Bionic Commando: So, I played the new PS3 game. It has some serious flaws, but there is still some fun to be had with the swinging around and whatnot. The mechanics of that are pretty much perfectly implemented and the camera is, mercifully, among the most user-friendly I've encountered in a 3d game (as it had to be, given that you often need to find another handhold in a hurry). The docks section was probably the standout chapter of the game: swinging through a tangle of pipes and towers on a rainy night, chased by flying enemies that can 2HKO you. You are going to get pummelled if you stop, so you have to keep moving and play hit-and-run. It's hard, but it also forces mastery of the central gameplay conceit in order to progress and this is something I approve of. The Constructor was a pretty impressive piece of architecture too (shame that its boss fight was completely underwhelming. Why not make use of all that scaffolding for a dramatic encounter? That was just lazy, Grin).
The problem is, that's not always what the game is. Boss fights, for example? I tend to think that boss fights should be showpieces that force you to use every advantage the game's system offers you to win. And the first boss pretty much is--you fight a helicopter at the peak of a burned-out skyscraper, a jungle-gym of twisted girders with a radio tower jutting from its center--but the other two? (Yes, the game only has three bosses. More on that in a moment). One is fought in an empty field, the other isolates you on a helipad and gives you little use for the bionic arm but to save yourself if you happen to get knocked off the edge of the platform. This is a terrible design decision. Go to all the trouble of perfecting the mechanics of swinging around like Tarzan and then make it completely irrelevant for two out of three bosses? What were the designers thinking? And the last area of the game (no, it doesn't end at a boss fight) is completely built of walls that can't be grappled and gives you nothing to do but plow through a mookswarm. Bad idea, as combat without the arm is basically standard shooter fare (well, you can still hurl objects at people, pick up goons and smash them around, but the point is that you're earthbound in a game whose chief gameplay mechanic is brachiation).
Exploration was also more limited than I would've liked sometimes. Having a linear path is one thing, but I resented it whenever the game limited vertical movement. Sometimes I just wanted to climb straight up a building and have a look around, but oops, there's a cloud of radiation up there that will kill you if you try. Not cool. Most areas do have plenty of space for you to swing through within their straightforward path, though, and virtually any surface can be grappled. The game is fairly short and replay value is limited, but it does let you warp to any level you've previously beaten if you just feel like exploring a specific area.
Basically, how much the game succeeds depends on how much you enjoy playing Spiderman. Sort of like Assassin's Creed, I guess? Except AC's combat looked deathly dull and BC's combat is just unremarkable (also, you can and should combine constant movement with combat, not just because it makes things more interesting but because jumping into a gang of mooks tends to get you killed). Doubleplus points for remixing the old Bionic Commando songs for use here, though. That was pretty classy.
Plot stuff isn't really worth mentioning. Which is about what I expected, really (and I wouldn't have cared either way just as long as they got the gameplay right), but some of the dumber events would've been more bearable if the game had the slightest sense of irony. Still, the non-ending was mildly insulting.
Joe is a traitor for some reason! (Anyone who's played videogames before should call this within five minutes). The arm is a person! Mysterious Sniper Guy totally acts like he's important, then just vanishes! And nice work getting yourself killed there, Mags. Yes, let's dash straight towards the terrorist in powered armor, this plan cannot fail.
Granted, CAPCOM PLOT applies. Again, I wasn't expecting much to begin with.
Hm. Joe's VA sounded really familiar...*looks it up*...Roger Smith in Big O, and Gale in DDS. I fail for not recognizing that.
