Lost Preview

If you've never seen an episode of ABC's hit TV show Lost, here are the essentials: Oceanic Flight 815 crashed on a mysterious island leaving its passengers in a struggle for survival. In theory, you can know just this little nugget of info and be able to play Ubisoft's videogame version of Lost. But let's face it; Lost: Via Domus is first and foremost for the fans. And as a Lost devotee, I wouldn't have it any other way.

You play as Elliott, a photojournalist who is one of the survivor's of Oceanic 815. While many of the castaways gained something from crashing on the Island (Locke can walk, Jin has manly sperm, Sawyer doesn't have to wear shirts), Elliott suffered amnesia. As with the other survivors, Elliott has a dark past, one that has followed him to the island. The only trouble is that he can't remember why one of the other survivor's is hunting him. Along with discovering some of the secrets of the Island, gamers will also solve the mystery of Elliott's past.

Lost: Via Domus is separated into seven episodes that play out exactly as if you were watching the TV show. Each episode begins with a "previously on Lost" segment, followed by a hook to kick off the episode, with things ending in a cliffhanger. These elements are executed perfectly and give a sense that you are indeed experiencing an episode of Lost. Ubisoft Montreal even managed to catch some of the imagery from the show. The first thing you see following the crash is a close-up of Elliott's eye.

In the 10-12 hour adventure, you'll get a unique perspective on the events from the first two seasons of Lost. While the third season's events are not included, you will visit places not shown in season two. In fact, in Episode 2 of Via Domus, Elliott runs into Ben, Juliet and Mr. Friendly. If those names mean nothing to you, just smile and nod and pretend you are cool enough to know what us Losties are talking about. For those in the know, the fact that Ben and Juliet are "in play" as early as events of the first season is pretty exciting. How this will work into the overall story remains to be seen. Suffice to say, Lost: Via Domus isn't going to hold back.

In fact, the creators of Lost -- who helped shape the game's story -- allowed Ubisoft to explore areas and reveal things that are not going to be covered in the TV show. Remember the magnetic wall in the Swan station? Apparently there's a room inside. And if you play Via Domus, you'll venture in to discover this new room and interface with its computer. Ubisoft is promising there will be a few fun moments such as this to give fans a bonus for playing the game.

Elliott's story, however, does take precedence. As with any character on Lost, Elliott has a destiny on the Island that seems somehow entwined with his life before the crash. Part of this involves a woman Elliott sees in the Island's jungle. Though he can't remember who she is, this woman is clearly someone from his past, an apparition on the Island continually haunting him.

You discover the identity of this woman and the other elements of Elliott's past through flashbacks. While it would have been easy to make the flashbacks into cut-scenes, Ubisoft chose to make them interactive. Each flashback begins with Elliott trying to recapture his memory. This is done by using his camera to focus on a key element of a repeating scene until a picture is taken that unlock his memory of the events. Once the memory is unlocked and the grey areas fill in with color, Elliott can interact with key items and experience the flashback in its entirety.



The first flashback takes place onboard Oceanic 815. Elliott spies Kate boarding the plane in handcuffs. Once Elliott's snapped a pic clearly showing Kate in cuffs, the memory opens up and we spot the nemesis of Via Domus leaving his seat and heading towards Elliott with a malicious glare. Cue the crash of flight 815.

About half the flashbacks in the Lost game feature characters seen in the show. It's likely many of these are just cameos, as the past lives of the Oceanic 815 passengers often intersect. Many of the major players, including Jack, Locke and Charlie show up in Elliott's flashbacks.

Of course, memories are only one small part of the story. Most of the action in Lost: Via Domus takes place on the island, as Elliott flees from his relentless pursuer and attempts to discover the significance of a compass found in a cave. (Here's a hint: "Via Domus" is Latin for "The way home.") Lost is best described as a survival adventure game, meaning that it's heavy on exploration and puzzles with some intermittent action to jazz things up. Along the way, you'll have the opportunity to interact with many of characters from the show -- both Oceanic passengers and members of the nefarious Others.

Lost offers what appears to be a fairly robust dialogue tree. When you speak with another character, you have access to four different tabs (Quest, General, Inventory, Trade), each with the potential for multiple questions. Quest is for queries specific to your mission; General tends to cover personal questions about the character; Inventory lets you ask about items in your possession; and Trade lets you exchange items for Apollo candy bars.

The heavy amount of dialogue is an unexpected addition. If only Ubisoft had secured more of the show's actors to provide voice work. Only six characters (Desmond, Ben, Mikhail, Mr. Friendly, Claire and Sun) are authentic. The rest are voice-a-likes. I won't lie; none of the ones I heard are going to fool even a casual fan. It's a shame, because Lost's strongpoint is clearly its high level of authenticity. Heck, every location on the Island has been designed to scale so it looks identical to what's seen on TV. And Michael Giacchino, composer for the TV, provides 60 minutes of music for the game.

If you've gotten your weeping under control, here's something you can smile about. The infamous numbers seem fairly prominent in the game. In fact, in Episode 4, you'll get to enter the numbers into the computer to save the world. That's right; halfway through Via Domus, you save the world. Not bad for a guy who's basically the virtual version of Nikki & Paulo.

In Episode 4, the Swan's blast doors come down, trapping Elliott inside. Raising the door requires you to fix three fuse boxes, using Lost's brainy puzzle system. The fuse box puzzle is reminiscent of BioShock's hacking game -- with math added for some extra head-scratching. Your goal in the puzzle is to manipulate the flow of electricity so that the numerous meters on the circuit board rest in the green. Figuring out the proper amount of current for each section (and how to direct its flow) isn't easy to pick up at first, but it fits the mold of an adventure puzzle.

If talking to Sawyer and futzing with circuit boards aren't up your alley, there is action to be had in Lost: Via Domus. There is a monster in the jungle, one that seems to be picky over which people it hunts. This monster, seen as a plume of black smoke, takes an interest in Elliott. It shows up several times in the game. And in Episode 6, it comes to kill Elliott.

Running through the jungle, the smoke is nipping at Elliott's heels. You're on a track, so your only concern is timing your jumps over rocks and sliding under pesky tree branches. You'll need to be more or less perfect, because the black smoke is an unforgiving creature. One slip-up often means the end of you. The chase is a simple gameplay mechanic, the kind of thing we've seen plenty of times before., but Lost doesn't appear to be the type of game trying to break new ground. Instead, it takes several of these familiar gaming moments, mixes them around, and uses them to break up the story. Ubisoft could easily have turned Lost into a shooter or similar action game, but it wouldn't have suited the material. If you're visiting the Island on your 360, PC or PS3, you're doing so for the story and not to experience the next Far Cry.

After seeing and playing several scenes from Lost, it's clear that great care has been taken to fit the game within the context of the television show. Though it would be foolish to expect any major revelations about the show to be revealed in the videogame, it's still pretty cool for fans to experience Lost in a different way. How the game and show truly tie together won't be known until Lost: Via Domus hits store shelves at the end of February.