If polar bears on tropical islands, one-eyed Russians, the Dharma Initiative or the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 & 42 are familiar to you, then the chances are you've seen one or more episodes of the hit TV show, Lost. The ongoing saga of the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 that crashed onto a mysterious island have been thrilling, intriguing and frustrating the hell out of audiences since 2004, and given the ever-growing need for cross-promotion, it was really only a matter of time until there was a movie, game or a trading card series.

Luckily for us, they opted to go for a videogame rather than for a customisable card game, and Ubisoft's much-lauded Montreal studio was given the honours. Better known for belting out the quality Splinter Cell titles than adventure games, to say Lost: Via Domus is a departure from comfort zones would be an understatement – for both the developers, and also the fans better accustomed to watching the show than interacting with it.

Via Domus translates to "the way home,” which to any Lostie is far too tempting a teaser to leave unexplored, particularly after the third season's cliff-hanger ending. So it should probably be made clear right now that the Lost game is not designed to shed light on the mysteries of the TV show, nor is it considered to be part of the lost ‘canon', which is a nice way of saying it doesn't have jack to do with the show, if you'll excuse the pun. Jack is *in* the game though, as are a bunch of other characters from the show, although there are many noteworthy absences, but more on that later.

Unable to reveal anything groundbreaking that ties in directly to the TV show, Ubisoft Montreal have instead been forced to skirt around the edges of the Lost universe, and have introduced a new character around whom Via Domus revolves. Elliott Maslow is a photojournalist who was on Oceanic flight 815 when it went down, except when he wakes up he's been struck with a convenient bout of amnesia along. This is a bit of a problem, seeing as how some other unknown guy on the flight is trying to kill him for reasons unknown, and Elliott has lost all his luggage along with any clue about his past. If this contrivance sounds like pure Lost to you, then you'd be right; two of the show's writers helped pen the story for the game.

Clearly comfortable with their annoying episodic formula of flashbacks, hooks and cliff-hangers that beg more questions than they answer, Via Domus is also divided into seven episodes, complete with their own "previously on Lost..” segments. The game kicks off right at the beginning of the Lost adventure – with the plane crashing – and Elliott's story begins practically the same way as Jack's did; with an eyeball close-up and being alone in a jungle. From here, it's up to you to guide Elliott down the path to enlightenment: recovering his memories, belongings, and ultimately, redemption and the way home.

Lost: Via Domus is an old-school adventure game at its heart, one that eschews point'n'click 2D for a fancy controller and some pretty gorgeous 3D visuals. The game's few action sequences feel almost shoehorned into the meandering adventure pacing, at odds with the puzzle-solving, item-hunting and question-asking. Much of your time will be spent wandering the Lost beach-camp talking to survivors, slogging through pitch-black caves or dense jungles, and exploring key locations from the series at your own pace. The action is all third-person, and the controls and camera are both fairly intuitive, not that either are worked too hard. Elliot can run, look around in first-person, use his camera (eventually), and engage in some context-sensitive actions, as well as fire off a few rounds from his gun at specific times if he has managed to pick one up.

The problem is that like its protagonist, Via Domus seems to be struggling with issues of identity, and the end result is a game that feels awkward in its own skin. For example, the island trading gimmick is novel at first, but once you've picked up enough coconuts and water-bottles to trade for a lantern, its oil, and a gun with some ammo, you've done pretty much all you'll ever need to do. The game's puzzles also feel like they've compromised any attempt and fiendish difficulty or even moderate challenge so as not to risk turning off fans.

Ditto the photography aspect: aside from taking photos when told to or unsubtly hinted to, there's only a handful of occasions you'll ever be rewarded for snapping a picture, which is a real shame. Surely it would've been easy to add to these aspects, by getting Elliot to compile a visual ID of people on the plane manifest, for example, or having non-quest trade items available to purchase for unlockable goodies. Even a few difficulty levels would've been appreciated, really.

And while discussing what Lost: Via Domus isn't, it is *not* an action game. The shooting component is weak and almost nonexistent, and the escape escapades where Elliot has to run away from things is fun but undercooked. In fact, the biggest issue that undermines the action is the truly heinous checkpointing system, where the game sporadically saves your progress, and if you die, well, you get to not only replay the action, but also any accompanying cutscenes, dialogue or recaps. And you will die. A lot. It's possibly the most old-school thing about the game, and it makes you painfully aware of just how much hand-holding modern games do, going out of their way to ensure you never see the words "GAME OVER.” It's a very linear experience with a right way and a dead-wrong way, which will be pretty off-putting for a lot of players, particularly casual gamers who are checking it out because they're fans of the show.

It's not all unforgiving though – when you're navigating the jungles of the island being shot at by the Others or pursued by the black-smoke monster, there's some scope for exploring the wilderness to find loot or secrets, which can also be uncovered by diligently scouring many locations in the game. And without giving too much away, if you hunt around enough there's two opportunities to visit places the game otherwise doesn't go, which are great bits of fan-service but sadly don't add anything much to the game experience.

From the minute you fire up the game, it's clear that Via Domus' strength lies in its visuals and presentation. Many of the key locations from the first two seasons of the show are faithfully reproduced and it will thrill fans of the show to be able to wander around the Swan Station or be on the beach after the plane has crashed. Better yet, the game looks great; the character likenesses are excellent for the most part, and the most important character – the island itself – is breathtaking. The jungle areas in particular look amazing, filled with dense yet organic feeling growth, and the sensation of being utterly lost and disoriented is something few games have ever captured. Of course there are times where you'll miss much of the visual polish because you're otherwise preoccupied – like when you're hurrying through creepy caves with the flame of your torch almost out, but it all works to make the game more engaging.

While visuals are always going to be people's primary connection with the show, the audio dimension is equally important, and Lost: Via Domus is a little bit more hit and miss here. Very few of the cast voice their characters, which shatters the illusion immediately, but to make matters worse the dialogue isn't great. Some, like Sawyer and Hurley, are spot on, but others just don't feel right for the characters we've come to know and love (or hate!). Thankfully the music is pure lost, with the show's composer, Michael Giacchino, scoring the game. Plus the ambient sound is terrific, and helps to create a few scenes that are way scarier and creepier than the show has ever been.

Ultimately though, it all has to end, and for Via Domus, that is something that happens much sooner than later. The game is barely longer than a few double-episodes, and can easily be finished in as little as five hours if you don't stop to soak in the atmosphere. Of course brevity isn't always a bad thing so long as it's a couple of quality hours, but Lost: Via Domus is too scattershot to be considered that. The "episodes” jump around too much to really delve into the story...one minute you're helping people on the beach, the next there's a hatch in the ground and some dirty nutcases are injecting you with a needle. The fact that the tail-end survivors don't make an appearance is also quite baffling given the timeline of the game, but given how patchy the plot is already, throwing more people into the mix probably would've just made things more confusing.

Aside from a few secret Achievements and a possible desire to try and work out what the hell is going on, there's also no reason to replay Via Domus at all. What this means is that the 5-6 hours it takes you to beat the game is pretty much all you're going to get out of this game...there's no point scouring for hidden clues that may reveal something about the show, because they just aren't there.