[E3 2008] Bionic Commando
Grin's free-swinging update to the NES classic is coming along quite nicely. We take a brief peek.
Published: July 26, 2008
This year's E3 was, like every other year, a hectic affair. We missed appointments due to others running long, we barely got to see games for more than a few minutes at a time, and yet, despite the breakneck pace, we were still able to cherish the few moments we had with a select few games at the show. Bionic Commando was one of them, and though we actually spent a little more time with its 2D remake cousin/prequel, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, we still managed to come away from the new game feeling just as psyched as when we saw that first reveal trailer.
Most of our time with the game was spent acclimating to the rather unique control scheme. Swinging through the bombed-out city that serves as the tutorial level, a remixed version of the first game's music thumping away in the background, it struck us just how different Bionic Commando was. Comparisons have been drawn to Treyarch's Spider-Man games, and to a degree, we suppose the momentum aspect is fairly similar. However, while you can just push a button and Spidey will instantly fire onto... something nearby, leading man Nathan Spencer (yes, he's related to the first game's Radd Spencer) needs far more guidance.
At first, it was utterly disorienting. I don't doubt that the team members at Swedish development house Grin were doing quite the opposite of their company's name while watching people fumble through the controls over and over again, but it's a necessary evil: once you get into the rhythm of things, know how far you can grapple and swing, that same Spidey-like sense of momentum is multiplied 10 fold. It's not an automatic thing; you are guiding Nathan through the city, and once it all clicks (and it admittedly took a while; judging distance is almost as important as knowing what surfaces you can swing from, though the little reticule tells you that pretty plainly by changing color), the rush is fantastic.
This extends to combat, which involves the usual gunplay, sure, but when coupled with the bionic arm, things are suddenly that much cooler. Jumping into the air, lashing out with the arm, grabbing some dude and then reeling yourself into smash both feet into his probably-not-Nazi face is a great feeling, and it's even cooler, we found, when you do it near a ledge, such as the rooftop level that follows the city trudge, since they go sailing right over the edge if you do it right.
We were really only allowed a passing glimpse at that second level, as Bionic Commando was actually the last game we were able to play at the show, and just when we felt we'd gotten the swing mechanics down, we were shooed out the door and everything came to a close. Still, for a few-minute experience, it wasn't a bad way to end E3, and it definitely left us dying to find out how the full game plays. That the game still doesn't have a completely locked down release date means we'll be waiting on pins and needles for our oh so sexy preview build to come in. As soon as it does, we'll make sure you get our full impressions.
Most of our time with the game was spent acclimating to the rather unique control scheme. Swinging through the bombed-out city that serves as the tutorial level, a remixed version of the first game's music thumping away in the background, it struck us just how different Bionic Commando was. Comparisons have been drawn to Treyarch's Spider-Man games, and to a degree, we suppose the momentum aspect is fairly similar. However, while you can just push a button and Spidey will instantly fire onto... something nearby, leading man Nathan Spencer (yes, he's related to the first game's Radd Spencer) needs far more guidance.
At first, it was utterly disorienting. I don't doubt that the team members at Swedish development house Grin were doing quite the opposite of their company's name while watching people fumble through the controls over and over again, but it's a necessary evil: once you get into the rhythm of things, know how far you can grapple and swing, that same Spidey-like sense of momentum is multiplied 10 fold. It's not an automatic thing; you are guiding Nathan through the city, and once it all clicks (and it admittedly took a while; judging distance is almost as important as knowing what surfaces you can swing from, though the little reticule tells you that pretty plainly by changing color), the rush is fantastic.
This extends to combat, which involves the usual gunplay, sure, but when coupled with the bionic arm, things are suddenly that much cooler. Jumping into the air, lashing out with the arm, grabbing some dude and then reeling yourself into smash both feet into his probably-not-Nazi face is a great feeling, and it's even cooler, we found, when you do it near a ledge, such as the rooftop level that follows the city trudge, since they go sailing right over the edge if you do it right.
We were really only allowed a passing glimpse at that second level, as Bionic Commando was actually the last game we were able to play at the show, and just when we felt we'd gotten the swing mechanics down, we were shooed out the door and everything came to a close. Still, for a few-minute experience, it wasn't a bad way to end E3, and it definitely left us dying to find out how the full game plays. That the game still doesn't have a completely locked down release date means we'll be waiting on pins and needles for our oh so sexy preview build to come in. As soon as it does, we'll make sure you get our full impressions.
