Bionic Commando made its original debut back in 1987. 22 years later its direct sequel has finally arrived on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. Seen as a third-person shooter with swinging elements of a cybernetic Spider-man, Bionic Commando is set to impress, aswell as charm with a badass attitude and gameplay to boot.
In Bionic Commando, you take control of Nathan “Rad” Spencer, a bionic soldier who had been imprisoned, yet gets another chance when the government and military require his services once again. Ascension City is hit with a bomb and further infiltrated by soldiers and mechs from a terrorist group known as BioReign. It’s now up to Nathan Spencer to go behind enemy lines and sort it the mess and uncover the reasons behind BioReign’s presence in Ascension city. The story is nothing too original, but the characters and unknown outcomes keep the plot rolling enough for the player to take interest.
Bionic Commando is essentially a third-person shooter, although, the bionic arm is the obvious highlight in its function and design. The arm is used for maneuvering and traversing the levels by swinging using the grappling hook with attaches to targeted objects. Just about everything can be swung and scaled with the arm and the sensation and momentum of swinging is truly breath taking and stylish adding a great depth to the gameplay.
In addition to the bionic arm’s primary function of swinging, it is also used for combat. Bionic punches can be handed out to those who dare to come close enough to Spencer and certain objects can be punched towards enemies. The grappling hook on the arm can also attach to heavier objects, such as cars and the enemies themselves, and lifted into the air and thrown turning them into effective flying projectiles of death. This is an important feature in Bionic Commando which can deal great damage to enemies and is vital to defeating stronger troops and bosses.
Besides the arm, there are other ways to cause utter chaos. Weapons are deployed in certain segments of the levels via small rocket-like pods that fall from the sky. You’re required to navigate the level to reach the guns in order to deal with mechs or stronger enemy types in these sections. There are standard-pistols, machine-guns, shotguns, sniper-rifles, grenade and rocket launchers too mix-up the action, although some of the weapons don’t sound as powerful as they should, they do the job and help out a lot.
The controls work well and are set out appropriately; the swinging and combination moves, such as lifting objects, aiming and throwing them in succession, gets a little complex at first, but you catch on and get used to it quickly.
Another of Bionic Commando’s highpoints is its presentation. The graphics are stunning and highly detailed. The large city vistas and characters are incredibly modeled and include vivid colours, which seems to be lacking in games today. Level design varies excellently from city skylines, to jungle like parks and underground caverns. Movements are slick and flawless as Spencer’s bionic arm lights up when used and moves mechanically, while the rest of his body is comprised of fluid and natural animations. The finer details are there too, such as the grappling hook leaving holes and marks in walls to paper and debris falling while buildings crumble in the distance. The atmosphere is definitely there.
Audio is a mixed-bunch, where, as said before, some gun effects seem a little weak, while the voice work is great. Spencer is voiced by Mike Patton, for those of you who may not know, he is the lead singer of Faith No More. Patton really gets into character and delivers a surprisingly dramatic and intense performance which cuts through some cheesy lines and gives Spencer the badass and convincing image he required.
Bionic Commando also contains one of the most awesomely uplifting and heroic main music theme which carries the feel and atmosphere of the plot and power of the character.
Bionic Commando is definitely an intriguing game. It seems to touch on a lot of familiar gameplay elements, yet the character and world of bionics seems to draw in a new willing audience, and it should. A great adventure/action title, mixed-up with great swinging mechanics and physics, lead by a strong and influential lead character places Bionic Commando a swing ahead of the rest.
[starreviewmulti id=1 tpl=20]
