Bionic Commando: Rearmed review

by Nicholas Gasse - 2008/08/18 1:29pm

Bionic Commando: Rearmed is a remake of the 1988 Nintendo classic, Bionic Commando, developed by GRIN studios. Actually, calling it merely a remake is a disservice to the sweat and blood that GRIN has put into this PSN title. It's easy for developers to just update the graphics and toss it on the PSN for a quick buck. The gamut of remakes in the PlayStation Store just testifies to this. Bionic Commando: Rearmed puts them all to shame. It's not just a fresh coat of paint on an already great game, rather, it's a bold new reinterpretation of the game, enhancing the game experience to a whole new, invigorating level.

Assuming the role of Federal States of America commando Rad Spencer, its your mission to rescue captured operative Super Joe and thwart the evil Imperialist Army's dreams of world domination. Bionic Commando is a 2D platformer, not all that different in theory from other action platformers from that era, like Contra. How Bionic Commando differentiates itself from the rest, however, is the addition of the protagonist's bionic arm. His grappling hook arm allows him to swing swiftly across traps and pitfalls and explore new areas with ease. As a result, there is no jump button, something that’s a bit tough to come to grips with at first. The learning curve is a bit steep, and for the first few levels, you will struggle with mastering the timing of swinging. However, once you've conquered this step, nailing long, complex series of swings not only becomes easy but is extremely satisfying as well. The bionic arm is no one trick pony, either. It’s also used as a tool to solve puzzles, block hostile gun fire, and fight enemies. In addition, Rearmed also adds a real world physics system, which works great with the swinging mechanics. In this way, Bionic Commando succeeds in breaking the cookie cutter side-scrolling shooter mold used by so many other games.

Bionic Commando: Rearmed breaks down into three distinct modes of play. The player is first dropped onto a pretty simplistic overworld map. Here you can travel via helicopter between friendly FSA outposts and hostile Imperial Army fortresses. There are also enemy tanks patrolling the map, and a misguided step (which often occurs, courtesy of finicky chopper controls) will force you into a top down shooting section, reminiscent of Commando. These top down sections mix up the action with the main side-scrolling levels pretty well, but when you need to travel from one end of the map to the other, they get tedious, and disappointingly provide no challenge what so ever.

Once a level is selected, Spencer is launched into the area, and the action begins. The level design is one of the best aspects of the game. Because the grappling hook allows you to climb vertically as well as swing horizontally, each level makes for a whole new experience. Some may be straight forward left to right levels, while the next may be almost entirely vertical. It makes for a great change of pace, and always challenges you to look for new paths. The levels are all pretty faithful recreations of the original Nintendo game. Some liberties have been taken with the levels, such as adding secret areas, modifying sections to make them more player friendly, and changing some of the enemy placement. Still, the archaic level design shows through on occasion, and you may find yourself under attack from an enemy off screen. It doesn't ruin the experience by any means, but it does serve as a reminder that you are playing essentially a 20 year old game.

The actual game mechanics outside of the awesome bionic arm are pretty standard to the genre. You have your usual suspects in terms of weaponry, from hand guns to rocket launchers. Spencer can also find the usual health and weapon upgrades, turning him into a true one man army. In another upgrade from the original, you can now switch weaponry on the fly, instead of having to start the entire level over if you brought the wrong weapon or item. The enemy AI is pretty responsive and keeps you on your toes, always running for cover or trying to drop down behind you. The AI even adjusts itself to the second player when playing co-op, which is a great addition. The boss battles are perhaps the greatest improvement that has been made to the game. Each boss has been redesigned from the ground up and actually act as a great test of your ability. Unfortunately, the game also reverts back to the 80's trick of having you fight old bosses again, but with slightly altered attack patterns. There are about 10 or so boss fights, but 4 of them are against repeat bosses.

The production values of this game are of course top notch as well. GRIN didn't slouch at all in the graphics department, Rearmed looks stellar. The game is full of bright and vibrant colours. Every level has a different visual theme, from a desolate outpost in the middle of a forest to a desert fortress, and each area manages to differentiate itself from the last. The sound track is what really sets Rearmed apart from other remakes. The music is not some cheesy 80s power metal version of the old 8-bit songs, rather, its a tastefully remixed version of it, that sounds both modern, while perfectly maintaining the spirit of the original. Anyone that’s played the original NES game is in for a healthy dose of nostalgia just listening to it. It’s a bit disappointing that the game doesn't run in 1080p nor does it have support for Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, but again, its not a game wrecking choice by any means.

Rearmed is also packed with various extras that will keep you coming back for more. There are over 50 challenge rooms that will help you fine tune your grappling skills - or, in the more likely scenario, make you wish you had a grapple attached to your controller for when you throw it across the room in frustration. The PS3 version of Rearmed also has an additional exclusive challenge room not seen in the 360 version. There is also a two player co-op story mode which works surprisingly well, given the mechanics of the game. A few four player versus modes also grace Rearmed. Unfortunately, the multiplayer aspect is local only, and the only online aspects of the game are for leaderboards that record your top scores for the story mode levels and the God forsaken challenges. Trophies are also confirmed to be coming too, via a patch in the not too distant future. As a special treat, you can unlock costumes for the next gen Bionic Commando that comes out later this year, which is a great way to kindle the spark of interest in new comers to the series.

Bionic Commando: Rearmed stands alone in greatness. Not only is it a shining example of how a remake should be done, but its’ also a just a great, solid experience in and of itself. It’s easily one of the best PSN games out there. Bionic Commando: Rearmed could have been a full priced retail game itself, and at a meagre $10, it's an absolute steal.