Bionic Commando Review

As I write this, GRIN, the developer of Bionic Commando, has shut down. It’s a shame too, because this is perhaps their greatest title in a year where they’ve already delivered two other games. Bionic Commando is a brilliant re-imagining and continuation of the classic franchise, following last year’s GRIN-developed Bionic Commando Rearmed. I’m glad that Capcom took a chance on publishing this game. It brings classic NES-era design sensibilities into the modern day. Oh, and it also has a somewhat-horrible multiplayer mode, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

Bionic Commando features the continuing adventures of Nathan “Rad” Spencer, fresh off of his defeat of the Nazis…I mean Imperials in Bionic Commando Rearmed. Spencer goes on to do some more work for Super Joe (the main character from Commando, another Capcom classic) and gets in a whole heap of trouble that lands him in jail. His adventures also lead to the banning of bionics, and so they rip off his arm. Yes, Spencer has a bionic arm, which is essentially a giant grappling hook. This allows you to do all manner of fancy acrobatic stuff, and unlike in the original game, Spencer can now jump. I’m getting ahead of myself. At the start of this new game, some pro-bionic terrorists attack Ascension City , and Spencer is freed from jail by Super Joe to go stop them.

Yeah, so the plot seems a little goofy, and that’s a big part of the charm of this game. It has a whole bunch of craziness in it that would be right at home in a Metal Gear Solid game, and it’s one of the best parts of this title. It’s also pays plenty of nods to the history of the franchise across its several levels. Yes, that’s right, levels. Much like games from 20 years ago, Bionic Commando is broken up into several distinct levels and stages, with a load screen between each one. These levels find you platforming, grappling, and shooting your way from one end to the other, and then the next one loads. It’s an old-school approach to game design, but given the history of this series, it totally fits. The stages are all quite linear, so even though you can do some elaborate swinging moves, if you get too far off track, some story-explained radiation or deadly water will keep you moving forward.

The game is split evenly between excellently done swinging and platforming, and acrobatic combat. The swinging is the highlight of the game, and is exhilarating. This is the most well-done swinging mechanic in videogames, period. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be flying all over the levels, and it’s a giddy joy each and every time. The game is also quite difficult even on its easiest setting, and although this can become frustrating at times, once you fully learn the extent of Spencer’s movements you’ll be flying through levels in no time. It does require some patience though, as the game has about a 2-hour learning curve. Completionists will find plenty of collectibles here, along with three difficulty levels, and also collectibles don’t save, meaning you have to get them all in one playthrough. The shooting is not quite as polished as the platforming and swinging, but it’s still decent.

Graphically, the game is gorgeous, showcasing a wide range of environments. It runs well on all three platforms, although on the console I’d probably give the nod to the PS3. If you’re running this game on the PC, you’ll want to turn off V-Sync as it causes some weird issues with the game engine that slow the whole game down from time to time. The music in the game is gorgeous to listen to, and another shining example of the great work that GRIN’s now-defunct music team could do. It features a mix of re-orchestrated classic Bionic Commando tunes, and brand new stuff that is of the highest quality. The music is good enough that I bought the soundtrack on iTunes.

So, we have a fun, well-polished platforming action game with the best swing mechanic ever created. Top it off with some beautiful graphics and music, and it’s the complete package right? Well, no. There’s the multiplayer, which just isn’t very good and seems like an afterthought. It contains a few basic deathmatch-style modes, and that’s about it. PC players who like lobbies will be disheartened to hear that the game only features matchmaking, though to its credit the system works rather well. The problem is that on the PC, there’s not much to keep players from just creating new accounts all the time and then cheating, and also there’s no way to filter matches by region. I ended up playing against some folks in Russia once, which didn’t help the performance at all. The gameplay is generally lag-free, but hardly anyone is playing it, and compared to the amazing single player mode, it just seems like the multiplayer shouldn’t even be in here.

Bionic Commando didn’t sell very well, but it provides a fantastic single player action game for those willing to give it some time and learn the mechanics. It’s a game I’ll return to again and again over the years. You can probably find it for a decent price, and it’s also on Steam. Fortunately, I guess, the game has a pretty final ending, so at least there’s no huge cliffhanger that GRIN will never be able to resolve. I’m glad that Capcom gave this franchise a new chance, both with Bionic Commando Rearmed and Bionic Commando. This is probably my favorite modern 3^rd-person action game, and at the very least deserves a play for it’s cool swinging and wonderful music. Recommended for action fans looking for something different from everything else out there. This game is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. For more information, go to www.bioniccommando.com.


	Bionic Commando Multi Platform Review…5 out of 5 September 3, 2009 By Alex Rowe As I write this, GRIN, the developer of Bionic Commando, has shut down. It’s a shame too, because this is perhaps their greatest title in a year where they’ve already delivered two other games. Bionic Commando is a brilliant re-imagining and continuation of the classic franchise, following last year’s GRIN-developed Bionic Commando Rearmed. I’m glad that Capcom took a chance on publishing this game. It brings classic NES-era design sensibilities into the modern day. Oh, and it also has a somewhat-horrible multiplayer mode, but I’ll get to that in a minute. Bionic Commando features the continuing adventures of Nathan “Rad” Spencer, fresh off of his defeat of the Nazis…I mean Imperials in Bionic Commando Rearmed. Spencer goes on to do some more work for Super Joe (the main character from Commando, another Capcom classic) and gets in a whole heap of trouble that lands him in jail. His adventures also lead to the banning of bionics, and so they rip off his arm. Yes, Spencer has a bionic arm, which is essentially a giant grappling hook. This allows you to do all manner of fancy acrobatic stuff, and unlike in the original game, Spencer can now jump. I’m getting ahead of myself. At the start of this new game, some pro-bionic terrorists attack Ascension City , and Spencer is freed from jail by Super Joe to go stop them. Yeah, so the plot seems a little goofy, and that’s a big part of the charm of this game. It has a whole bunch of craziness in it that would be right at home in a Metal Gear Solid game, and it’s one of the best parts of this title. It’s also pays plenty of nods to the history of the franchise across its several levels. Yes, that’s right, levels. Much like games from 20 years ago, Bionic Commando is broken up into several distinct levels and stages, with a load screen between each one. These levels find you platforming, grappling, and shooting your way from one end to the other, and then the next one loads. It’s an old-school approach to game design, but given the history of this series, it totally fits. The stages are all quite linear, so even though you can do some elaborate swinging moves, if you get too far off track, some story-explained radiation or deadly water will keep you moving forward. The game is split evenly between excellently done swinging and platforming, and acrobatic combat. The swinging is the highlight of the game, and is exhilarating. This is the most well-done swinging mechanic in videogames, period. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be flying all over the levels, and it’s a giddy joy each and every time. The game is also quite difficult even on its easiest setting, and although this can become frustrating at times, once you fully learn the extent of Spencer’s movements you’ll be flying through levels in no time. It does require some patience though, as the game has about a 2-hour learning curve. Completionists will find plenty of collectibles here, along with three difficulty levels, and also collectibles don’t save, meaning you have to get them all in one playthrough. The shooting is not quite as polished as the platforming and swinging, but it’s still decent. Graphically, the game is gorgeous, showcasing a wide range of environments. It runs well on all three platforms, although on the console I’d probably give the nod to the PS3. If you’re running this game on the PC, you’ll want to turn off V-Sync as it causes some weird issues with the game engine that slow the whole game down from time to time. The music in the game is gorgeous to listen to, and another shining example of the great work that GRIN’s now-defunct music team could do. It features a mix of re-orchestrated classic Bionic Commando tunes, and brand new stuff that is of the highest quality. The music is good enough that I bought the soundtrack on iTunes. So, we have a fun, well-polished platforming action game with the best swing mechanic ever created. Top it off with some beautiful graphics and music, and it’s the complete package right? Well, no. There’s the multiplayer, which just isn’t very good and seems like an afterthought. It contains a few basic deathmatch-style modes, and that’s about it. PC players who like lobbies will be disheartened to hear that the game only features matchmaking, though to its credit the system works rather well. The problem is that on the PC, there’s not much to keep players from just creating new accounts all the time and then cheating, and also there’s no way to filter matches by region. I ended up playing against some folks in Russia once, which didn’t help the performance at all. The gameplay is generally lag-free, but hardly anyone is playing it, and compared to the amazing single player mode, it just seems like the multiplayer shouldn’t even be in here. Bionic Commando didn’t sell very well, but it provides a fantastic single player action game for those willing to give it some time and learn the mechanics. It’s a game I’ll return to again and again over the years. You can probably find it for a decent price, and it’s also on Steam. Fortunately, I guess, the game has a pretty final ending, so at least there’s no huge cliffhanger that GRIN will never be able to resolve. I’m glad that Capcom gave this franchise a new chance, both with Bionic Commando Rearmed and Bionic Commando. This is probably my favorite modern 3^rd-person action game, and at the very least deserves a play for it’s cool swinging and wonderful music. Recommended for action fans looking for something different from everything else out there. This game is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. For more information, go to www.bioniccommando.com.