Bionic Commando single player thread
I figured we needed a separate thread for this, since the last one was mostly about the multiplayer.
Here's my thought on the single player now that I've played it for about 3 hours.
the good:
I like the retro gaming fan service.
I like the retro skin a lot more than the default one.
The swing mechanic is perfect. Moving through the world is a very satisfying expirience.
The "Escape From New York" style intro was badass.
Environments and characters look great.
Shit the entire game looks great.
Animations on weapons and characters are sweet.
Spying on enemy transmissions is sweet, like in the old one.
Fun deathmatch.
Did I mention the swing mechanic is perfect?
The bad:
Radiation gets annoying.
Some of the dialogue is really useless. So far the characters just seem cut and pasted from other movies (about a 1000 times before).
I wish there was some kind of minigame for hacking the enemy terminal, like in rearmed. It would be cool if you failed and you had to fight off a few paratroopers.
ammo goddamnit! I'm seriously expiriencing what yazi talks about, where you have a super gun but you dont want to use it on the giant enemy robo, because you dont know if there will be an even bigger enemy robo around the corner. Every time I upgrade my gun, I still have about 5 shots left on the previous one. I never use the cool guns because I'm worried about running out of ammo.
I should be able to grab the guns from the badds (imperials) that I kill.
I wish Spencer was more serious. Some of the shit he yells when he's blasting people makes it hard to take his melodrama seriously.
The story is cool so far, but it's maybe 10-15% away from being really cool. And I think it is an important 10%
Overall it's a fucking blast. I started playing at 5:30 and didn't stop till 8. Then I played the multiplayer for a while. Seriously good game.
Here's my thought on the single player now that I've played it for about 3 hours.
the good:
I like the retro gaming fan service.
I like the retro skin a lot more than the default one.
The swing mechanic is perfect. Moving through the world is a very satisfying expirience.
The "Escape From New York" style intro was badass.
Environments and characters look great.
Shit the entire game looks great.
Animations on weapons and characters are sweet.
Spying on enemy transmissions is sweet, like in the old one.
Fun deathmatch.
Did I mention the swing mechanic is perfect?
The bad:
Radiation gets annoying.
Some of the dialogue is really useless. So far the characters just seem cut and pasted from other movies (about a 1000 times before).
I wish there was some kind of minigame for hacking the enemy terminal, like in rearmed. It would be cool if you failed and you had to fight off a few paratroopers.
ammo goddamnit! I'm seriously expiriencing what yazi talks about, where you have a super gun but you dont want to use it on the giant enemy robo, because you dont know if there will be an even bigger enemy robo around the corner. Every time I upgrade my gun, I still have about 5 shots left on the previous one. I never use the cool guns because I'm worried about running out of ammo.
I should be able to grab the guns from the badds (imperials) that I kill.
I wish Spencer was more serious. Some of the shit he yells when he's blasting people makes it hard to take his melodrama seriously.
The story is cool so far, but it's maybe 10-15% away from being really cool. And I think it is an important 10%
Overall it's a fucking blast. I started playing at 5:30 and didn't stop till 8. Then I played the multiplayer for a while. Seriously good game.
Replies
the retro lunch box was enough to warrant buying it.
want to give it a more sound critique/commentary later, but cliffnotes first
The game definitely caught its stride moreso towards the end when you had unlocked all your abilities, were given a decent selection of weapons, and were thrown into environments with a larger and diverse group of enemies. Oil rig? Such a fucking awesome level. Since you're near the end of the game and the action is reaching a peak, your skills are at their best and you're flawlessly zipping from one platform to the next, daisy chaining zip kicks off airborne enemies into ground combat. it was fucking beautiful.
I can understand that radiation was probably purely a design/time limitation, due to the art team not having the time to create an endless sprawling landscape. (to their credit, they did. you just can't interact with it) The game was clearly designed as a linear, yet open experience, but it fought endlessly with the arm mechanic, which just encourages a ridiculous level of freedom and experimentation. In the few environments where there was no radiation, and only natural hazards that were clearly visible, it felt much more natural, regardless that you might be playing in a much smaller space. There's not nearly enough visual feedback for the rad zones, and it doesn't even seem like there's much consistency when whoever through those doofy blue clowds around for the nasty spots. Sometimes you can walk right through them, othertimes you'll go into what looks like clean open space. only to die minutes later. man, the radiation fucking sucked. let's leave it at that. it's by far the game's worst bit. for #2 (if there is one) ffs think of a better visual indicator for "don't go here, motherfucker"
challenges: these are super awesome and I want them in more games. it is simply delicious getting both an achievement and an upgrade for trying to reach these fun meta-goals within the game. : ) also, i watched an interview with a producer on why you don't retain them if you die. i don't fucking care how hardcore the game is. the mechanics are already clearly for a hardcore player, you don't need to rub it in his face for dying, after having to set up some fucking extraordinary circumstances in order to complete some of the nastier challenges. this goes for the unlockables too. i really want to play through again, but i don't want to have to grab all those goddamn radiation landmines again.
mike patton: he makes cool gurgly noises. i liked the hammy script, though there were some gaps in the end. he should make more weird noises if he's in the next one. also, does he scream "NERD" when he throws guys sometimes? i could have sworn i heard it.
character design: i actually think nathan was pretty cool all around. he had a lot of dangly bits that really gave swinging a much better sense of motion, and his hair is probably an important part of that, but... after looking at some of the concept art, and remembering some of the stuff i saw way earlier in this game's production, some of the gruffer, middle-aged looks were far more appealing to me personally. this probably had a lot to do with marketing, and is a bummer, but he was still pretty neat. that arm design is awesome too.
GRIN makes cool looking guns. i like shotgun revolver heavy cannons.
btw, why the hell is this game rated M? don't get me wrong, i love m-ratings just as much as the next guy, but i'm honestly confused as to how capcom agreed to let this thing go through with this rating. in the comical world of bionic commando, it's kinda strange hearing guys cuss about Mike Dreadlocks Patton who's gonna grab their heads with a bionic arm. (there is one boss fight that makes a sweet full circle to the first game, and entirely warrants the M rating.)
i should probably continue this when i'm less tired. really fun game though. : ) i had a blast.