LifeisXbox’s Lost Island review | Sometimes you see a Steam page for a game and you immediately think ‘oh lord, what do we have here’. That’s usually the moment you wish, with every fiber of your being, that the game is not going to be as horrible as the Steam page makes it look. With that very clear intro, let me talk to you about today’s game: Lost Island. Developed by Valkeala Software and Ruskija game experience and published by Tero Lunkka, Valkeala Software, Lost Island is a very simplistic game that centers around survival. I sincerely hoped Lost Island would still be able to blow my mind somehow, so let’s see if it did, shall we?
Most Memorable Moment
My most memorable moment was… not a good one. Lost Island has two missions for you to complete. There are two guys named ‘Smith’ on the island (they are practically standing next to each other too so no effort there) and each gives you a mission. However, when I went back to the first guy after looking around a bit (and not completing, let alone starting his mission) the game told me I had finished the mission. I was completely baffled as I hasn’t done anything yet. After running into many bugs before this, I can’t say I was completely surprised, but I kind of hoped that the game got at least the main missions free of bugs. Alas.
ℹ️ Reviewed on PC | Review code provided by PR/publisher, this review is the personal opinion from the writer.
What we Liked!
- I’m afraid I got absolutely nothing in this section so we’re not off to a great start, huh…
Mixed Feelings
- Collect all kinds of stuff | I guess if there is one thing kind of ‘good’ about Lost Island, it’s that you can collect a lot of stuff. There are various weapons to found on the island like rifles, swords, knives and pistols. There are enemies scattered around the island trying to kill you so picking up weapons is definitely recommended. Besides weapons, you can also collect other things like food, water, bandages, hats, and body armor. There is a system in place that requires you to eat and drink in order to stay alive, but even when both bars ran out, I didn’t die or anything, so I’m not sure what the point of it was. Crafting was also an option but it all felt and looked so super basic that you probably won’t invest any time in it, trust me.
What we Disliked
- Your tasks on the island | There is not a lot to do on the island beside trying to ‘stay alive’. There are a total of two missions you can complete. One is about saving kidnapped scientists but when I got to the camp, I just killed three guys and I didn’t really see any scientists, just some science object or something? Anyway, the second mission is retrieving a lost photograph. Nothing too spectecular, really. You could even finish these quests in half an hour, I’m sure. Then there is also the ‘challenge’ to find all thirteen golden campfires that you can find around the island. Each campfire is an achievement so it’s a pretty easy 100%, if you’re into that. Other than that, the golden campfires have no use at all, I’m afraid. So, in conclusion, I felt like the missions were too basic and boring and the golden campfires really had no added value.
- Graphis and sound | The graphics in Lost Island must be one of the worst ones I’ve ever seen. The whole island looks rather basic, with just some water, sand, a lot of rocks scattered around, and some woods. There is some kind of small fortress and a ship, but all in all, the island was very bland and plain boring, in all honesty. The characters on the island looked okay I guess, but they had no personality to them whatsoever. Their voice-acting was so limited and felt very acted indeed. There was no intonation or emotion whatsoever. The soundtrack was okay for like five minutes before it got super repetitive.
- Riddled with bugs | This game already screamed BUGGED when I first saw it, and unfortunately, I was completely right. Where do I even begin… When I had a conversation with one of the two guys giving you a mission, the text wasn’t completely showing (you can actually see this in one of the screenshots). There was a square shadow on the sand but no indication of where this shadow was coming from. From a distance, I thought there was something there, but it was just a very weird, unnecessary, clear shadow. Sometimes, you’d see some water but when you moved closer, I’d turn into land, then back to water, and so on. Turned out to be land, but it was clearly not depicted correctly. What else… One of the golden campfires was floating above the sand. There was a huge glitch somewhere on the sand. If you want to close the game, and then continue, progress is not saved (even though the game gives you the ‘continue’ or ‘new game’ option). The quest around the scientists was bugged (I went back to the guy who gave me the quest, WITHOUT finishing it, and the game told me I finished it). Driving the car felt very uneasy. The list goes on and on. I seriously don’t understand why this game was every published.
- An island filled with typos | If you’ve read reviews of me before, you might know that I do not like typos. A single typo here or there doesn’t catch my attention, but when a game has more typos than correct grammar, it gets on my nerves big time. The English is downright awful, and even one of the Steam Achievements has a typo (Find oglden campfire 3). There isn’t a lot of talking or displaying of text in this game, so I don’t realy understand why there are so many errors in there… Fine if you’re not a native English speaker, but maybe let someone check, or release a game in your mother tongue, but please, don’t bring something like this into the world.
How long to beat the story | 1 hour
How long to achieve 1000G | 1 to 2 hours
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Head of PC team. PC, Switch, and Xbox game reviewer. Also a marketeer, concert and animal lover, and photographer in training 🙂
Steam: Mauitje
Xbox: Mauitjexo
