With Bionic Commando Rearmed, Capcom is remaking the idea of a remake. Find out why this should be the next game you download.
As a videogame critic, one of the most exciting developments for me in recent memory has been the reintroduction of classic gaming via downloadable medium. We old-school gamers are always quick to reminisce about the “good old days”, but the fact is that with the direction the industry has taken—toward stunningly realistic graphics, immersive storylines, and increasingly complex control schemes—it’s no longer possible to justify publishing a classic Mega Man or Contra title without building a 3-D world around it and wrapping it with voice acting and online multiplayer. That’s where downloadable games come in: they require no packaging, simplify distribution, and can be sold consequently at a much, much cheaper price tag. And as such, over the past couple of years, we’ve been seeing a significant influx of classic-style, simpler titles supplementing the neverending onslaught of Halo 3s and Metal Gear Solid 4s—just what I and the rest of the grumpy old gamers ordered.
Girls love a guy with a bionic arm
Bionic Commando Rearmed is the latest of a variety of games meant to revive the beloved mechanics of their decades-old predecessors, back when gaming was simple to pick up but often very difficult to master. However, while Rearmed is a remake, it’s also so much more than that. It was built based on the 1988 NES original (well, the American version, anyway—no references to Nazism here), and developers GRIN have taken great pains to ensure that the gameplay is as accurately representative of the original as possible. As such, every area of the game plays nearly identically to the way it did in the NES version—now, it just looks and sounds a whole heck of a lot better. Colorfully rendered in attractive “2.5-D”, Bionic Commando Rearmed is easily one of the most attractive downloadable games to date on any system. And the soundtrack—unwaveringly true to the original—is a pleasant collection of heavy-hitting techno remixes of the original NES tunes. It frequently rocks.
But shifting back to gameplay, Rearmed’s feel is as rock-solid as its forefather’s. While the game is classified as an action/platforming title, there is no jump button. Instead, you’re in control of main protagonist Nathan “Radd” Spencer’s bionic arm, which can be shot out to myriad nearby grapple points and used to swing to and fro. Naturally, you also get a firearm, whether it’s a machine gun, bazooka, or vector cannon, and you can even acquire such extras as grenades this time round (though you no longer select your equipment going into each level; now, you can switch on the fly during gameplay). The arm can also serve as a weapon by grabbing bad guys and hurling them, picking up barrels, and deflecting shots. And, like in the original, you’ll also acquire a number of upgrades and additional weapons to help you progress.
On that note, the classic map system is back as well, which means, as always, you have access to a number of levels at any given point in time—but of course, it’s wise to follow a certain path while playing. Items found in one level are needed to succeed in another quite often, so the nonlinearity of the game isn’t quite as prominent as it initially seems—though on the Super Hard difficulty it’s almost a necessity to choose a different path so that you begin with sufficient firepower. Each level also culminates with a boss fight (naturally), but instead of the boring old mainframe computer battles at the end of the levels in the NES Bionic Commando, in Rearmed you’re fighting often-gigantic and always-varied boss figures foreign and familiar alike. While there are a few instances where you’ll be fighting the same adversary a second time, these guys are still much more stimulating than the antagonists of the original title.
And that’s only the beginning of what GRIN has added to the mix. On top of that, you also get four selectable difficulty levels, a couple of new very challenging secret areas, the previously-mentioned new weapons, collectible “yasichis” for the truly dedicated, and even an all-new final level that sees you scaling the gargantuan megaship that is Hitler’s Killt’s Albatross (this level alone is enough to make lesser men cry in submission, so don’t fire up Rearmed expecting a walk in the park). To help you cope with the increased difficulty, you’ll find a new tutorial in Area 00 which includes both basic and advanced sequences. The developers have also added their own personal touch of humor to the dialogue resulting in an amusingly retro feel to the cut scenes, which are intentionally simplistic and over-the-top, sort of in the vein of Viewtiful Joe (except in Rearmed it’s simply still-frame art and text, just like the original). It’s safe to say that GRIN’s approach to the project was almost flawless in its balance between the preservation of classic elements vs. the updating of unfashionable ones.
Almost. There are a couple of hiccups throughout the experience that hold Rearmed back from classic gaming perfection. For starters, the overhead Contra-style levels that are invoked when you run into an enemy brigade on the map just aren’t that exciting. They’re easy, short, and repetitive, with only a few variations available in all depending on where on the map the battle is initiated. After just a few runs, these become more of a nuisance than a treat—and they’re never a challenge. The boss fights are occasionally repeated as well, so that compromises their appeal (though they’re still leaps and bounds ahead of the ones in the original Bionic Commando). Finally, there is this odd screen tearing issue that is only evident in some areas of the game, but it’s pretty distracting. These issues are minor, however, when considered in context.
Challenge Mode indeed
Speaking of the aforementioned glaring lack of park-walking, you’ll also find a separate Challenge Mode, which could very well embody the most appropriate use of the term to date. Here, you will find several dozen challenges, which are basically timed sequences that put your grapple-and-swing prowess to the test. These challenges are unlocked as you progress through the single-player adventure (each FSA camp you visit unlocks the next batch of eight). In each challenge room, you’ll find green and red lasers that mark the beginning and end of the timed portion of the challenge, and you’re ranked on a five-star scale upon completion based on your time. So feel free to relish that five-star ranking… until you click over to the worldwide leaderboards, of course.
And as if they weren’t already hard enough, there are several additional secret challenges which are unlockable by finding hidden tokens in the main game. These tokens are often hidden well enough, but the challenges themselves are the real trial. These are quite honestly some of the hardest sequences I’ve seen in a videogame in a very long time. I’m no pushover, but I’ll simply say this: I tried the first one for around twenty minutes—the very first one—and I still haven’t beaten it. Yeah.
While it’s definitely an awesome addition that will have you playing long after you complete the main game, I have to mention a gripe here about the challenge system. It may seem small, but it’s significant: there’s no way to quickly restart a challenge once in progress. Sure, you automatically fail after screwing around for 30 seconds or falling into some spikes, but what happens if you mess up early on and want to begin again to go for five stars? Pausing the challenge simply leaves you with the option to return to the menu, which takes a good five seconds in itself.
And that’s not all
GRIN didn’t stop there, either. They’ve even included a quick-thrill four-player online multiplayer mode where you can battle it out with other Nathan “Radd” Spencers. There are three modes of play, but overall the experience is merely an extra—it won’t hold your attention for long. Of greater interest is the cooperative mode (which supports local co-op only with two players on the same system). The bad guys multiply in co-op mode, and the screen splits off to allow for individual navigation by both players. It’s actually quite fun, and if you have someone else with you who’s fairly decent at Bionic Commando, you’ll get a kick out of it.
