Personally, I’ve played GRIN’s next-gen Bionic Commando at no less than three press events. Each time it’s like deja vu, with the playable areas either extremely similar or exactly the same, only with more polish.
The playable build Capcom brought along to Tokyo Game Show was no different. I ran into GRIN’s Gunnar Johansson on the show floor and asked him to point out the differences in the new build. Not surprisingly, he pointed out that it’s more polish, mostly in the visual department — more lighting and particle effects, things like that. Control and gameplay wise, it doesn’t seem like much has changed, though.
New to the TGS demo was a tutorial level, one that guides players through the use of the game’s main mechanic, the bionic arm. It’s simple in theory — you pull and hold the left trigger to launch and latch the arm to objects — but more difficult in practice. Because the arm acts as a hand rather than a hook, releasing the left trigger will release your grip; it’s necessary to time your release to swing forward, utilizing momentum to push yourself forward.
Even having played the game before, I found it hard to wrap my head around the mechanic during the simple tutorial area. At first, I was either releasing the arm too early or too late, and found myself dying and becoming quickly frustrated. Pushing on, I did begin to become more proficient with the arm, which admittedly gave me a sense of accomplishment and skill.
I’m not sure the swing mechanic is going to be for everyone; there’s certainly a learning curve, and I worry that some won’t be able to push past the point of frustration, and will write it off before giving it a chance. Bionic Commando has a lot going for it — solid visuals, and a fun combat system that allows you to punch cars at enemies, for instance. We’ll see if it all comes together when the game is released in early 2009.
