Bionic Commando Rearmed 2

Posted 2 years ago By kingquagmire - David Collins

The Bionic Commando franchise has had some ups and downs over the last few years. The original 1988 NES classic was was loved by fans, yet the adventures of Nathan “Rad” Spencer would remain tethered to his NES appearance for another 20 years until an enhanced remake made its way to XBLA, PSN and PC called Bionic Commando Rearmed. The remake was a good move for Capcom as it was well received by both fans and critics alike. It even sparked a full retail 3D reimagining of the franchise a year later. Unfortunately, that Bionic Commando didn’t fare so well and was one of the final games to be developed by the now-defunct GRIN. Even with the shoddy performance of the retail title, Capcom hasn’t given up on Rad. Enlisting the help of a new dev team in the form of FatShark (the folks behind last year’s Lead and Gold), Capcom returned to the winning formula they had with Rearmed to make a sequel...

And a winning formula it is, provided you didn’t get enough of Rearmed the first time around. Don’t get me wrong, there are some changes for this go round, but they are nominal in the grand scheme of things, making this fall into the “more of the same” category.

The story picks up a few years after the last game. A power-hungry dictator named General Sabio is poised to attack the FSA. A team was sent in to stop him and subsequently disappeared. So you, once again as Nathan Spencer, lead a team of four others with biotic abilities tasked with going in and finding the fate of the others along with stopping Sabio.

The gamplay is almost a carbon copy of Rearmed, with the spotlight once again shining on the bionic arm. Players will utilize that extending appendage to traverse each stage; be it to cross chasms or scale the vertical heights. Bad guys will still be patrolling each sector and Rad’s armament of guns and grenades will make short work of them like a hot knife through butter. Boss battles will require the use of the grapple arm to expose a sensitive spot and then take some blasting to finish off. Even the Challenge rooms make a return as well. All standard issue stuff.

There is some “new” among all the “returning” features. Rad can jump now, a throw back to the 3D retail mess we got in 09, complete with ground slam. Although, should you want the more “pure” experience, you can turn that function off and go with the non-leaping Rad. Component items are scattered around each stage allowing for things like a grenade launcher and health upgrades. These aren’t just for boosting firepower neither. The grenades are factored into the puzzle elements that takes center stage above everything else. The level designs are straightforward and even the stage selection is a linear process. To keep things interesting, progression relies heavily on the puzzle solving. Using switches to open doors, grenades to make certain areas accessible and duck-sliding through narrow paths are mandatory. Toss in the scanner that allows you to look at the environment for hints and you now have the entire package.

Conclusion

I ultimately can’t recommend Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 to everyone. It is the classic action platformer that we grew up on, only with snazzier visuals and a local co-op component. If that’s not your cup of tea, there’s nothing else here to get your attention. If the first Rearmed didn’t get it done for you, there’s certainly no reason to give this one a second thought. However, if the genre is to your liking or if you want more of what the first Rearmed offered, then this is an easy 1200 MP ($15) investment. Just don’t walk in expecting anything more than what you had back in 2008.