Bionic Commando

GRIN isn't the biggest name out there. They are probably more well know for their early PC games. For those of you who don't know, GRIN was founded in 1997 by brothers Bo and Ulf Andersson. They are located in Sweden. Bionic Commando is the sequel to the 1988 game of the same name. The final result isn't perfect. But it gives you one of the best experiences of 2009.

So the story. You play as Nathan "Rad" Spencer. The same man from the original. It takes place 10 years after the first game. And all of bionics are jailed or dead. In probably the most hypocritical way, they let him out so he can do their dirty work. Terriorist have attacked Ascension City, and you are sent in to look for survivers and get items for Joe, your boss basicly. The story is very linear in what it wants you to do. You are going from point A to point B. The story really doens't have much depth. Spencers basic reason for being there is because Joe said he would give info on Spencer's wife. The game really focuses on its gameplay, and the story really is left in the backseat. GRIN though does a fantastic job at bring the story back and that also makes the gameplay  accelerate along with it.

The gameplay is good. It could have been great, but at times it is unresponsive and just a pain. You use L2 to grab a hold of things with your bionic arm. With that you can use X to zip to whre your arm is attached. With a press of the O you can rip, which allows you to rip off train cars onto people. The Square button will allow you to equip things that have fallen off of foes, like a gamma ray gun. That is a pain though, because you can bairly move. One of the best moves you can do is when you press the Triangle button you are attached to something. This allows you to throw a object into the air and throw

or slam it onto other foes. This is very helpful when your in tight places. Just run back, grab a hold of some rubble, a car or hell even a dead guy and just chuck it. There is a boss fight that this is very helpful in. Though throwing objects is a pain. Sometimes Spencer wouldn't grab onto the car that I wanted to wouldn't throw the object into the air. That is very annoying, especially when you need to use it right at that moment. I was kind of surprised by how well gunplay works in this game. I figured that GRIN would really want you to use your arm for combat, but it's not bad. You tap the right stick and you zoom in. You use the R2 button to shoot. When you do this it has a fantastic blur effect when doing this.

For the first couple of hours you'll probably be pissed at swinging. It does take a while to get a hold of. Like I said above, you use L2 to grab onto things. You use the left stick to swing. You can lower yourself by pressing O and zip to places with the X button. Just let go of the L2 button when you want to fly. It's a little momentum focused. If you let go near the bottom of the swing right before you start heading forward you'll have more speed. Though if you let go to late, you'll end up going to high and not going very far. There is times where this is very annoying. Any section with these balloon mine things killed  me. I often miss read the swing and missed the nearest one and usually died in the water.

Graphics wise the game delivers. People can say what they want about the game. But no one should complain about the graphics. It runs on the Diesel Engine and the framerate stays smooth with almost not studder. Near the end is where the atmosphere and graphics are at its best. Your in a storm, and the lighting is perfect and I know this is a odd thing to say, but things look wet. Spencers looks as if he has been in rain along with everything else. Voice acting is also very well done. When I heard that Mike Patton was doing the voice of Spencer I had my doubts. He actually does a good if not a great job. He shows emotion well, and has some fantastic one liners. The game features a fantastic score, i'm still humming it in my head. When it comes to graphics and sound, this game does not fail at it at all.

I had a problem with how difficult this game got at the end. It was a pretty easy game in the first couple of parts. Then the game gets Mec happy. They'll send 3 or 4 at you at a time. Though I must say, the game does a great job at giving you the proper guns to help you take them down. Also near the end you'll see a increase in tougher enemies and they come in bigger numbers. I threw my controller down with frustration.

GRIN has made a sure winner with Bionic Commando. These guys are growing on me I must say. I'm looking forward to

what they release in the future. Even if their last three games haven't sold very well at all. They also hint at a sequel at the end of the credits. I hope GRIN does it, they did a fantastic job with this one.

So overall Bionic Commando does what you think it would do. You swing and swing, but GRIN made that very enjoyable giving you a shit load of challenges to do. While you'll spend up to 8-12hrs on this game it can be hit or miss at times. Your often swinging into raditation which marks borders, or your arm won't read a location and you'll die. Shortcomings aside Bionic Commando is a very enjoyable game. With great sound and visuals and a worth while story it is surely something you should check out.