Killer robot, meet high-powered assault rifle
However, adverts for the game started popping up and I decided to look into the game more. Suddenly my interest was piqued. The game had the familiar themes like, "What does it mean to be human?" and "When robots are indistinguishable from humans, what then?" I love stories like that and the disaster movies that come from robots rising up, so I started to delve a bit more into the game. What I've found is that not only is the game going to be about stopping the robot uprising, but also forming human connections with your squad. Using either preset button commands or a headset, you can interact with your squad and form the familial relationships that are generally reserved for cutscenes. If you anger someone or make bad decisions, your orders may not followed in the heat of battle. The fact that I can use a headset and feel part of the action goes a long way to making this title stand out. The demo for this title released alongside the Mass Effect 3 demo on 14 February.
What I Liked
The interaction between the squad is all pretty cool. Players control Dan, a Sargent, and a man called "the survivor" for reasons not explained in the demo. Dan has a personality that rubs some (especially the Captain) the wrong way. Players can change this perception by their interactions, but the baseline relationships are well done. The chances to interact with the squad come during down-time between missions and in lulls in the combat. Dan and his mates will chat while patrolling, while resting after a tough fight and while moving to the next assignment. I liked that the squad, while filled with cliches, actually interacts together instead of canned responses. Saving someone makes them like you, and they comment on it. I loved hearing things like, "Nice shot!" and "I've got your left!" and "Let's move up!" emoted instead of just delivered (looking at your voice acting, Call of Duty). I liked that Dan is given the option of following orders or breaking them, too. Sometimes, a squad mate will be spotting and ask you to wait for a signal. You can do so, or you can just fire when you want to and force the squad to adapt. It all plays back into the respect folks have for you. If you act alone too many times, no one will be there when you need help. But if you are a team player your friends will go the extra mile to make sure you come home with them.
Not good!
The environments are all pretty neat, too. The narrow streets and allyways of Japan are nerve wracking to advance down. Fighting for your life in a narrow ally where the only cover is a doorway is exhilarating. The environments change as you fight, too. Not just in scripted "The building blew up, so now we can advance" events, but in realistic ways, too. Fighting in the train station and having enemies coming on the automated trains was tough,but then realizing that flight was the only option and having to wait for a train to come to cross over the tracks was brilliant. That fight still is one of my favorites!
The enemies are also exciting. The different models are easy to spot at a distance thanks to color and movement style. Seeing a squad of four green/yellow standard droids means a fight, but seeing a black, hulking Heavy with three red-hued elites is trouble. Each robot fought according to their strengths, and intelligently moved from cover to cover. Flanking enemies is a must, but they will adapt and regroup. I also loved that the enemies don't give up. Damage to specific parts is crucial. Headless robots will blindly fire for a bit before dropping; robots without legs will still crawl toward you firing; destroying the arm holding a gun will disarm a robot, but they will use their good arm to pick up the weapon and fight again. Overall, the enemies are terrifying because they keep coming and they only wish to see you dead.
Take care of your friends, and they'll take care of you
I liked that playing Rambo and relying on regenerating health wasn't a smart option. Proper use of cover and calling on your mates to cover you as you moved was necessary to survive. Each person carries two revives (large adrenaline needles that are jabbed into a downed ally's chest). When you are down, one of your mates will offer to revive you, which you can accept or decline. You can revive yourself, so if you are too far or too surrounded, you can spare your friends the trouble. While down, you can move and fire your pistol, so pulling yourself into cover will allow your teammate to revive you safely. When a friend goes down (and it seems to take a lot; they aren't stupid), you can order the other AI member to revive them or do it yourself. Teammates that like you are more likely to rush into dangerous situations to save you, while those that don't like you won't risk themselves as much.
Hello my robotic chum!
The game is tough, too. Playing on Normal was very difficult in places. If you were caught unawares and out in the open, you went down quickly. Rushing enemies resulted in death more often than a heroic charge. I liked that the game was more about intelligently moving as a team and killing in sync was more important than being a super-soldier hero.
What I Was Mixed On
First off, the enemies take way too many rounds to kill. I had this same problem (and the next one) with Dark Void (where you also fight humanoid robots). Often, firing a clip of the assault rifle into an enemy in the open would result in a damaged, but still very much alive enemy. When it takes a clip and a third to down even basic enemies, you have a problem. The high-powered sniper rifle was a blast and took out foes in one hit, but ammo was scarce. Even when you are shooting a weak-point on enemies it seems to take too long to destroy them. This goes hand-in-hand with my next gripe.
Shooting a weak point doesn't kill fast enough sometimes
The guns are just a bit too inaccurate. While the gunplay felt good and the mechanics all worked to create a great sense of battle, the guns just seem to hit air more than necessary. It's fine that weapons have kickback and are not %100 accurate all the time, but it seems like unless you are right on top an enemy, you miss too often. If enemies died sooner, this wouldn't be as annoying. I found myself using the under-powered pistol because it has infinite ammo far too often.
I stated above that the characters interact instead of the same canned response. That's true outside of battle, but they'll repeat the same few phrases during it. Hearing, "Nice one, Dan!" is great when I get a kill shot. When I'm doing most of the killing (my team was great at softening the targets), hearing this same phrase can be grating. I know I did good. I get it. Stop saying that. The team was also filled with stereotypes and cliches that would be laughable if it wasn't so predictable. The large, deeply voiced black guy is American and carries a mini-gun. The overly polite Frenchman is a sissy in a fight, but great at hand-to-hand combat. The aloof Chinese medic is also a sniper. It goes on like that. But, they are interesting stereotypes...er, characters.
What I Didn't Like
Melee is so very stupid. I know the game is about shooting robots, but when they get close, melee is the way to go. Hitting the button in Binary Domain results in a single animation. Dan uses the butt of his weapon to hit the opponent. Mash a few times to down an enemy. You have to look down to hit crawling enemies, and the animation is the same. The lack of contextual finishers is disappointing, especially in light of Nagoshi's own Yakuza series. Even a stomp on the grounded enemies would have been welcome. Instead we get a canned, lame animation that feels impotent.
Vehicle sections break up the shooting
When you couple the difficulty with the tough enemies and the inaccurate guns, some deaths can feel cheap. I was downed a couple of times by enemies that I had shot multiple times and thought they had died, but they had only been staggered. As I moved up, they fired again and I couldn't hit them. Down I went and I had to drag myself back a bit to get rescued. It's certainly not a deal-breaker, but frustration can set in pretty quickly.
Get off me!
Overall, this game was no where on my radar until the demo. I was intrigued by the premise and the promise of squad interaction taking a prominent role in the story. Since playing the demo, this game went from "Hmmm, looks interesting" to "Definite buy" for me. I loved Dark Void and this has the same feel to the shooting (despite my gripes about it). With that base, throwing in a bit of I, Robot and other stories like it, add in the stellar storytelling of Nagoshi and his team, and Sega has my money. I'm really looking forward to playing this game after Syndicate and Mass Effect 3. If you are a fan of third-person shooters like Ghost Recon, this game deserves a look. Check out Binary Domain's demo on the PSN and XBL!
No comments:
Post a Comment