[E3 2008] Bionic Commando Rearmed
Yessss! We go hands-on with more of Grins retro-remake.
Published: July 26, 2008
It's a rare thing these days to actually get goosebumps from a game trailer. Maybe it's because we're getting older, or just that we've seen plenty of games pass through the TPS offices over the years, but it's becoming less and less common to really get psyched about something. Call it some serious video editing skills or just some flat-out awesomeness that developer Grin has managed to do it twice -- first with their reveal of the Bionic Commando next-gen sequel, and then with the trailer for Bionic Commando Rearmed, an update of the classic NES game that was revealed with a seamless transition in both graphics and music from the old version to the new one. If you haven't seen it yet, scroll up to the top of this page, click on the Movies link and watch. That. Trailer. Now. You'll thank us.
With that kind of buzz, though, we couldn't wait actually start playing the game, and casting aside our lust for the pure next-gen version, we first dove into playing a little co-op of Rearmed. We weren't disappointed. With the exception of actually being able to play with a friend, almost everything about Bionic Commando Rearmed felt like Bionic Commando, and that is a very, very, very good thing. The weird sort of freedom of playing a platformer without a jump button is something that's almost impossible to explain to those who haven't played the game (ahem, Justin), but suffice it to say that GRIN's work on this remake preserves that feeling completely.
It also augments it with all sorts of fun little twists. Those barrels that used to be cover for both you and the we-swear-they're-not-Nazis-outside-of-Japan foot soldiers are now instruments of death given a quick little grapple and tug. In fact, the soldiers themselves can be grabbed and then flung to their doom pretty easily. Add to that the ability to chuck grenades down below and watch enemies go sailing all at a gorgeously smooth framerate with all kinds of fancy graphical effects and you have a game that plays like the original but -- dare we say it -- better.
The co-op stuff was all well and good, and we were happy to run back through the first few levels of the game, bobbing our heads to the updated 8-bit tunes that rocked harder than ever. We even dug the new hacking interface where you have to rotate a cube in 3D space filled with little blocks and an electrical impulse that zips away from where the camera is pointed. By rotating the cube around and sending the pulse forward, you can move it around the solid blocks and into an eventual receptacle that completes the hack, allowing for some good ol' fashioned wire tapping and some security overrides. It was fantastic stuff, and we can't wait to play more.
Luckily, we did do something beyond just reliving some of our fondest NES memories with purdy new visuals. We engaged in a little friendly competition, with two other folks in a little multi-player tussle. It was just a simple arena, but with unlimited grenades (you could only kick out one at a time normally), and power-ups that would regularly drop to do things like upgrade our rife to an automatic, give us more grenades, refill health and so on, it was an incredibly frenzied experience -- especially when you remember that there's still no jump button. The screen was filled with a bunch of swinging, firing, grenade dropping characters, and we couldn't have been more pleased to watch it go down (that might have been because we won).
The Bionic Commando Rearmed experience is one that seems to seamlessly bridge the gap between the 8-bit original and all the fancy-pants graphical goodies of modern day. It looks gorgeous, plays exactly as it should and shows that GRIN isn't just good at giving one of our favorite games ever a solid 3D upgrade, they can do just as much with the original game. We'll have a full review of the game in just a few weeks.
With that kind of buzz, though, we couldn't wait actually start playing the game, and casting aside our lust for the pure next-gen version, we first dove into playing a little co-op of Rearmed. We weren't disappointed. With the exception of actually being able to play with a friend, almost everything about Bionic Commando Rearmed felt like Bionic Commando, and that is a very, very, very good thing. The weird sort of freedom of playing a platformer without a jump button is something that's almost impossible to explain to those who haven't played the game (ahem, Justin), but suffice it to say that GRIN's work on this remake preserves that feeling completely.
It also augments it with all sorts of fun little twists. Those barrels that used to be cover for both you and the we-swear-they're-not-Nazis-outside-of-Japan foot soldiers are now instruments of death given a quick little grapple and tug. In fact, the soldiers themselves can be grabbed and then flung to their doom pretty easily. Add to that the ability to chuck grenades down below and watch enemies go sailing all at a gorgeously smooth framerate with all kinds of fancy graphical effects and you have a game that plays like the original but -- dare we say it -- better.
The co-op stuff was all well and good, and we were happy to run back through the first few levels of the game, bobbing our heads to the updated 8-bit tunes that rocked harder than ever. We even dug the new hacking interface where you have to rotate a cube in 3D space filled with little blocks and an electrical impulse that zips away from where the camera is pointed. By rotating the cube around and sending the pulse forward, you can move it around the solid blocks and into an eventual receptacle that completes the hack, allowing for some good ol' fashioned wire tapping and some security overrides. It was fantastic stuff, and we can't wait to play more.
Luckily, we did do something beyond just reliving some of our fondest NES memories with purdy new visuals. We engaged in a little friendly competition, with two other folks in a little multi-player tussle. It was just a simple arena, but with unlimited grenades (you could only kick out one at a time normally), and power-ups that would regularly drop to do things like upgrade our rife to an automatic, give us more grenades, refill health and so on, it was an incredibly frenzied experience -- especially when you remember that there's still no jump button. The screen was filled with a bunch of swinging, firing, grenade dropping characters, and we couldn't have been more pleased to watch it go down (that might have been because we won).
The Bionic Commando Rearmed experience is one that seems to seamlessly bridge the gap between the 8-bit original and all the fancy-pants graphical goodies of modern day. It looks gorgeous, plays exactly as it should and shows that GRIN isn't just good at giving one of our favorite games ever a solid 3D upgrade, they can do just as much with the original game. We'll have a full review of the game in just a few weeks.
