5^th time I was just about to quit playing. At one point in the game you get dynamite from the Black Rock. Just like the show, the dynamite is highly unstable; it was part of the episode. But, while the show used it to create tension, Via Domus just drags and bores. That’s because you can’t run with it. You have to walk. And it’s not just a short walk; you have to backtrack through the jungle dodging the smoke monster. It’s not any fun at all. So I’m not a fan of jungle sequences. Even with the ability to skip around after the first trip through.

I would have left combat out of this game too. I bought a gun and a clip of ammo. At the end of the game I ended up firing 5 shots. I used two for a guy in a tree, two for the dynamite, and one for this dude who was beating up on Mikhail.  Do it right, or don’t do it at all. Combat has to work in the favor of the context of the game. It can’t just be an afterthought.

Also, each episode has a “previously on Lost” segment that recaps the last level. Problem is that some levels only took 15 minutes to complete so you are getting recapped on something you literally just finished. And if you die at the beginning of a level sometimes, then you have to watch the whole thing over again. It doesn’t let you skip any cut scene and it doesn’t remember which ones you’ve already seen. It’s pleasing to see them attempt to recreate the show, but pick and choose your battles when it comes to that presentation part of the show.

Then there are the puzzles. These stupid fuse boxes. Remember Bioshock? Remember the unreasonably high amount of those water pipe puzzles you had to solve? Here’s another example of that. You have to pixel hunt the fuses down, and then solve the puzzles. You pixel hunt every item in the game, and I hate it. This leads into my other big complaint from when I got to the Flame station. The lights are out, so you navigate the darkness through the tunnels. Um, no thanks, not fun. But it didn’t end there. I also had to find the fuses for the puzzle at the end. So if you miss one, you have to retrace your steps through the darkness. My little tip for this game, buy 6-7 torches at the beginning of the game, and get a lantern just in case. There are cave portions in the dark too so you will need the help. And grab the gun/ammo from Charlie when you can. Those are the only items you’ll need.

They also have you enter the numbers in this game. I expected that would come up. What I didn’t expect were the Dharma Initiative Tests. For each computer you access, you are forced to do sequenced math problems or whatever. Math problems, not fun! It’s a video game, have we all forgotten what makes those fun?

Then there is the character interaction. No Lost character acts the right way. I don’t know which voices they got from the real actors, but it’s blatantly obvious which ones they didn’t get. Jack is alright, Kate is passable, but Locke is pretty bad. At times you think its close, but other times he moves into “the old pervert from Family Guy.” When you find Michael cutting wood in the jungle (for no visibly good reason), he wants to trade with you for supplies. The game has an economy where a book is worth $40, water is $10, and chopping wood two miles from the beach is priceless. So Michael wants equal value for the torch. They should have never bothered. See, Michael and Locke are people that would help others on the island. They would never demand something in return for their help. Not at that point in the show. So everyone immediately seems greedy, and that’s not Lost. The character models look pretty good though. I think the only odd one was Juliette who looked really weird. Pale skin, lifeless eyes, and super thin.

Graphically, it isn’t too bad. The beach is condensed but it looks like the show. They even have the tents and tables from the show. The Black Rock is awesome. The hatches are all recreated perfectly. The textures look nice, and the jungle does too. The smoke monster looks like a smoke monster should. I came across Hurley’s van in the jungle and that looked mostly like a van. So there’s that too!

I think taking time and budget into consideration they tried their best. You can’t fault them for being given a short development with a small team. Like I said, Lost is a great property to adapt. In my perfect world, I would have done something along the lines of a sand-box game. Re-create the island in such a way that you can explore without being guided. Each island structure has landmarks that fans can instantly recognize. So if you found the open meadow where the Staff was, you’d know you reached it. If you found the sonar fence then you’d be near the barracks. To acquire missions, talk to the NPC’s. Let me make my own character and create his/her story at my own pace. If you’re going to separate yourself from the storyline of the show, then you might as well go all the way.

If you’re not a fan of the show, you’re likely to hate the game. If you are a fan, you’ll be disappointed because it should be more. People that have never seen Lost are going to find it all very dull and confusing. A good game could be done after the sixth season has been completed. There’s just so many easter eggs in the show and so many details that could be taken advantage of. Kate’s horse, Sun’s garden, Eko’s brother’s plane. I don’t look at this game as a complete failure, because it has its moments. But it is shallow, and that’s something Lost has never been.

What can I say about Lost: Via Domus. It's a licenced game about one of the most confusing shows on television. As far as the story goes, I'm not too sure how it follows with the T.V. show because I have never actually watched it and if you're a fan of the show you should be renting this regardless of what I say.

Gameplay:
Now basically, you play as one of the survivors of the plane that went down on the strange island. You travel around the island completing simple taskes and occasionally shooting something.  You only get to shoot a gun maybe 2 or 3 times throughout the game, but for some reason I really liked the feeling of the pistol so I wish there had been more oppertunities so shoot. As far as the other gameplay, you will find yourself doing a lot of exploring and talking to people. Another part of the game that I really enjoyed and was probably the best part but was again, very rare, is there are a couple chase sequences where you are sent on a predetermined path and are faced with running away from some sort of a person or creature. It works really well because there are two types of objects that you must traverse around, there are things you must jump over, and things you must duck under. You press the Y button to jump in these sequences, and the A button to duck. This is the most thrilling part of the game and it seems as though the graphics were upgrading in these parts. 

For dialogue what they have tried to do (and have failed HORRIBLY at) is to take the concept popularized by Mass Effect, and give you the oppertunity to pick dialogue that you would like your character to say. Unfortunatly it is aweful, firstly its basically just picking what order you want to say what you're going to say. For instance, there are sometimes 3 options, but you click on option 1, and then the characters will say what they say, and then you have to pick 2 or 3, and then which ever one is left you have to chose that one, so you're not actually picking what you say.

Graphics:
The graphics in the game are a little bit strange. Most of the time, the graphics don't look very good, they look pretty bland and saturated. But what's odd is that sometimes when you're running around the forrest, you'll look around you and you'll notice that the graphics look amazingly colorful and beauitful. I'm not sure why the graphics seem to be hit and miss at different times during the game, but overall they're nothing to be desired, it feels more like a last gen game.

Replay Value:
As far as replay value goes, there is little to none. The game is pretty short as well, I finshed it in virtually one sitting, and if you wanted to play it again, I don't really see any reason to unless you failed to get a few of the achievements. This game is driven a lot by story which is why it has no replay value, once you complete it and learn everything about the story, you wont want to play again just because you'll have to hear the same exact dialogue again. For this reason, I don't see a reason for ANYONE to pay full price for it, maybe in a few years when it goes down in price, and if you're a huge lost fan, you should buy it.

Achievements:
The main reason I decided to pick this one up, is for the achievements. A couple of my friends informed me that the achievements were very easy and it takes about 1 day to get them all. But you WILL NEED a good guide if you want them all. Many of them can be attained through simple progression through the game, but others are secret and you wont just get them from playing and I doubt you will find out what they are without a guide. I suggest using this guide: http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/showthread.php?t=60564
I firmly believe that it is the best guide for the game because it tells you how to get them all in order, as you are playing. With it, you will have no problem getting 1000.