Bionic Commando

Fans of the 8-bit era action platformer Bionic Commando probably won’t recognize much about Capcom’s upcoming remake — sure, you’ll be playing as series regular Nathan Spencer (Super Joe, the series’ previous main star, is in the game, just in a different role) and you’ll have a giant arm thingy that allows you to swing, rappel and wall walk all over the levels, but this Bionic Commando is all gussied up with 3D, next-gen graphics and a sprawling, open-world environment.

We talked with Christian Svensson, Capcom VP of Strategic Planning and Business Development, about Nathan’s backstory and got some eyes-on time with the game at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) where Capcom gave us a peek at BC’s in-game romping, primarily showcasing Nathan’s movement and fighting mechanics.

“Nathan was a participant in a government bionics program that was deemed dangerous,” said Svensson. “He was later accused of terrible crimes and due for execution but after terrorists attack [the game’s main metropolis of] Ascension City the program is reopened and Nathan is reactivated.”

Once Svensson and company fired up the game, the first thing we noticed is a triangular reticule used for Nathan’s ginormous bionic arm’s platforming/swinging maneuvers which becomes “active” when moved over grapple-able environmental objects. So, similar to Assassin’s Creed, there’s a lot of places in the environment that you can grab onto that make sense — girders, ledges on walls, window sills, traffic signs, all kinds of stuff — but there is also plenty of junk you can’t grab. Developers Grin also designed the “off-limits” areas of the levels with radioactive barriers that will begin to tick like a Geiger counter if you get too close, most of which look like glowing embers burning in buildings and what not.

Control-wise, things are running on developer Grin’s proprietary Diesel engine, so expect a much more intuitive and less-punishing shooting mechanic for when you zoom in on enemies over previous hits built on Capcom’s clumsier, less-than-awesome-for-shooting engine like Lost Planet and Dead Rising. The result is that the movement, aiming and the overall animations appeared much more fluid in the early demo.

Svensson explained that there is also an adrenaline meter that fills up as you pull off more acrobatic swings and jumps, encouraging you to soar to higher heights each time you break out your bionic arm.

“Nathan can grab things and throw them great distances when he’s maxed out on adrenaline,” said Svensson.

The HUD was turned off for the demo but we’re told that once filled, the adrenaline meter triggers a strength boost, letting you grab onto and hurl large objects in the environment to great effect. We watched as Svensson whipped a massive crate across a huge expanse to beam an unsuspecting AI enemy, crushing him with ease. You can also grab pretty much anything loose in the level, including corpses. Svensson threw one fallen enemy’s body so far, we couldn’t even see where it landed, convincing us that corpse-throwing should be added as a new Olympic track and field event pronto.

Fighting-wise, the demo showed off only one weapon, an automatic pistol, that seemed pretty straight-forward. The game is primarily all in third-person and uses a slight zoom mechanic once you take up arms. The reticule also changed when aiming a firearm versus when using the bionic arm, which we imagine is engaged with the left trigger or the like.

The time we spent watching the game showed us that the game will have a tremendous verticality on par with The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and Crackdown, letting you climb to nose-bleed heights in the levels and leap across great stretches of open air, and though Capcom wouldn’t confirm the actually range of the bionic arm, we saw Nathan make vertigo-inducing grabs from quite a distance. Svensson also gave no word on fall damage if you miss a key arm grab.

There’s still no word on multiplayer though we suspect Capcom and Grin will make ample use of all the potential fun that could be had grapple-fragging (okay, we just made that up that term – but it should exist!).

The game is slated for a Fall 08 release so stay tuned for more coverage as we get closer to Bionic Commando’s release.