Xbox Live Arcade Inventary Blowout made me do it
Bionic Commando Rearmed was one of the top Arcade titles of 2008 which I somehow managed to miss. In recent Inventory Blowout Microsoft halved price for the several better quality Xbox Live Arcade games including this title. So for 400 points can't really say no to this. Bionic Commando was a NES game from 1988 that got ported to every possible platform . 20 years later the IP got rebooted in form of this Bionic Commando Rearmed which is a remake of the original NES game. There was as well a brand new 3D game from 2008 for same IP as well a recently announced Remarmed 2. Yes that is a sequel to a remake?! I never played Bionic Commando on the original platform but I do remember the C64 version really well with the parachute and the early jungle stage. Remember not getting too far though.
Plot follows you Nathan Spencer to rescue Federation's (not so)Super Joe from evil Empire's clutches. Who was sent to stop the Empires forces. Nathan has a bionic implant in form a mechanic arm that works as a grappling hook. Story is presented with static cut-out(?) scenes where characters are shown with a stylish 2D avatars. The progress follows Nathan fighting through several Killt (the Imperial Force)'s location on his way to the top man who resembles a certain Austrian dictator, yes he was Austrian not German.
Gameplay is traditional platform shooter games ala Contra/ Metal Slug with the grappling hook used to for puzzles and progress on the platforms/levels. Each level finishes with a big boss fight where antagonist is piloting a ridiculous large mechanical weapon-thing. On the over world map where Nathan flights between enemy bases you can come across to a enemy truck which acts as a mini-game type that is a short level of isometric level shooter ala Commando. The enemy bases have computers which give out details about the mission at and as well a hacking mini mission where you can get information of the end level boss. The mini game is stylish simple follow-the-ball-through-3D-cube.
The unique feature of the game is the grappling hook which can be used to take down enemies on is used to move from platform to another. This is unfortunately not always a ideal method of progressing because of the way the grappling hook can be shot. Especially the 45 degree angles can be tricky to hit occasionally. Luckily D-pad can be used as well as the thumbpad which is bit more accurate. There is no health meter and Nathan can only take one hit before he is dead. This follows the same challenging difficulty level that the game and other games from that period had. Granted there is infinite amount of lives and depending of the difficulty level you will start after from beginning of level or nearest steady ground. One slight annoyance is the fact that Nathan can not jump. I am aware the the original Bionic Commando could not jump either but in cases it is just silly when a tiny pit forbids the progress.
The main core of the game consist of 2D levels which detailed with impressive polished lighting effects. Think of Trials HD or Shadow Complex. Great focus on the light contrast. The boss fights are impressive as mentioned earlier. Great detail is used to point out the obvious weak point as well as the smoke effect after getting some decent hits on the boss.
Sound is done by remixing the original chiptune music with modern bass beats. This goes well with the remake aspect. And I noticed myself doing the mid level Commando missions just to hear the cool soundtrack on those levels. In my opinnion more original music could have been used and less modern crap.
Opposing the majority if downloadble arcade type games Bionic Commando Remarmed has actually lot of content. The main story line is has four different levels up Super Hard. There is also a 60 odd challenge levels which are small timed puzzle type mini games. Each level has also couple of hidden secret items which I completely missed on my play through . Dual-screen multiplayer is also included in this package.
This is a very good game. No doubt one of my favorite Xlox Live Arcade games. Controls were a slight nuisance for me therefore not a perfect score 4 1/2 of 5
