Bionic Commando: Rearmed Has Exploding Heads [Review]

We here on Geekadelphia can appreciate that our readers don’t always want to sift through hundreds of lines of jargon to find out how we feel about a particular subject. Our pieces are short and to the point intentionally, though we do allow the occasional lengthy one to slip through. Well today you’re going to have to bear with us a bit, as this is part of the latter group.

We present you with our first official Geekadelphia videogame review — Bionic Commando: Rearmed for Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network. We won’t inundate you with needless gamer-speak (”l33t speak”) or treat you like someone who’s never heard of Tetris (is that a shape?), we’ll just give you our opinion. Hit the break for the premiere Geekadelphia videogame review.

My poor couch. He endures a beating, there’s no doubt about it. Countless times throughout my four to six hours playing Bionic Commando: Rearmed (BC:R), I raised fists in anger, often shouting expletives, only to find myself slamming them down onto my unwitting couch only moments later. And does he deserve it? No, no he does not. Thankfully, these outbursts were often short-lived with BC:R’s slight but appreciable learning curve. The game never challenges you unfairly (alright, well, there is this one part near the end…), choosing instead to challenge your ability.

First though, some explanation is due. The “original” Bionic Commando for NES was released by Capcom many moons ago (1988) in America and featured a “bionic arm” that allowed players to swing from ceilings (among other things) to complete levels, eschewing the platform game norm of the time — jumping. The music was memorable, the graphics were impressive and the game mechanics were fresh. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it when I was about eight. In 15 years, not much has changed (though I no longer wake up at six a.m. to watch cartoons).

It’s always a dangerous mission to remake intellectual properties that people grew up with — and videogames are no different. BC:R sets out to remake the original game and add some new content, which they’ve delivered on in spades. The core gameplay of the original remains intact while much needed additions are made. Controls are more responsive, weapons are more varied and enemies respond like, well, enemies. You shoot, they run; you shoot where they’re hiding, they take cover. Real complex stuff here.

Music, though remixed and fidelity-wise, improved, keeps the ’80s 8-bit theme beautifully while sound effects (especially regarding the weapons) have been carefully detailed. Visuall speaking as well, the game has had more than “the once over.” Environments are lush and sparkling: colors pop off the screen and explosions look a hell of a lot like explosions. The attention to detail can be found in every aspect of BC:R, with literally hundreds of different animations for each enemies’ inevitable demise.

So what’s the bottom line? Coming in at $10 for both the Xbox 360’s and Playstation 3’s respective downloadable services, Bionic Commando: Rearmed is accessible and enjoyable for gamers of all skill levels. There’s a lot of terrible games for download and this one isn’t part of that crew. Easily digestable and meaningfully challenging, we (I) completely suggest it — and so does my poor, beaten couch.

Other Stuff You Might Wanna Know:

Developer: Grin
Publisher: Capcom
Release Date: 8/13/08
Available for: Xbox 360/PS3/Windows PC
Price: $10 for 360/PS3, $15 for Windows PC
Rating: (Buy It, Don’t Buy It, Rent It): Buy it!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.

Powered by Wordpress | WP Premium theme by WP Remix
Copyright 2007. Geekadelphia. All rights reserved

• Home
• About
• Comic
• Contact
• Geek Maps
• Geekspace
• Press
• Video