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The Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 |OT| (XBLA/PSN)

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
iconoclast said:
What the fuck @ one of the last couple missions. The framerate drops into the single digits when you're fighting
the megacopter boss for the second time
. Ridiculous.
Try playing at 480p. Games runs much smoother overall so it may help there.
 
S1kkZ said:
which version?
the background flickering really pisses me off. how did that glitch get through testing?

I'm playing the 360 version at 1080p. The framerate is fine until he starts sending the missles, then it drops into the gutter.
 
So...

- Linear
- 50% price increase
- Worse Performance
- No PC version in sight
- PS3 version requires UbiDRM constant internet connection

Let's just hope this fails spectacularly



Xater said:
It's up on the US PSN store and is 1443MB big.
hitoshi said:
It's up on XBLA

1,41 GB
The PC version of the first game is only 365~ MB? What could they possibly have done to make it 4 times as large?
 
Metal Gear?! said:
Let's just hope this fails spectacularly

Or not, since this is probably the best game that's going to be released on DDL services this year.

Anyway, how the hell do you beat the final boss? He's killed me 11 times (my first game over) and I still can't figure out how to even damage him.

Nevermind, figured it out. derp
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Metal Gear?! said:
So...

- Linear
- 50% price increase
- Worse Performance
- No PC version in sight
- PS3 version requires UbiDRM constant internet connection

Let's just hope this fails spectacularly





The PC version of the first game is only 365~ MB? What could they possibly have done to make it 4 times as large?
The console versions of the original were also less than 400mb. Back then, MS still had a limit on the size if XBLA games.
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
dark10x said:
Give it some time. Really. The first impression it leaves is pretty bad, I thought, but after playing a couple of stages, it started to click.
Could be the level design to a certain extent as well. And the Sonic 4 comparison is way too harsh. This still retains the basics of what made the first game good. It didn't radically change much like Sonic 4 and the new physics.

And what is up with that size compared to first? I mean, the game looks good with some nice effects but couldn't they just use the engine from the first game and optimize? It already looked good a year or 2 ago for a DL title.
 
Just beat this. I played on hard and didn't use the jump. Everything went well except for one area -
the gorilla boss. I can't figure out how to avoid his ground attack without jumping. That's not a HUGE problem though, since if you avoid all of his other attacks, you can withstand the ground hits.

Cons:
- Limited ammo for special weapons. Why?
- The altered controls. Again, why? BCR's controls were absolutely perfect. The new controls take some getting used to, but they start to flow smoothly after you're used to the changes. Still, they are not an improvement - they're a sidestep at best. Pointless.
- Hard mode is too easy. You get tons of lives and you can take quite a few hits. The punishment for dying is too small as well, since you only lose a few seconds of progress due to the generous checkpoints. I haven't tried Retro mode yet, so I hope that's comparable to Super Hard difficulty in BCR.
- Occasionally dodgy framerate.

Pros:
- Everything else.

So it's an awesome game. I'm not sure if it's as good as the original, but it's pretty close at least. I'll need to play Retro mode, collect all of the hidden yashichis and upgrades, and do the challenge rooms before I decide if this is a 10/10 game or a 9/10.
 

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
dark10x said:
The console versions of the original were also less than 400mb. Back then, MS still had a limit on the size if XBLA games.


I thought the PS3 version of the original was bigger? Different audio tracks or something?
 

krakov

Member
Yeah, the increased amount of megabytes really makes this game a downer, I give it 1/10. I hope Microsoft agrees and reinforces the cap so that all games will be awesome in the future.
 
krakov said:
Yeah, the increased amount of megabytes really makes this game a downer, I give it 1/10. I hope Microsoft agrees and reinforces the cap so that all games will be awesome in the future.
1/10? C'mon dude quit being silly.

And maybe trade in that memory card for an HDD.
 

LaneDS

Member
Thanks iconoclast, going to pick it up within the next few days based on your impressions. I really enjoyed the original so reading what you wrote, I'm confident I'll enjoy this too. If this thread is anything to go by, I don't see the game doing too well regardless of whether it's fun or not, which is a shame.
 

Jim

Member
Random question... how do you beat the Megacopter withough jumping?

After
grappling to the upper arm and then stepping off and doing the ground pound onto the top of the cockpit
it still seems to count as a jump (in the stats screen for that level). I definitely haven't manually jumped.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Jim said:
Random question... how do you beat the Megacopter withough jumping?

After
grappling to the upper arm and then stepping off and doing the ground pound onto the top of the cockpit
it still seems to count as a jump (in the stats screen for that level). I definitely haven't manually jumped.
Perhaps playing in classic mode will solve this? I dunno, I was worried about that myself when I found that boss. I wasn't concerned with not jumping yet, but have been thinking about how I will tackle the levels without it. That was the one thing that stuck out to me as difficult without jumping.

I hope this comes to PC soon enough.. probably will when the console sales have died down a bit.
They've pretty much confirmed that it will not. That's a shame, though, as the only way to get 60 fps in the console version is to play in 480p. :(
 
Unfortunately this didn't have the same impact as the first game, what a bummer. And what's with the mustache?! Ha ha...I've gotta get some more time in with it.

Fuck, the music is awesome as ever though. Is the OST for sale?
 

Jim

Member
dark10x said:
Perhaps playing in classic mode will solve this? I dunno, I was worried about that myself when I found that boss. I wasn't concerned with not jumping yet, but have been thinking about how I will tackle the levels without it. That was the one thing that stuck out to me as difficult without jumping.

I'm playing through it on Hard without jumping and it doesn't seem particularly hard. I haven't felt a need to jump at all. You don't have to jump to beat him, but you do have to touch the X button to initiate the drop attack even while falling. (unless something else can damage that part I don't know about)
 
Actually, there is a positive to the new controls. In BCR, while you were hanging with your claw, you had to use a shotgun blast to start swinging. In this game, you can just hold left or right and he'll start swinging. Kinda minor, but it helps speed the game up, especially in the challenge rooms.

And speaking of the challenge rooms, the hitboxes in challenge room 10 are complete bullshit. Every time I tried to diagonally grapple a lift and pull myself up, I got crushed by spikes that were nowhere near me. :|

Jim said:
Random question... how do you beat the Megacopter withough jumping?

After
grappling to the upper arm and then stepping off and doing the ground pound onto the top of the cockpit
it still seems to count as a jump (in the stats screen for that level). I definitely haven't manually jumped.

That's what I did. Ground pounds shouldn't count as a jump, seeing as I did plenty of them and still got the achievement for beating it without jumping.
 

bryehn

Member
rhino4evr said:
I wish this thread wasn't all about DRM. Can we have some more gameplay impressions?

I really like it and find myself replaying levels to do better. The new mechanics are easy to get used to. Trying not to jump is fun. Music is awesome. Haven't read a word of the story. There's a Castro dude, I will kill him.
 
Is anyone doing the challenge rooms? How do you beat #17? I can get past the first wall by using the spikes to bounce toward the circle that you can grab, but you have to do the same thing again immediately after that, and you only have enough health to take one spike hit. Halp?

Nevermind, figured it out. Apparently you can wall jump in this game. derp
 

bryehn

Member
I'm stuck on a level a couple after you get the electric gun. Its a part where You have to deactivate turrets to get across the ceiling then you drop a girder after igniting some barrels. No idea what to do next at all :/
 

Haeleos

Member
I've never played a sequel that was worse than the original in nearly every aspect of it's design. Unresponsive and, at the same time, touchy controls, horrible weapon/powerup balance, cumbersome menus, jumping is a useless addition and is as pointless as the co-op mode and turret sequences, lower framerate, uncreative boss battles, and the regular enemies are nothing but bullet sponges... they were trying to reinvent the wheel in a lot of regards and in the process, broke things that were perfect to begin with. This is pretty close to Bioshock 2 and Deus Ex 2 levels of sequel disappointment for me. Within an hour of playing I was uncovering glitches and bugs.

At least Simon Viklund did his job.
 

RedStep

Member
Haeleos said:
I've never played a sequel that was worse than the original in nearly every aspect of it's design. Unresponsive and, at the same time, touchy controls, horrible weapon/powerup balance, cumbersome menus, jumping is a useless addition and is as pointless as the co-op mode and turret sequences, lower framerate, uncreative boss battles, and the regular enemies are nothing but bullet sponges... they were trying to reinvent the wheel in a lot of regards and in the process, broke things that were perfect to begin with. This is pretty close to Bioshock 2 and Deus Ex 2 levels of sequel disappointment for me. Within an hour of playing I was uncovering glitches and bugs.

At least Simon Viklund did his job.

Hey, fuck you, buddy!

I agree with everything else you said. BC:R2 is soulless through and through. I'm having to force myself to finish it. For all their issues, GRIN got it right the first time. Too bad I bought this without trying the demo based on the first.
 
Just got my 200/200 on this. Second in the world to do so, I believe. Got lots of top 5 scores on times as well, and I even got #1 on Point of no Return. :D

Anyway, after playing this some more, this game's a little disappointing. It's just way too simplistic and easy. The altered controls are pretty lame, but like I said before, you can fly through the stages just as quickly as BCR once you get used to them. Still, it's a stupid change. The challenge rooms are all pretty easy as well, which is even more disappointing since there's only 24 of them this time around.

But eh, it's still a really good game. If BCR was a 10/10, BCR2 is more like an 8/10. It's not as good as the original, but then again, very few games are.
 

RedStep

Member
After playing more, I'm downgrading my score to awful. The game simply isn't fun. The boss battles (especially the gorilla) are just exercises in tedium. The enemies are boring. Swinging is inconsistent and frustrating. I wish I had purchased Breach instead and at least could have thrown an indie developer a bone.

Note: I tend to be very forgiving, as long as a game is fun. GRIN's BC (and BC:R by a mile) was far better than this POS.
 

krakov

Member
While I think they did good with the swinging mechanic in BC, I don't agree at all. It's one of the worst games I've played this gen and wouldn't recommend it to anyone even if it was five bucks.

On the other hand, I still haven't finished BCR2 yet so I can't really pass final judgement. I don't see where the swinging is "inconsistent" and enemies are about as boring as in BCR. My only gripe so far is that it seems pretty easy.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
krakov said:
While I think they did good with the swinging mechanic in BC, I don't agree at all. It's one of the worst games I've played this gen and wouldn't recommend it to anyone even if it was five bucks.

On the other hand, I still haven't finished BCR2 yet so I can't really pass final judgement. I don't see where the swinging is "inconsistent" and enemies are about as boring as in BCR. My only gripe so far is that it seems pretty easy.
I really enjoyed BC on the PC. At 60 fps with load times eliminated, it started to feel pretty awesome.

On the consoles, the technical issues got in the way and ruined the experience.
 

RedStep

Member
krakov said:
Joke post confirmed.

Obviously my statement is my own opinion and it only applies to me. Like I said, I'm very forgiving if the game is fun (even if it's not good).

I played all the way through BC (over a period of time) and my biggest issues were the invisible death zones and shitty checkpoint. Swinging was consistent and fun. Unlike many, I wasn't expecting anything big from it. I got it for $10, and it was well worth that.

The biggest issue with swinging in BC:R2 is that it's not physics-based, at all. You start and stop swinging instantly (as far as motion goes) depending on how you hold the stick. There's no feeling of actually swinging.

The boss fights consist mostly of waiting, as they repeat the same patterns forever without any variation. There's a big difference between a dynamic fight in which patterns emerge and a boss' AI being only patterns. It's not difficult, it's just boring to wait for 60 seconds while they get to the part of the pattern where you can injure them.
 

krakov

Member
dark10x said:
I really enjoyed BC on the PC. At 60 fps with load times eliminated, it started to feel pretty awesome.

On the consoles, the technical issues got in the way and ruined the experience.

Technical issues really has nothing to do with my dislike for the game. For most part, the problems are the level design and combat. And also that the game would benefit from being 30 minutes long.
 

Haunted

Member
dark10x said:
Alright, hot tip for those playing.

If you believe framerate >>> image quality, try setting your PS3 to 480p. Yeah, I know, that sucks, but if you do so you will be rewarded with a near perfect 60 fps BCR2. At 480p, it runs smoother than the first game.

Fortunately, thanks to heavy use of depth of field, the game still looks pretty decent at 480p. The fonts used in menus and such become an absolute mess (really really ugly), but the game itself isn't bad.
wowowow

That's pretty disgusting. I'm definitely waiting for a PC version. If it doesn't come, they're losing a sale.


Haeleos said:
I've never played a sequel that was worse than the original in nearly every aspect of it's design. Unresponsive and, at the same time, touchy controls, horrible weapon/powerup balance, cumbersome menus, jumping is a useless addition and is as pointless as the co-op mode and turret sequences, lower framerate, uncreative boss battles, and the regular enemies are nothing but bullet sponges... they were trying to reinvent the wheel in a lot of regards and in the process, broke things that were perfect to begin with. This is pretty close to Bioshock 2 and Deus Ex 2 levels of sequel disappointment for me. Within an hour of playing I was uncovering glitches and bugs.
... or maybe I'll just skip it either way. Looks like Fatshark wasn't able to hit the right spot like GRIN did.
 

krakov

Member
RedStep said:
The biggest issue with swinging in BC:R2 is that it's not physics-based, at all. You start and stop swinging instantly (as far as motion goes) depending on how you hold the stick. There's no feeling of actually swinging.

The boss fights consist mostly of waiting, as they repeat the same patterns forever without any variation. There's a big difference between a dynamic fight in which patterns emerge and a boss' AI being only patterns. It's not difficult, it's just boring to wait for 60 seconds while they get to the part of the pattern where you can injure them.

How do you feel about the swinging and bosses in BCR?
 

RedStep

Member
krakov said:
How do you feel about the swinging and bosses in BCR?

I thought they were fine. The biggest thing (for me) is that I had fun playing it. BC:R2 just feels like pure tedium to me. I dread having to go back through the levels, not because they're hard, but because I didn't have fun.

For reference, I feel the same way about things like Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit's timed races (but they're difficult and not fun), traveling in Far Cry 2, and HAWX 2.
 

krakov

Member
RedStep said:
I thought they were fine.

I'd argue they are pretty much the same, either way, I don't question the joy (or lack thereof) you got out of the game. And while I understand the usual message board over reaction, I have a hard time understanding the hate for this game. As a big fan of BCR I still find it a great game, although maybe a bit disappointing is some regards.
 

bj00rn_

Banned
I had high hopes for this game, and I bought it. But I have to say I'm a little disappointed. They seem to have improved the difficulty level, but the controls are still awful. I'm usually in control over what I do in most games, in f.ex. Shadow Complex I almost never thought about the controls, but with this game I'm fighting the controls more than the levels and enemies in the game. The diagonal input is driving me crazy.
 

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
I hate to say it but the impression I am getting is the first game benefited from using the NES game as a template in terms of level design. While the stages were short and very difficult, it was a god damn NES game... aka, still kicking the ass of half the attempts to design a video game today.

The problem with the level design in BCR2 is that it feels like someone's first attempt to design a platformer; it's like a /very good/ LittleBigPlanet community stage. Its not a masterful Mega Man-esque piece of work as you'd find in a game built to classic standards.

Edit: It doesn't help that we just came out of a great year for 2D platformers, with standard setting games coming out every couple months.
 

RedStep

Member
krakov said:
I'd argue they are pretty much the same, either way, I don't question the joy (or lack thereof) you got out of the game. And while I understand the usual message board over reaction, I have a hard time understanding the hate for this game. As a big fan of BCR I still find it a great game, although maybe a bit disappointing is some regards.

As noted above, it feels like some chump looked at BC:R and thought they could fix some things. I'm not hardcore Bionic Commando. I only played the Gameboy version (briefly) before BC:R. I never finished all the challenge rooms. The mechanic in BC:R was consistent. It was frustrating losing your swing, but that was by design. The shotgun fixed it up.

In BC:R2, I constantly lose my swing for no real reason and flop to my doom. The idea of changing it isn't bad, it's that you have to make it consistent, accurate, and fun. Same thing with wall-jumping... apparently you have to be in a magic spot to get any momentum off the wall. See N+ and Super Meat Boy for perfect implementation of the same move. Those games are infinitely more challenging, but are consistent in their physics. Trials HD is the same way.
 

krakov

Member
bj00rn_ said:
The diagonal input is driving me crazy.

Unless there is a diagonal input introduced late game, you can use left/right/neutral instead.

And RedStep, I don't like some of the changes myself, but I found it easy enough to adjust. Try loading up a game, grapple on to something and see if can lose momentum with "no real reason". The only instance I've noticed is when you swing into a wall or such.
 

JEKKI

Member
I jus bought this game on PS3 and it's making me patch it to the next version.

the patch is 22 megas and it's at 14% with 38 minutes left.

-_-;...
 

pmj

Member
I've only played a couple of the levels, but so far I feel that much of what's wrong with this game is down to a general lack of polish. It feels so much buggier and more inconsistent than the first game; visually, gameplay mechanics, hitboxes, everything.

And fuck the
gorilla boss. It seems obvious that you're supposed to hang from the ledges, but is this a red herring? I've tried to figure out how to not fall to my death every time the boss did its ground slam attack but it's a complete crapshoot whether I manage to attach myself again. The sound effect for the arm being extended is played but it doesn't actually do that most of the time. Often I can see that it's extended a little bit and is then retracted for no obvious reason, but it's over so quickly.
 

JEKKI

Member
I donno what it is about this game...

I played like 5 stages and Im jus not compelled to go back.

I think I'll jus let it sit there waiting for a rainy day
 

JEKKI

Member
when they first announced this game and said you could jump I thought to myself "oh hellz no... the stage design is going to take so many compromises to accommodate this now..."

and now I have this as just one example:

U7O8U.jpg


you are forced to use jump to progress, and this is just one of the many more I have found.

the overall stage design is so disengaging and sloppy, no wonder I am not happy...
 
dark10x said:
They've pretty much confirmed that it will not. That's a shame, though, as the only way to get 60 fps in the console version is to play in 480p. :(

They said the same about the first. Supposedly PC was only getting the 3D game, but Rearmed showed up anyway, even if it never got the infinite life patch that the console game got.
 
JEKKI said:
when they first announced this game and said you could jump I thought to myself "oh hellz no... the stage design is going to take so many compromises to accommodate this now..."

and now I have this as just one example:

http://i.imgur.com/U7O8U.jpg

you are forced to use jump to progress, and this is just one of the many more I have found.

the overall stage design is so disengaging and sloppy, no wonder I am not happy...

You are never forced to jump - that's why there's an achievement for beating the game without jumping.

Grab the bottom of that platform and swing to the right. Either that or you'll have to go around and find another way, can't remember that part specifically.

Diomedeskun said:
They said the same about the first. Supposedly PC was only getting the 3D game, but Rearmed showed up anyway, even if it never got the infinite life patch that the console game got.

Damn, I guess that makes the PC version even more superior than usual.
 

JEKKI

Member
iconoclast said:
You are never forced to jump - that's why there's an achievement for beating the game without jumping.
I have found many areas that force you to jump in order to procees.

so the only way to get that achievement is to avoid all the game's "dead ends"

as far as my screenshot, you cant use the platform to swing onto the cliff of same height. Going back to the left provided no way of moving forward thru the stage.

this stage was actually the one where
you ride a helicopter that takes you all the way to the stage end
but I had to backtrack in order to pick up some power-ups.

2D game design that forces you to make sacrifices for the sake of multiple stage playthrus to get 100% is real bad stage design imo. It's the reason why I hated Wario Shake.
 
Ooh, I never backtracked on that stage until I had already beaten the game without jumping, so I was using it liberally. If there really is no way back up without jumping, then yeah that really sucks.
 

onken

Member
Loved the first game but the awful DRM and negative impressions make this a no buy for me. Maybe if I see it on sale one day.
 

Xater

Member
Just finished it and I really liked it.

I also don't know about slowdown complaints, there was nothing like that in the PS3 version.
 
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