Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 Review
(XBLA, PSN)

That Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 exists at all is enough to give those unfamiliar with the franchise a throbbing headache. It's the downloadable sequel to the 2008 remake of the 1988 NES platformer that never got a sequel in the first place, but entirely unrelated to the other 2009 Bionic Commando title that went to retail. Though the original was never massively popular or successful, it was fondly remembered for its banishment of the "jump" button and the way it forced players to exclusively use Nathan Spencer's bionic arm to navigate the warpath towards his end-goal: assassinating Hitler (depending on which region you played the game in). BCR2 differentiates itself from the series' forced groundedness by granting Nathan the amazing ability to hop slightly in the air. Yes, this was apparently very controversial. Unfortunately, that's largely where BCR2's inspired or interesting choices start and end.

Ironically, for all the hubbub surrounding Spencer's agility, it's a feature that doesn't greatly impact the game. Instead, it's merely there as a "take it or leave it" accessory. Every level can be completed without it, which makes its inclusion all the more confusing.

Many of the other key differences serve largely to strip away what makes Bionic Commando Bionic Commando: Gone are the communication-station hacking minigames, conversing with fellow soldiers in neutral territories, and incidental ambushes on the world map. What's left is a game bearing Bionic Commando characters but not the its world or feel.

Papagayan Dictator Sabio threatens to attack Spencer's organization, the FSA, so Spencer and his team of five bionics swing in to intervene. What follows is a succession of levels so generic that after completing the game I could barely remember any of them. Some highlights include an escape-from-prison sequence, a ticking-clock/rising-water level, and a level where I was swinging around inside a series of missiles in the air, but the rest are an unfortunately bland blur. Worse still, the environments are quite sprawling, as stages stretch into all conceivable directions to accommodate hidden secrets, resulting in no small amount of confusion as to where to go next. An ample number of sudden-death pits and spikes placed around the large spaces discourages exploration.

Some of the other additions in BCR2 include a nod to Arkham Asylum called Bio Vision, a visual mode that can be switched on at any time to gain information on enemy weak points or miscellany fun fats, as well as some limp passive/active components, which are downright clunky and eventually unnecessary.

The components are meant to encourage repeated playthroughs of levels with more advanced weaponry or gadgets earned to access paths previously unreachable, but early on Spencer gets his hands on the grenade launcher (active) and health regeneration perk (passive). There's seldom reason to switch either off, and the boss battles seem designed with these in mind, evidenced by the fact that boss attack patterns include sizable breathers to allow ample health regeneration. Given how brainless the enemies are even on the hardest difficulty, I found myself mostly sticking with Nathan’s initial pistol and only taking out the big guns against bosses.

It's also during these boss battles where BCR2's difficulty noticeably spikes. Even on the easiest difficulty, I had to sink a dozen or so lives into the final two bosses. It didn't help that this is also where I experienced slowdown for the first time on an Xbox 360, possibly caused by the title's advanced physics engine. Sometimes the background would suddenly show black seams, and the action would slow to a crawl.

Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 isn't a bad game, it's just largely disappointing and has a considerable number of shortcomings. With only one other Bionic Game recognized as being in the series’ canon, it must be a tough call on where to where to adhere to and where to deviate from the source material. The visceral mix of running, gunning, and swinging is still a winning formula, but everything around it is largely a swing and a miss.

Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 was developed by FatShark and published by Capcom. It is available digitally via the Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network.

David Wolinsky is a writer-interviewer for Adult Swim, a columnist for GameSpy, and a reviewer for many fine gaming sites including this one. He's also the 1995 Blockbuster store champion at Donkey Kong Country, but you don't hear him bragging about it.

Watch the trailer for Bionic Commando Rearmed 2