Bionic Commando places you in the city of Ancension, dealing with events ten years on from the NES release of the same title. The protagonist is Nathan “RAD” Spencer, a government operative working in the city. While serving time after being duped by his own government, a series of events lead to Spencer getting released. After being reunited with his Bionic arm, the story follows Spencer in his attempt to redeem his name as well as defend the city from a terrorist force known as BioReign.

My first impression of Bionic Commando was similar to that of my experience coming to grips with ASHPD at the start of Portal. You are handed a unique tool that will essentially determine your success throughout the game. Master it’s use and you are rewarded with some entertaining game play, fail to get your head around it and you are in for a tonne of frustrating experiences. Thankfully Bionic Commando offers up a decent enough tutorial to get your head around Spencer’s Bionic arm. In a way it is quite similar to the swinging actions in many of the Spiderman games – as you fall from the air, compressing the left trigger will allow you to fire a grappling hook which can attach to most surfaces. From here you have the ability to gather momentum to swing across gaps and launch yourself into areas otherwise inaccessible. As the game progresses, so does your grappling / swinging ability (via some handy memory recall!) making for some fun experimentation along the way. No one likes a one trick pony, so to go with your Bionic arm is a pistol and a few grenades and a number of upgraded weapons available via support pods throughout the game.

The backdrop for your jungle like swinging can only be described as beautiful. The game features highly detailed visuals while at the same time managing to cater for your Bionic arm. The environment is predominantly made up of a crumbling city landscape (great for grappling), which in itself is not exactly a pleasure to look at, but throw in effects such as lens blur and other post production effects and you have a pretty sweet looking game. There are a few issues with regard to screen tearing, an issue that I haven’t bumped into since I first picked up GRAW, but yes it still bothers me! The environment plays an integral part during firefights, requiring you to dodge bullets, maintain swing momentum and respond offensively all at the same time. A skill that I struggled with quite a bit.

Bionic Commando does feature an online multiplayer component which caters for 8 players in deathmatch and capture the flag variants. Competence with the Bionic arm is a pre-requisite though and you can expect to be severely demolished if you are still on your learners license. Multiplayer features 12 maps specifically designed with grappling in mind. Expect there to be plenty of action high up in the air and games I participated in were quite an experience.

Bionic Commando is a classic franchise and developer GRIN has done a reasonable job taking the game from a 2D side scrolling environment to a stylish 3D universe. The game is well presented, with Mike Patton (lead singer for Faith No More) doing an impressive job with the voice acting for Spencer. The story line is ok, but I find great stories are very far and few between in games these days. While there are a few issues as you progress through the game, I still found it reasonably enjoyable and would recommend it if you are a fan the original.

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