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- Bionic Commando
Bionic Commando (360)
- May 18, 2009 09:41 AM PST
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Population Control
There's more to well-rounded gaming satisfaction than the pleasure of movement, though. Ascension City's villains must've been hit hard by the recession, because they come in surprisingly few flavors, and the majority are trained to do little but run and shoot in your general direction while they await the merciful release of death. Grunts are only trouble when they show up by the dozen, flying Polycraft gunners can't seem to track you around a corner, and the hardest blue armored Biomech beast is a breeze to kill once you realize it's limited to maybe three different canned behaviors. Even the boss battles are more about pattern recognition and exploitation than any swing-and-gun finesse.
On the other hand, we're talking about a sequel to one of the great side-scrolling shoot-'em-ups of the '80s. Maybe such patterned behavior is intended as an homage to the design proclivities of a lost age.In all fairness, there are a truly ridiculous number of ways you can dispatch these swarming opponents, however thick-headed and repetitive their tactics might be, and hearing Mike Patton (the Faith No More frontman voices main character Nathan Spencer) shout "yeah!" after a particularly gratifying maneuver never gets old. Grab a goon's face with your fist from a distance and "zip kick" him into next week, pound the ground from a great height to thin a crowd, smack debris into nearby assailants, or "kite" a car and whip it into distant ones. You'll have an easier gaming experience if you rely on predictable projectile weapons with fancy names, like the HIKER shotgun and Bulldog grenade launcher, but you'll have more fun if you eschew them in the name of bionic melee grace, and make a point to attempt a long list of optional combat challenges.
