Ahoy-hoy, Thugs.
Ben Kuchera over at Opposable Thumbs has spent some time with the newly released demo for Bionic Commando on the Xbox 360. And to sum up his sentiments shortly, it sucks.
I haven’t gotten my hands on it yet (I’ve been too busy busting out on Quantum of Solace), but I can easily believe Ben’s statements on the matter. Any playable build of the game has resulted in numerous folks saying that the arm/swing mechanic just feels totally off, and given the fact that the game would be more or less centered around this gimmick, that isn’t good news. That’s like having a shooter game where your shots never land anywhere near the cross-hairs.
Of course, this is only the multiplayer aspect, so nobody really has a full impression of the game just yet. But honestly, I’ve been skeptical at best over this title since day one. I mean, let’s face it folks – the original Bionic Commando isn’t that great. Yeah, the Xbox Arcade Bionic Commando: Rearmed is okay, but if you go back to the classic (which is available on a couple of Capcom collection sets I believe), the allure has definitely faded. Yes, it was fun in the arcades way back when, but this game did not withstand the test of time in my opinion.
Nor do I think it was really all that well suited for a modern update. When Metroid ‘grew up’ and landed on the GameCube with Metroid Prime, my first reaction was, “God I hate jumping challenges in 3D games.” Yeah, Metroid Prime was a cool enough game in the end, but the jumping parts….ugh. I don’t even want to think about it. It was a part of the gameplay that I most definitely did not feel entertained by. Shooting bugs and aliens? Cool. Finding new gadgets and secrets? Cool. Jumping around a giant tree and falling to the very bottom and having to spend 30 minutes climbing your way back up (just to fall again)? Fuck that. Fuck that twice, sideways.
And here we are with a game that is more or less built around the notion of jumping about in 3D environments. Except, we’re not even getting the real freedom of jumping, but instead a tethered approach that is not receiving good feedback. This isn’t shaping up well.
Maybe the finished product will be enhanced and have the concerns Ben mentions handled. But given that he has the same complaints that were getting tossed about months ago, I have to doubt it.
Keyan Reid
Professional Hero