Bionic Commando

Swinging straight out of the eighties, the 8-bit Bionic Commando is back and this time he is fully realized in stunning high definition graphics and an incredibly interactive three dimensional world.

Back in the heyday of the NES, Nathan ‘Rad’ Spencer, the Bionic Commando, made a name for himself swinging it old school. With his extendible arm and fully loaded arsenal of weapons, he was climbing ladders and jumping gaps with the best of them.

Now the legend returns in GRIN Studio’s retooling of the classic platformer. However, the world that Spencer inhabits is now very different. It is ten years since the original story took place and bionics have been outlawed. Spencer has been discharged from the service and is on death row for refusing kill two rogue bionic operatives. Then a funny thing happens on the way to his execution: the city is virtually destroyed by a terrorist attack. The population is decimated and the city is overrun by legions of well armed, highly trained, bloodthirsty killers. Once again, Spencer and his bionics are asked to save the day.

Bionic Commando takes place in Ascension City. The city, still reeling from the terrorist attack, is a futuristic mix of high-rise skyscrapers and rubble. You, as Spencer, can swing, climb and shoot your way across the devastated metropolis with Spiderman-like agility.

In terms of both look and feel the game is reminiscent of the very well received three-dimensional Spiderman efforts. However, as would be expected, the attention to detail has been taken to a much higher level. Ascension City is not just a series a featureless and identical blocks. Every building has its own look, and its own level of damage. Spencer is able to grab hold of anything in the city, and it is all destructible. So, you not only use his hydrogen fueled bionic arm to punch, swing and climb with, you can also use it to rip free chunks of buildings to use as weapons or shields.

The action is as fast and intense as you could imagine. With his bionic arm Spencer can go anywhere. Scaling the highest tower block to throw enemies to their deaths. Or simply shoot enemies from the rooftops, or aircraft from the skies, as incredible tense firefights rage around you.

Bionic Commando looks to take two dimensional platform games and send them spinning full throttle into the third dimension. If GRIN Studios is half as successful in what it is trying to achieve as the makers of LittleBigPlanet were, then we are all in for an amazing ride. However, there is always the possibility that it may just turn out to be Spiderman with a gun. And, whether you came up with the idea first or not, a twenty-year-old idea is still a twenty-year-old idea.

Bionic Commando has the potential to be a stunning reinvention of the platforming genre. To think that it all started with an ape throwing barrels at an Italian. LittleBigPlanet may have taken the idea and kept the core gameplay and expanded it into the online community, Bionic Commando moves in a whole new direction.