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    Bionic Commando

    Game » consists of 11 releases. Released May 18, 2009

    Bionic Commando is the follow-up to the NES classic of the same name. The game revolves around the protagonist's bionic arm used for swinging, and combat.

    A minor disappointment.

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    Jost1

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    Edited By Jost1

    Bionic Commando (360/PS3)

     
    A minor disappointment for me, not for Capcom I'm sure. This game didn't even recoup its costs and was probably central in the closure of GRIN. And who knows if Capcom will ever take such a risk again? You could argue that Dead Rising 2 is a similar project in that it is being developed by a foreign (Canadian) studio but that's an already established franchise, whereas BC isn't. Not really. You wouldn't call Alex Kidd an established franchise either.
     
     This is pretty awesome.
     This is pretty awesome.

     
    I like this game and I essentially concur with Giant Bomb's own review. The swinging feels fun almost throughout, the game looks nice, the music is great. A couple of things really hurt the experience however. Having to pick up collectibles and do challenges over and over again because you don't reach a checkpoint is an incredibly annoying feature. Maybe it's meant to harken back to its 8-bit ancestry but it's so damn frustrating. Secondly the storyline is completely bonkers, almost in the Metal Gear vein, but missing the mark in terms of its tone. And while I understand the reason for using blue radiation as a boundary in the game world, they could have made it clearer which leaps and jumps would result in insta-death.
     
    It's a bummer in a way that Bionic Commando is not very far from being a very, very good game. Unfortunately that didn't cut it in 2009 and this is probably the last we'll see of our mechanical-armed friend for a long while, barring any portable or downloadable titles.
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    Jost1

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    #1  Edited By Jost1

    Bionic Commando (360/PS3)

     
    A minor disappointment for me, not for Capcom I'm sure. This game didn't even recoup its costs and was probably central in the closure of GRIN. And who knows if Capcom will ever take such a risk again? You could argue that Dead Rising 2 is a similar project in that it is being developed by a foreign (Canadian) studio but that's an already established franchise, whereas BC isn't. Not really. You wouldn't call Alex Kidd an established franchise either.
     
     This is pretty awesome.
     This is pretty awesome.

     
    I like this game and I essentially concur with Giant Bomb's own review. The swinging feels fun almost throughout, the game looks nice, the music is great. A couple of things really hurt the experience however. Having to pick up collectibles and do challenges over and over again because you don't reach a checkpoint is an incredibly annoying feature. Maybe it's meant to harken back to its 8-bit ancestry but it's so damn frustrating. Secondly the storyline is completely bonkers, almost in the Metal Gear vein, but missing the mark in terms of its tone. And while I understand the reason for using blue radiation as a boundary in the game world, they could have made it clearer which leaps and jumps would result in insta-death.
     
    It's a bummer in a way that Bionic Commando is not very far from being a very, very good game. Unfortunately that didn't cut it in 2009 and this is probably the last we'll see of our mechanical-armed friend for a long while, barring any portable or downloadable titles.
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    AndrewB

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    #2  Edited By AndrewB

    I think that if you see anything it'll probably be more along the lines of Bionic Commando: Rearmed; a 2.5D side-scroller.
     
    I never had any interest in even the classic Bionic Commando, so I wouldn't really know what to say about this game. My apathy doesn't mean I never want to see another game from the series, but I'd tend to agree that Capcom will put the series to rest for awhile (and that's the point where I find out they've already announced another game and I just never heard about it, right??). It's a shame, because from the sounds of it, Bionic Commando was a good game with some significant flaws, but flaws can always be fixed for a sequel. It's just a shame that companies can't afford to take the risks on such projects, so we usually don't see poorly received games getting a second chance.

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    Jost1

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    #3  Edited By Jost1
    @AndrewB: I think Dark Void has a risk of meeting the same fate. Sadly.
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    demontium

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    #4  Edited By demontium
    @josty81: ...no. 
     
    This game is not a little disappointing, its a big disappointing. 
     
    It had so much potential AND Capcom behind it and it still flopped.
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    Jost1

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    #5  Edited By Jost1
    @demontium: The game itself, for me, is a minor disappointment. Taken on its own. 
     
    But I agree that compared to what it MIGHT have been, it's a big bummer.
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    Alex_V

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    #6  Edited By Alex_V

    Probably the least enjoyable game experience I had all year. Abysmal voice acting and plot elements. But as you say the checkpoint system took about 15 minutes flat to totally frustrate me. What a missed opportunity.

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    ProfessorEss

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    #7  Edited By ProfessorEss

    Not the worst game ever but definitely one the most disappointing that I can remember in a long time.
     
    The blue-radiation is, in my opinion, a perfect example of what's wrong with almost every aspect of the game - feels thoughtless, like they said "screw it, just throw something in there". Almost as tho they put all their attention into the swinging mechanic (which had to be perfect) but then chintz out on everything else.
     
    But I can't complain cause it lead to us getting the incredible Bionic Commando: Rearmed.

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    Sunjammer

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    #8  Edited By Sunjammer

    One of my favorite games in a long time this, and that had nothing to do with the story. To be perfectly honest, i don't see how an incoherent mess of a story can bring a game down, considering the batshit craziness games like MGS get away with. Perhaps BC's sin was not being incoherent enough. BC Rearmed's greatest trick was a sense of humor.
     
    Regardless, i played the game religiously from first purchase to wrapping it up on Commando a few days later. I played it in little bite size chunks; just enough to get the kick of the swing and throwing dudes into space, and just enough to avoid the worst frustration of playing a game on its hardest difficulty. It was fast, ruthless, thoroughly skill-based, and i came out of it with reverance for what Grin did with the swing mechanic. It's the best grappling hook I've seen in a 3D game, period, and it absolutely obliterates any other remaining flaws the game has.
     
    I've been a fan of the franchise since the NES version, and i followed the development of this game closely. If you missed the BC podcast, you missed out BIG. Some of the most candid and insightful Capcom info I've ever come across. Make no mistake, this was a team that worked their asses off to get this game made, and it was an uphill battle all the way. They were not well supported from within Capcom. Gearoid Ready and Ben Judd pulled duties ranging from marketing to script writing, international cross-team management, web administration, QA, you name it. They desperately wanted it to work, and i think it did better than i expected it to.
     
     It's frustrating to see a game with so much good fail because of a personality disorder. Spencer was, let's be frank, a piss poor character design. An angry jackass with a terrible voiceover. Just a black hole of charisma. I appreciate his story arc, what with his insane wife twist and all (a twist i enjoyed to the maxxxxxx), but he was not a franchise carrier, and putting him on the box art put the game up against Matt Hazard. Seriously. 
     
    I'm disappointed in the turn of events, and Capcom Japan's inability to learn from the mistakes made in a way other than "westerners suck". But not in my personal experience with the game. It was glorious fun.

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    Jost1

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    #9  Edited By Jost1
    @Sunjammer: I kind of agree, I mostly enjoyed the game a lot despite its flaws (you're right that Spencer is the game's biggest flaw. That and the constant bickering between Spencer and Super Joe).  
     
    And yes, it IS a bit hypocritical to embrace the insanity of Metal Gear and not accept the same kind of thing in a different game. Maybe people "forgive" Metal Gear its craziness because it first came out in 1998 and it's had time to ferment in people's minds or whatever.

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