You know, if Sega had simply marketed Binary Domain with the slogan, âShoot some robotsâ, I probably wouldnât have been so down on it all these months. That was all I needed to know.
Thereâs something about a dystopian future where some sort of robots have gained sentience and youâve got to blow bits of them off. Thereâs some multiplayer that may or may not involve robots blowing up. Itâs got some incredibly blue and grey screenshots. It comes on a disc. Itâs for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, though not at the same time.
Let me read that back for you: Blowing up robots. Itâs so simple even six of the assembled game reviewers of the internet get it.
Thereâs a recurring question perplexing the denizens of Binary Domainâs dystopian future: am I one of a kind, or a factory-line clone? Thatâs because they live in a world where robots in disguise walk among men, often unaware of their true nature. Itâs also a question to ask of the game, since it repeatedly ticks cover-shooter boxes â aping Gears Of Warâs roadie runs, cover system, weapon slots and overly muscled archetypes â while only occasionally throwing design curveballs that hit and miss with equal measure.
The futuristic Tokyo of 2080 is overrun with âhollow childrenâ â robots which have have begun infiltrating the population. Theyâre covered in human flesh who (what a twist) think theyâre human! Blade Runner, eat yer heart out. So itâs your job to take the fight to the headquarters of Amada, the corporation responsible, and stop them.
That said, itâs plain old metallic robots for the most part. Like all the best shoot-em-ups, these plentiful robot enemies have proper hit zones, with multiple stages of destruction allowing you to pick them apart with careful gunfire. You get more in-game credits for shooting off as much armour as you can before finishing off with a kill, so thereâs even an incentive to do so.
What makes Binary Domainâs otherwise boilerplate brand of combat enjoyable is the enemies you face. Forget about the bullet sponges that so often inhabit games of this type, the destructible nature of Binary Domainâs robotic foes gives a tangible sense of the damage youâre inflicting with each bullet fired â armor shreds into scattered pieces of shrapnel, legs are blown off leaving enemies to drag themselves along with all the relentlessness of a Terminator. Given that youâre essentially facing off against an army of glorified appliances, itâs somewhat surprising just how violent it all feels. Put simply: machine-gunning robots to death is awesome.
The action never stagnates, either. When youâre not shooting at robots, youâre surfing on robots, getting chased by giant, transforming biker robots, even taking control of a fallen robot in order to use it as a de facto mech. There are plenty of imposing bosses to take down along the way, and the gameâs 10-hour campaign hurtles along at a breakneck pace â although some of the palate-cleansing gameplay diversions such as the jet ski section suffer somewhat due to clunky execution.
The big gimmick with Binary Domain lies in the interactions one has with the squad. Players step into the shoes of Dan Marshall, and heâll be typically joined by up to three other team members. While the A.I. partners are quite adept at fighting autonomously, their effectiveness is enhanced when Dan gives them direct orders in keeping with their particular skills. For instance, Rachael is a demolitions expert an itâs a good idea to send her into close-quarter combat where her shotgun is most effective. Meanwhile, Big Bo is skilled at distracting enemies, drawing their fire and allowing the rest of the team to flank. None of these tactics are especially intricate, but they can make the difference between a pitched battle and outright humiliation of the opposition.
These commands can be dished out using a limited menu of options, but Yakuza Studio doesnât want you to do that. To access a wider range of interactions, players can plug in a headset and directly speak to the squad. The A.I. can recognize voice commands and responds to your every command. At least, thatâs the idea.
In practice, voice control is very much a hit and miss affair. Incredibly simple statements such as âYesâ and âFireâ are usually recognized without a hitch, but it becomes pretty messy when youâre trying to get individual squad members to do specific things. For instance, itâs very hard to get your team to regroup, since âRegroup,â will often be translated as âShootâ or âRetreat.â Allies also seem to struggle with the word âNo,â which can be turned into any number of other statements. Still, the system is quite remarkable when it works, and itâs also rather amusing to constantly tell Bo you love him, or call Faye an idiot.
Then thereâs the contractual obligation of the online component. Though Japan has brought us some of the best and most inventive multiplayer modes in recent years with Monster Hunter and Dark Souls, theyâre not really an eastern speciality, and thatâs evident here. Leaving a game can be more trouble than itâs worth when multiple players try to quit and hosting is transferred from one to the next, forcing you to wait until a suitable host is found. Otherwise, thereâs nothing particularly wrong with the seven team deathmatch, domination and capture the flag variants: character classes, purchaseable perks and levelling systems are all present and correct, and the stages are varied and visually interesting. Invasion, meanwhile, is Binary Domainâs very own Horde mode, an entertaining and surprisingly challenging aside thanks to the relative paucity of ammo that nevertheless stands little chance of supplanting its inspiration.
Sega is a company cursed by nostalgia, that prevalent and rather cruel notion that theyâll never make the amazing games they once did. Binary Domain doesnât quite prove that wrong. But it gets damn close, and does enough to show the future may be bright indeed.
Now I want to shoot many robots.
