Topic: Bionic Commando: Rearmed

[sirean_syan]

As sort of a celebration for the coming sequel to Bionic Commando, Capcom went ahead and completely remade the original game. It comes out this week and rumor is that it's completely awesome.. The game is 2D gameplay like the original with all sorts of upgrades/modernizations and shiny 3D graphics. This is exactly the sort of thing I can get behind and wish more developers would do (damn it Nintendo, make a full blown new Metroid like this).

Anywho, Rearmed will be released digitally on XBL, the PS3 online thiny, and either STEAM or Direct 2 Drive. It'll be $10 on consoles and $15 on the PC. There's a lot of bitching about the PC pricing, but from the sound of things it's a steal even at that price.

Here's the Japanese trailer, and if you don't want it after this something is wrong with you (or right).

[gpw11]

Awesome, I've also been a huge fan of this kind of thing.  Duke Nukem: The Manhatten Project got a a lot of playtime from me believe it or not.  The PC pricing seems a bit strange but I think we're just used to cheaper releases stemming from games hitting the PC months and months after the console, and I can kind of see where they're coming from: having to take various hardware configurations into accound during development probably uses a lot more resources.

[sirean_syan]

Oh man. This is great. If you have any love for older games that don't take themselves too seriously outside of the game proper, you need to play this. The movement mechanics have been transferred perfectly and there are enough upgrades outside of the visuals to make it a new game. The best upgrade has easily been the bosses. They've all got a trick to them and, while they've generally been easy so far, they've been a lot of fun and had plenty of character to them. A lot of dialog has been added well that has been purposely campy, which has been a good thing in my opinion.

Idol mentioned on IRC that the game was pulled from STEAM at the last minute, but there are still other options to buy on the PC. If you've got a next-gen console, try them demo that should be on both systems.

[TheOtherBelmont]

Hell yes, this game is great, everyone needs to get this.  The gameplay very nice and fluid and there's just all sorts of little things, from the goofy dialogue to the awesome remixed music that gives this game a lot of charm.

[sirean_syan]

I just finished a run through the game and the ending portions are really sweet. They did a lot of work to the last levels and they really work to reinforce what is great about the old Capcom games while adding more content that seems specifically tailored to the fans.

This is a semi-spoiler, but it's more of bit of fun if you remember the original and like knowing how certain things were handled before you play:

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It's worth noting that the game is rated M, but if you look at screenshots, movies, or even play the game about 99% percent of the way through you'll probably have no idea why. That rating was most likely the result of a single moment in the game, and a completely awesome one. If you finished the original, you should know what that is. It's sorta funny that they were willing to keep that single bit in for the rating, but it also sorta shows what the project really was: an exercise in pure nostalgia and a gift for the fans.

[Quemaqua]

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You mean the part where dude's head explodes?  Because that would be just awesome.

[sirean_syan]

Yeah, that's the one.

[Quemaqua]

Damn.  I may have to buy this now.

[wizall]

I wanted to like this, but the controls were maddening.  At least to me.  I don't remember them being that bad in the original.  Perhaps I was just more patient then.

[Cobra951]

What I need to do then is play through the original.  I tried it once, but I found it frustrating and I gave up very quickly.  I played the demo of Rearmed and sure enough it has the same weirdness with your character being able to swing and climb all over with a mechanical arm while having legs so atrophied he can't even hop over a footstool.  The modern redo was more compelling than the old 8-bit NES game, and I want to like it.  Some practice with the old game might do that.

[gpw11]

Holy shit, this is sooooo awesome.

[MysterD]

Joystiq -> Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2 - REVIEW -> 3 stars (out of 5).