So I borrowed this game from a friend who just won't shut up about it. So after weeks of pestering me I finally caved in and took his copy. Anyways, been playing it for a few hours now and I must say that I really don't get what is the big deal. I mean, I don't think the game is shit or "Just another Gears clone" but I really don't understand the reaction this game gets from gamers. Is it because of the leveling system? Is it because of story? Character?

I know the guy who made it has sort of connection to the Yakuza series but since I never got into them or have any intentions to, then I'm afraid that legacy is lost on me. Is it because of that legacy that people will stand by this game?

Right now I am at the part where I have to fight that giant spider monster so I don't know how far long I am but if the story doesn't pick up soon then it's gonna go back to its owners with a "Meh" reaction to it.

* I am not trying to troll this game. I merely trying to understand what the big deal about this game is.

You are barely in the middle of Chapter 2 of 6 and you have at least two major characters to introduce. It picks up fairly quickly, don't worry.

And yeah, it's the story and the characters. The gameplay itself is quite fun, but it's mostly the strength of the script that carries the game. If you're a sucker for cyberpunk, you should love it.

@mordukai:

Wait - leveling system? Do I smell RPG elements?

@mordukai:

Wait - leveling system? Do I smell RPG elements?

@Morrow: it's very basic but there is a leveling system. It mostly consists of you spending credits at shop stations to increase yours and your team mates Accuracy, Firepower, Rate of Fire, and things like that. You can also buy Nanomites that increase certain stats and they are tailored specifically to each party member.

@Ghostiet: @mordukai:

Ooooohhh - sounds nice actually. Thanks for the info :)

I've been avoiding shooters all my life because I suck at - well, shooting. But I approached a few games with third-person shooting like Mass Effect 2, Shadows of the Damned and currently Yakuza: Dead Souls - which I find quite fun actually. My accuracy still sucks but I can manage.

So if Binary Domain is a game where you can at least switch to a third-person view I might just have to add this to my list...

@Ghostiet: Thanks for the clarification. I am more into Steam Punk but I do enjoy Cyber Punk from time to time. I will try to play more but knowing me I don't think I'll stick with unless it does a complete shift and elevates the story to an interesting point. So far I am finding the characters to be pretty much their usual cardboard cutouts.

I honestly loved the story. I wouldn't say it was brilliant or that the characters are crazy deep but it has a TON of heart. And the story does pick up alot after where you are.

How the character's feel on the surface is a smoke screen, so don't worry. It should pick up right in Chapter 3, especially since there's a great set-piece right at the beginning of that.

@Morrow: 

It's completely in third person. Also, it's a cover-based one, like Gears of War, so it might actually suit you - running and gunning doesn't really work because you're not that resilient, it's more about popping in and out of cover. Also, your enemies are almost exclusively robots and it actually matters where you shoot them, since you can blow off their legs, hands and heads.

Also, if you liked the plot of DE: Human Revolution, I recommend it, because Binary Domain does the whole transhumanism and "what measure is a non-human" dilemma a lot, lot better.

@theoldhouse said:

I honestly loved the story. I wouldn't say it was brilliant or that the characters were brilliant but it has a TON of heart. And the story does pick up alot after where you are.

Dude, how can you beat a robot with a french accent?... You can't.

@Ghostiet:

Thanks for your explanations :)

I'll add it to my ever growing list of games I need to play... :D

I love the game for the kickass bosses.

Also social linking

@Ghostiet: Yeah sorry. Couldn't handle this game anymore. It just has so many annoying features in it that keeps me from enjoying it.

Big Bo... that is all.

I liked it because of how ridiculous it is. It's like Metal Gears of War Solid. What are the "annoying features" you speak of? I can't say I noticed any, it was pretty much just a basic third person cover based shooter.

@GunslingerPanda: I can't put my finger on it but if I had to pick I would say the roughness of the controls and the checkpoint system. Also what can kill a game for me is time based missions.

Press select, you should have your buddies' health meters visible. I think they should decrease during that mission.

If not, just rush through that. It's not really hard to do, you really need to kill the initial batch of robots in the beginning and then you can simply climb two ladders and activate a switch.

Not every game is for everyone. I think it is as simple as that.

@Ghostiet: Thanks I'll try that. I really hope he story will start to pick up soon. Right now it's kinda slugging along.

It's weird and has a sense of humor in a world full of nearly identical dour games that try too hard to be gritty.

For me I really loved the story and characters. At first I was pretty put off but the game quickly won me over. The shooting I find very rewarding too. Shooting robots and watching shrapnel fly everywhere is great. Its my sleeper hit this year. Never expectedit to be as good as it is.

I just starting playing this today and am pleasantly surprised. It's kinda satisfying killing a load of robots after killing evil monsters for so long in the Gears games, mostly because it's funny to shoot their legs out. Especially those dudes that just run like hell at you. I'm like SLOW IT DOWN BUDDY and down they fall. It's also shockingly funny, I didn't expect to enjoy the chats between the characters as much as I have. I've just begun Chapter 3.

Just finished the game today and i really liked the characters, the combat also picks up pace as the game moves along and I was really enjoying the firefights soon enough, the little rpg aspects of the weapon upgrades and character upgrades are a bonus.

As far as story goes ... eh. I see somone liking it if you don't take it too seriously but it's honestly kind of idiotic in it's treatment of quite a few key concepts. It's kind of a crayon drawing version of any serious science fiction that deals in robotics/ai.

It was a blast to play over the weekend all told, but i pretty much facepalmed through most story moments. If i took it seriously i honestly would not have enjoyed it myself, so i just went along for the ride and it was entertaining.

Good dumb fun.

I just started playing the game today and had kinda low expectations from what I've seen of the game before but it' actually really awesome. I'm just in chapter two so here is me hoping that there is a lot of game left but so far I like the story, I really like the sort of overdrawn characters and the gunplay is satisfying, especially shooting of robolegs. I doesn't set the world on fire but it is waaay better than I thought it would be. Also I'm a bad person because I don't have Big Bo on my squad. Sorry Bo.

I'm playing the PC version (which is largely fine, by the way) and seriously enjoying the game. Regardless of any opinion of the overall story, there are some genuinely funny and charming moments in the character dialog - dialog which is unexpectedly well acted. There are also hints of some serious depth here and there, a bit of sociopolitical commentary sprinkled in with some Asimov-style robot pondering - yet it never goes into overwrought anime-style philosophizing about bullshit (see: any modern Final Fantasy game)

I'm also enjoying the gameplay quite a bit because I haven't spent the last several years playing Gears of War(s), so I'm not really jaded on over-the-shoulder cover shooters yet.

This would be my sleeper hit of the year (so far) and I think it's a shame that it's likely never going to get the attention it deserves.

Just finished it and I think it's one hell of a game. A great ride from the beginning until the end of the credits, there are even multiple endings. Definitely a sleeper hit eventhough the level design isn't amazing all the time and the gunfights lack variation near the end of the game (bosses are great though). The prize will probably drop very soon and for thirty or twenty bucks I would recommend it to everyone who enjoys third person shooters.

That was SWEEEET!

Vinny really likes the game, opinion validated :)

@Morrow: I've never understood how people can be inaccurate in games, i suppose if they have no idea how to co-ordinate two thumbsticks but other than that...

If I've ever felt like I wasn't shooting where I was aiming, changing the sensitivity normally cured that

@ItBeStefYo said:

@Morrow: I've never understood how people can be inaccurate in games, i suppose if they have no idea how to co-ordinate two thumbsticks but other than that...

If I've ever felt like I wasn't shooting where I was aiming, changing the sensitivity normally cured that

I think it's a psychological thing. Shooting makes me nervous, because it's a kill-or-be-killed situation. I grew up with Nintendo, and later sticked to RPGs mostly, where you just use a healing potion or level up if a boss is too hard :D

I also tend to become rather hectically in situations where you have to react fast, no matter if it's a real-life situation or a sequence in a game. Then I really am unable to correctly co-ordinate two thumbsticks.

@Morrow: Oh ok, that's actually pretty interesting! So you've not been desensitised by the violence of video games yet then! I would like to think that video games have given me some clutch skills I could use in real life.

Oh and if they desensitised me to blood that would be great.

@ItBeStefYo said:

@Morrow: Oh ok, that's actually pretty interesting! So you've not been desensitised by the violence of video games yet then! I would like to think that video games have given me some clutch skills I could use in real life.

Oh and if they desensitised me to blood that would be great.

Haha, I guess not ^^ I haven't played that many violent video games, though. Fallout 3 and New Vegas can be pretty bloody, but the violence is rather comical. You shoot one single bullet in their head and they explode, wtf?!

I also played the two Prototype games but again, the violence is so unrealistically overdone that it doesn't disturb me. What gets to me is the psychological stuff. I think I'd have trouble playing games focusing on fear or intimidation, but again, I'm probably a bit softer than others. I can remember starting to play Dead Island and sneaking incredibly slowly through the opening sequence in the hotel. I expected a zombie to be after every corner - no one came ._. I still get nervous when I hear the zombies but can't see them... first person view makes me feel totally paranoid. That may be because I am a woman, I hate to admit to some clichès, but I guess I just don't have the nerves for thrilling games.

I'm thinking about getting Spec Ops: The Line, which is a shooter, but it has third person view, and I'd love to experience the story (although I already read everything about it). It seems to be a pretty violent setting with lots of ambiguous moral decisions. I hope I'll get through the gameplay parts :D

@Morrow: Hmm I've been trying to think what games specifically may have desensitised me but I cant think of anything on the spot, I think maybe watching Robocop alot when I was younger may have done it. But yeah one of the things I'd love to do a study of how games invoke those feelings inside us, for example when playing Amnesia normally I am shitting bricks and can hardly proceed, but If I just say "fuck it" and rush not caring about my character's well being it just isnt scary at all.

Oh wait starting to get memories of turning my playstation off at the wall because of something scary, cant remember the game though >.<

And yeah that cliché is a bit demeaning but all the more reason to try and build up some iron will! Lone Survivor is a nice example of a tense, yet simple psychological game I definitely recommend it!

Movies are definitely the way to go though, I love messed up films, If you want I can link to my IMDB list of messed up films :P. In games I prefer the weird stuff with a sense of humour!

@ItBeStefYo:

Well, realism is a big factor whether a game grabs me or not these days, and the graphics of Lone Survivor look a bit... dated ^^;

Yeah, link me to your list, I'd always like some messed up stuff :D

@Morrow: I haven't seen most of these, I just compiled a bunch after searching alot of forums on what people have talked about

http://www.imdb.com/user/ur22313238/watchlist

Of the ones I have seen, Oldboy, Eraserhead and basically the last 5 minutes of "Don't look now" are some amazing films that had a big effect on me. The list is actually more video-nasty stuff that im interested in. no idea why though, I watched the film Martyrs and was disgusted.

@ItBeStefYo said:

@Morrow: I haven't seen most of these, I just compiled a bunch after searching alot of forums on what people have talked about

http://www.imdb.com/user/ur22313238/watchlist

Of the ones I have seen, Oldboy, Eraserhead and basically the last 5 minutes of "Don't look now" are some amazing films that had a big effect on me. The list is actually more video-nasty stuff that im interested in. no idea why though, I watched the film Martyrs and was disgusted.

Ok.

Well Angel Heart is a classic with a nice twist. And even though De Niro doesn't have that much screen time in it he's awesome.

Irreversible has a disturbing 9-minute rape scene, but that's all I know about the movie. If you like Monica Bellucci, I recommend Malèna. Even if just for the ending.

Cube was ok, but it was such a long time since I saw the movie, I hardly remember it.

The Mouth of Madness is pretty weird but cool, Event Horizon is also with Sam Neill, and I find it to be a trashy but entertaining sci-fi horror.

Kids was depressing.

Devils Rejects was pretty violent. I'm not too much into violent horror movies that actually take themselves serious and disturb you. I rather watch stuff like Wrong Turn. Not as disturbing.

Requiem for a Dream is pretty depressing but a great movie. Probably because it's based on a great book.

I remember watching Don't Look Now at age 14 or 15 at night. It scared the shit out of me!

I think I could recommend you some movies, but it's already 1am here, so I'll do that later! :D

Here's a tip: Upgrade only (or mostly) Dan's rifle, it becomes a beast on the middle and end game.

I really enjoyed this game it's like...a Deadly Premonition with good gameplay. And robots.

This game is pretty great, I paid full price for the PC version, and I don't regret it at all.

I was pretty bored until I got to chapter 2 and its starting to be pretty fun, the story seems to be picking up too.

BD has fantastic bosses, great combat, awesome characters, and some ridiculous and fun dialogue. It's the one game I've played over the past few months that made me care about videogames again.

I just beat this tonight and god damn...it was great. I loved the characters and it's one of the first shooters to actually make me give a shit about the story. They leave it open enough at the end that it's probably going to kill me we'll never get a sequel.

@Peanut said:

I just beat this tonight and god damn...it was great. I loved the characters and it's one of the first shooters to actually make me give a shit about the story. They leave it open enough at the end that it's probably going to kill me we'll never get a sequel.

Agreed. Too bad it probably didn't sell enough to get a sequel, then again, you'll never know. Fingers crossed.

@Peanut said:

it's one of the first shooters to actually make me give a shit about the story.

Have you played Spec Ops: The Line?

@Morrow: No, I haven't, but I intend to once I clear my plate a little bit.

@Peanut said:

@Morrow: No, I haven't, but I intend to once I clear my plate a little bit.

Hurry up! :]

So sad this won't get a sequel. 60 something on metacritic and shitty sales. Meanwhile Gears of War gets 90s and millions of units sold. That ain't right.