Lost Planet 3 didn't need to "reinvent the wheel", producer says

Lost Planet 3 let go of too much of what made past entries popular, according to producer Andrew Szymanski.

"The Lost Planet series has always been unique as it almost re-invents itself with each instalment, while still retaining certain core elements of the franchise. One of the lessons that we learned in hindsight is that we don’t need to reinvent the wheel each time," Szymanski told Kotaku of Lost Planet 3, which garnered only limited critical and commercial success.

"Leveraging more of the past gameplay conceits and over-the-top 'Capcom-style' elements could have served us well by making sure that previous games inform not only the world and its components, but also the fine details of the gameplay and structure. If there is an opportunity to do another Lost Planet, that is what I would first look at to achieve balance, while still injecting fresh new ideas," he continued.

Elsewhere in the interview, Szymanski said that, looking back, Spark Unlimited ought to have included more elements familiar to fans of the franchise.

"Looking back, there might have been some value in incorporating more traditional Lost Planet franchise elements and more 'uniquely Capcom' Japanese-inspired types of gameplay into the title in order to make it feel more like the game was positioned in an unbroken Lost Planet continuity, which may have allowed it to stand out more in the over-crowded shooter marketplace," he said.

Lost Planet 3 is one of a couple of recent big-budget Capcom titles to miss their sales targets; the publisher is believed to be cutting jobs in an effort to restructure around its losses.

For all its faults it did inspire this totally ballin' trailer about what happens when you freeze to death. Spoilers: nothing good.