PC | 2004 | Publisher:Aspyr | Developer: Beenox | 798.38 MB
Genre: Action/3D Platformer
The Lost Expedition does add one slight innovation to the series, in that it opts to give its protagonist a legitimate personality this time around. This iteration of Harry is certainly not the same faceless, pixelated fellow that we've all come to know over the years--nay, the new Pitfall Harry is quite different. The new Harry is dashing, daring, and, at least in his own mind, quite the lady-killer. The story of The Lost Expedition begins with our hero battling for his life against a demonic jaguar amid a ring of fire. After some intense combat, Harry, thinking he has won, lets his guard down, allowing the jaguar to get the best of him. Right as he's about to be dealt the seemingly final blow, Harry begins to narrate, and we're whisked back in time to the previous day, aboard a rickety passenger plane filled with various explorer types. Harry is chatting it up with a fellow explorer by the name of Dr. Bittenbinder, who just happens to be traveling with a young, beautiful, and slightly bookwormish associate named Nicole. Suddenly, lightning strikes the plane and it is sent spiraling down toward the thick South American jungle.
The entire plot of the game is told through between-mission narration by Harry. Initially, the story simply revolves around Harry's attempts to round up lost members of the expedition who were aboard the doomed plane. However, after some time, things spiral off into a number of silly directions. Ancient prophecies and cities are discovered, rival tribes square off with one another, an old rivalry between Harry and an evil explorer named Jonathan St. Claire is renewed, and, further adding to the utter wackiness of it all, you are eventually befriended by a talking cheetah. Without diving too heavily into spoiler territory, it can be said that the story of The Lost Expedition features some exceptionally dumb plot points, but thankfully, the game in no way tries to take itself seriously. Apart from hokey, eye-rolling moments, the dialogue and story progression are pretty amusing, and there are more than a few clever Indiana Jones references to keep you on your toes. Though you'll never find yourself heartily chuckling at any of the game's gags, you'll certainly be entertained.
Most of The Lost Expedition's gameplay follows the industry standard for platformers to the letter. Harry can jump and double-jump over various objects and platforms, engage in some fairly simplistic combat, and use various weapons and items that he picks up along the way. Many of the items Harry uses throughout the game actually tie in to the progression of the overall story. Numerous areas in the gameworld are blocked off, and only specific items will allow Harry to traverse them. For instance, you'll come across large walls that must be climbed with a pickax or blown apart with dynamite, passages blocked by gaseous plants that can only be circumvented using a gas mask, and objects that need to be knocked over using a basic slingshot. To use these items, you have to equip them, and then use them via a dual-analog controller's right control stick or a keyboard's arrow keys. This mechanic actually independently controls Harry's right arm and lets him use items and pick up objects you encounter during the game. It's kind of a neat mechanic, and it's certainly more interesting than your standard "action button" concept.
The one issue that stems from this right-arm control concept, however, is actually the one main issue that separates the PC phiên bản of Pitfall from the console versions. Basically, if you plan to play the game on a keyboard, then you've got nothing to worry about, as keyboard control plays fine. However, if you plan to use a dual-analog controller, you'll need to use a high-end model. We tried the game with a couple of different controllers, and actually found that the game wouldn't fully recognize the controller's right analog axis. The controller would only go side to side, and not a full 360 degrees, eliminating any ability to move Harry's arm up or down, both of which are highly necessary to play the game effectively. However, on our third try, we were able to get the full range of axis motion using a Thrustmaster dual-trigger controller. If you have a controller that doesn't work quite right, you can always switch back and forth between the controller and keyboard, but that gets very annoying very quickly. .....
Minimum System Requirements
System: 800MHz Pentium III or equivalent
RAM:256 MB
Video Memory: 32 MB
Hard Drive Space: 1200 MB
Number of Players: 1 Player
DirectX Version: v9.0
Operating System: Windows 98/2000/ME/XP
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