8.0

Bionic Commando Rearmed is the twenty-year anniversary remake of the original NES Bionic Commando game, released on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. BCR attempts to stick to the original feel of the game as closely possible but also add some things here and there to increase the amount of gameplay and fun of the game. Capcom enlisted GRIN for development and GRIN definitely did a solid job! Without further ado, let’s get into the details (note that we played the PC version).

Graphics
GRIN did an awesome job of making an old side scroller fresh and interesting. The sharp 3D graphics, shadows and amount of detail in the levels is wonderful. Explosions are, well….explosive and the overall color palettes and lighting are impressive. However, all the fancy graphics do come at a cost, we noticed some slowdown in the boss levels and during lots of explosions.

Sound
The sound in BCR, while revamped, really borrows from the old NES sound that many of us remember and love. The background music features many of the same riffs but with a modern, electronica twist. We really loved some of the tracks but a few of them were a little repetitive and almost sounded like static. Overall they fit the levels well. Explosions and weapons sound great.

Gameplay
The game has been released for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. We played the PC version and tested the gameplay on several different control interfaces. Control probably comes down to personal preference but we recommend, for the sake of your keyboard, that you use a gamepad!

The gameplay in Bionic Commando Rearmed is 20 years old! That being said, with such a dearth of fully-realized 3D games, the side-scrolling platform game is fresh again. You’ll remember (if you’re old enough) why you both loved and hated those NES games. Perfect timing and execution as you blow through a level is very satisfying. But, imperfect timing can be maddening. BCR is a game that takes some practice but, fortunately, features multiple difficulty levels.

One of the great things about BCR is the gameplay mashup. For the most part, you simply swing and shoot. However, there are also the “encounter” levels that are vertical scrolling, Gunsmoke-style. There are also hacking puzzles that have the player rotating a cube to solve a puzzle. There are approximately one of these per level and, while optional, solving the puzzle usually gives you some info about the level boss.

Overall, the game plays almost exactly like it’s NES ancestor. However, GRIN created some really great “challenge rooms” that let you practice and refine your timing and technique. These rooms remember your best timing score and you will blister your thumbs trying to beat them.

Longevity
You can burn through the levels pretty quickly but if you do, you’re missing out. With arcade classics like secret areas and hard-to-reach powerups and extra lives, each level has a fair amount to offer. There are also multiple difficulty levels so you can swing through on harder settings if you think you have what it takes.

The challenge rooms, mentioned earlier, add quite a bit if you are into level racing. The minimalist-holographic style of it is fun too, no advanced effects to slow down or throw off your timing.

At the end of the day, it is a side-scrolling platform game. The long term play here is for refinement of skill, not gameplay depth.

Technical
In a word: solid. We had a few problems with the grapple arm not shooting quite the direction we’d hoped but these were relatively few and far between and some of them could probably be attributed to human error. The download process and installation went smoothly and we were playing in minutes.

We mentioned that we experienced a few slowdowns on the PC during big explosions and occasionally during boss battles. We don’t anticipate this being a huge problem because it didn’t affect the gameplay very much and we were playing at a resolution of 1920×1200!

Overall
It is what it is. A solid remake of a NES classic that should appeal to older and younger gamers alike (parents be aware that the point of the game is to swing around and shoot bad guys, that being said the violence is non-graphic and fairly mild). We scored it based on the fact that it’s an old concept with a fresh face and a solid execution. For the incredibly-low price it’s definitely worth it if you want to relive gaming’s glory days.

Download Bionic Commando Rearmed on Direct2Drive for $14.95!