Lost Planet inspired by Halo

Lost Planet is Keiji Inafune's answer to Halo, the Capcom producer has said.

Speaking to Kotaku recently, Inafune revealed that he originally pitched the game to Capcom bosses as his take on Bungie's seminal first-person shooter.

"I really wanted to do something as cool as Halo," he said. "I'm a big Halo fan, but it's not well known in Japan. It's very interesting, but very American."

Capcom, it turns out, wasn't interested on account of Halo's poor sales in Japan, so Inafune took matters into his own hands and simply set about making it - and taking the initiative paid off. "When we described the idea, we couldn't get approval. But, when we showed them what we were working on, we got approval."

But while the game - in which players take on giant bug-like creatures and space pirates in an icy wilderness - is certainly a reaction to Halo, Inafune added that the team "wanted to do something that had more of a Japanese flavour".

"That's why we added robots," he said. "In America, mech-type robots are not so cool. Just look at the mechs in The Matrix." Indeed.

As you'll know, the game's just now approaching completion - with a global launch set for January - and as well as a combat-heavy single-player campaign, Capcom's including a multiplayer component that received strong write-ups at recent trade shows. A demo of the single-player has been available since May, and a multiplayer demo is due out soon.