Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2

While Bionic Commando turned out to be a bit of a dud when released in 2009, the game that preceded it Bionic Commando: Rearmed, a remake of an old NES classic was one of the bigger success stories of PSN/XBLA in 2008. We had to wait until now for the sequel, after original developers Grin filed for bankruptcy and development duties were handed over to fellow Swedes Fatshark (Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West).

This reviewer must first admit to never having played the original Bionic Commando back in the 80's. I was vaguely familiar with the concept, but never actually played it as I was a sworn Sega devotee at the time. The harshness of Bionic Commando: Rearmed and the rather unforgiving nature of the bionic action caught me a bit off guard. Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2 has certainly smoothed things over a bit, and the casual difficulty level will allow novices to enjoy the action without feeling frustrated and most players will have a bit of a challenge when the difficulty is turned up to normal.

At the core of the Bionic Commando experience is Rad Spencer's bionic arm that works a bit like a grappling hook. It makes for a slightly different style of platformer and one that requires timing and precision. It's a flexible tool and once you've mastered judging distances and learned all the little nuances of the bionic arm controls the game really comes to life. The boss fights are fun little reminders of what boss fights used to be like back in the day. Not particularly dynamic, but tense and exciting.

Collecting upgrades and new weaponry is a motivator throughout the game and toying with the different grenades and missiles is a lot of fun. There is a co-operative mode just as in Bionic Commando: Rearmed, and while there are sections were you actually help each other out more than by just increasing the amount of bullets you fire at enemies it still feels as though more could have been done to design co-operative elements. Maybe we've been a bit spoiled by Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, but I was hoping to get a bit more out of the co-operative mode.

We thoroughly enjoyed the sounds and sights of Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2. There is nice details to the environments in the levels, and the tongue-in-cheek 80's action film atmosphere is lovely. The music is perhaps the strongest part of the package with old school beats that will make you feel like you're 10-years old again (that is, if you're 30 something like this reviewer). The story, if you're bothered with keeping track of it, is also cemented in the 80's. Big, bad Castro-esque dictator is up to no good with his robot army, you're sent to stop his evil plans and save the guys who went in there before you.

The original Bionic Commando: Rearmed features one screen multiplayer maps. A rather enjoyable game mode. It was simple and entertaining, but for most it was probably just a small diversion next to the main course - the campaign. This has been scrapped for the sequel, and to be honest we feel that a downloadable title such as this does not have to feature multiple game modes. Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2 has the campaign (single or co-op) and challenge rooms, if you want a bit of multiplayer action you can just pick up the original. And there is more than enough value in there to warrant the price of the download.

The original Bionic Commando: Rearmed benefited from being based on a classic. No one questioned the level design or the limitations of the gameplay and nostalgia played its part. It was just like the original and that's the way it was supposed to be. The story is different with the sequel, and even if Fatshark have taken some liberties (such as jumping), the game still feels somewhat trapped within the limitations of the original. And let's face it, a lot has happened since Bionic Commando on NES. It's one of those cases were there are two sides of the coin, some of you may applaud this, while others such as myself may have hope for a bit more evolution.

That said, fans of Bionic Commando: Rearmed will be pleased with the sequel, it brings more of what we enjoyed with the first game and the lengthy campaign will keep you occupied for quite some time when played at the higher difficulty levels.