Review: Binary Domain

Normally, I don't write game reviews because the various professionals out there do a much better job collectively than I ever could.  But the system isn't perfect, and occationally, a great game falls through the critical cracks.  Binary Domain is one such game.

 

The closest comparison to Binary Domain is Gears of War, which is a very good thing and a very bad thing.  Gears is a great game, and so is Binary, but Gears is polished to a mirror sheen, and anything held up to that reflection had better look just as good.  Unfortunately, Binary Domain just isn't THAT polished, which is why I think it was passed over by critics and gamers alike.  This is unfortunate, because BD stands out on it's own as a great game, with it's own personality, and it is every bit as good as Gears of War.

 

Binary Domain, published by Sega, takes place in the near future where robots are as common as mobile phones and do much more besides.  From serving drinks to making buildings, robots are a part of every day life.  So much so that a law was enacted to outlaw any robot made to look like human beings.  The game beings with two American soldiers infiltrating a futuristic Japan to apprenhend a corporate researcher in violation of this law.  You play as one of those American soldiers, and along the way, you pick up your usual ragtag crew and as par in this type of genre, by the time you reach the end, the premise in the beginning will be blown wide open.

 

This band of merry men you assemble come and go, like a classic JRPG.  You'd be switching out old buddies for new party members at various stages of the game and back again.  When your party gets too full, you can pick and choose who you would like to take with you.  In a particular twist, you can actually build a bond between your protagonist and your party members.  With a good relationship, you can issue orders to your teammates and they will respond favorably, with a bad relationship, they will ignore your commands.  The enemies have a strict tendency to focus on you, the player character, so it's important to get on your party's good side, or more likely than not, they will stand there and do nothing while you take a beating. 

 

The story is the best part of Binary Domain.  It starts off pedestrian, but by the end, some serious ethical and philosophical discussions would have taken place.  None of it, however, is very high handed and I think the game strikes a tight balance between being too preachy and just letting the player blow things up.  It also helps that your party members are a likable bunch of folks.  Yes, you have your cliches like the big black guy trying just a little too hard to be 'black', but each of these folks do evolve somewhat so that they are different people by the end of the game.  I can't say much more on this, because doing so would spoil what I think is the best part of Binary Domain.

 

All that talk of story and characters matter jack if the gameplay isn't good and here, the gameplay is great!  Binary Domain is your basic cover shooter at heart, but it's one that works.  The excitement is enhanced by some light RPG elements.  You earn money with every badguy you defeat, and with the cash, you can upgrade your weapons and even your physical attributes (such as your usual defense and health upgrades).  This means that from a gameplay perspective, the character you end the game with is much stronger than the one you start with.  This will be helpful because the enemies do get stronger and the bosses need all the firepower you can muster because they are big.

 

The bosses are the highlight of Binary Domain's combat.  They come in all shapes and sizes from huge monstrosities to small, lithe but fearsome foes.  No two are alike and all of them take some serious firepower to bring down.  A lot of the bosses even feature multiple 'stages' where they change patterns, forcing you to adapt.  Other's have little quirks.  You might be fighting one head on in one section, but in another, you will be luring the boss towards damaging explosives.  All this, before you can finish it off for good with a big turret.  Come for the story, but stay for the bosses, and you won't be disappointed.

 

One of my favorite things about this game is that it's good clean fun.  All your foes here are robots, which means that outside of a few cut scenes, there is barely a drop of blood to be found.  I think this is refreshing, given how bloody and violent most games are these days.  Blasting foes which spews out armor parts and metal pieces instead of blood and guts is something I can get behind.  But this also factors into the gameplay.  Because your foes are not alive, blowing up their legs just means they will crawl at you.  If you take out their main gun arm, they will use the other arm to attack instead, usually with a smaller pistol or a melee weapon.  In a neat twist, taking off a mech's head will make it attack it's own allies.  Useful and fun to see in action.  Having robots as foes is another way Binary Domain distinguishes itself from the competition.

 

All in all, polish or no, Binary Domain is a stellar game.  If you're a fan of shooters or just looking for something a bit different, then Binary Domain will do you no wrong.