Let’s face it, the combination of the name “Binary Domain” and the equally generic box art don’t really scream “Totally worth your $60”. It’s a sad fact. What’s more sad than that, is that some people will pass on this game due to those reasons mentioned, and this is not a game to be judged literally by its cover. Coming from the creator of the Yakuza series, Toshihiro Nagaoshi, Binary Domain manages to be more than just an average “cover based shooter”.
Title: Binary Domain
Publisher: SEGA
Developer: Team CS1
Platform: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC
Genre: Shooter
Release Date: February 28, 2012
Price: $59.99
Rating: M
Let’s face it, the combination of the name “Binary Domain” and the equally generic box art don’t really scream “Totally worth your $60”. It’s a sad fact. What’s more sad than that, is that some people will pass on this game due to those reasons mentioned, and this is not a game to be judged literally by its cover. Coming from the creator of the Yakuza series, Toshihiro Nagaoshi, Binary Domain manages to be more than just an average “cover based shooter”.
In Binary Domain you take on the role of Dan Marshall an ex-special forces member who has a penchant for killing “scrap-heads” as well as arguing with superiors. Dan along with Roy “Big Bo” Boateng, are members of and elite group called a “Rust Crew”. Dan and Big Bo are sent into neo-Tokyo to investigate an artificial intelligence manufacturing corporation named Amada, and the company’s namesake. Amada is suspected of violating the “New Geneva Convention” international laws, more specifically clause 21. Clause 21 basically states that companies cannot research or manufacture robots that can pass for humans. As a quick aside here, I would be willing to wager that two key characters Dan and Charlie, were so named for two really bad jokes, later in the game.
The investigation was started because “Hollow Children” were beginning to pop up in the world. Hollow Children are the robots that have been manufactured to look like humans. However they don’t just look like humans, they act, talk, and even think they are humans. The Hollow Children are they themselves so indoctrinated into this thinking that when shown they are actually robots in a skin, they usually end up taking their own lives. When one of these “Hollow Children” attempts to kill the head of “Bergen” a US AI manufacturer, a “Rust Crew” is immediately called into action to investigate.
Binary Domain has been described as “Gears of War from Japan”, and while that comparison is apt, it isn’t complete. Binary Domain does use a cover-based shooting system much like gears, but that is really where the comparison ends for me. Where Gears was more of a “Bro-mance” Binary Domain could be described more as a “Buddy Cop” style. The introduction to the team and the late title card are done almost as an homage to action movies of the past. When the first title dropped in, I was so ready to fight robots I would have been seen giving and actual fist-pump.
The shooting in Binary Domain is just as good as any top of the line shooter on the market. Robots are varied nicely and require a bit of strategy to get past, be that flanking, or just finding weak spots to exploit in battle. The weaker, fodder robots, fall apart nicely when shot up, with armor peeling off and even crawling along the ground when their legs are blown off. The heavier and quite massive robots require a lot of movement and strategy to defeat. Destroying a spider robot literally as big as a building couldn’t feel more satisfying.
Besides the usual fare found in cover based shooters, Binary Domain has some really well done social aspects in the game. Not social like Facebook or Twitter, but social mechanics that actually affect the games outcome. While playing with (or not playing with) characters you will build or break down relationships based on interactions between your character, Dan, and the supporting characters. As an example; during a lull in an early fight, Big Bo will make a kind of sexist comment about a female teammate (should you choose to bring her along). If you agree with Bo, his, for lack of a better term, friendship meter will go up. However this same comment will lower the same meter with the female teammate. This creates a dynamic team-building mechanic that can affect your interactions greatly. The more your team likes you, the more likely they are to listen to you in battle. Piss them off, and they may well disobey your orders out of spite. This is used to ever greater and more detrimental means very late in the game. One particular interaction, that I didn’t even realize until completing the game, could have gone an entirely different direction had my relationships been different.
The downside to the interactions is the way they are presented to you. Given the fact that this is, at times, a very intense shooter, I found myself missing questions and comments from teammates in the heat of battle. This would inevitably lead to a loss of relationship points when I didn’t respond quickly enough. Secondly the responses that you are given to use are completely vague, and aren’t really contextual. Seeing as how all the responses can be given audibly through a headset, they are all pretty generic, and can be used in different scenarios. This lead to an issue where I would respond with what I THOUGHT was one thing, but the character took it a completely different way. Example; Several times characters would ask me a question about my performance on the battle field and my responses were limited to “Damn”, “Shit”, “Thanks” and “No Problem”. Trying to figure out how to reply was, at times, very confusing.
As with most every game on the market now, especially shooters, there are some multiplayer modes to be found. There is the 4-player co-op mode (good luck finding 3 others) as well as the 10-player competitive multiplayer mode. I did not get into either one of these because, well, I don’t generally play games online, but that’s for a completely different post. Rest assure though that it is in there should you want, and are able to attempt it.
Binary Domain was, for me at least, a very pleasant surprise. From watching the Quick Look on Giant Bomb I decided to jokingly put it in my Gamefly queue. I thought it would make a fun game to just mess around in and see what’s up with it. What it had to offer once I got further into it, was a completely competent shooter and some well implemented social mechanics. I can’t imagine that this game sold as well as SEGA wanted it to, and that is the saddest part of this story. Should Binary Domain get a sequel (which the ending sets up for) I would gladly play through that. I am very tempted to play through again now just to see the difference in character interaction based on my different responses to teammates. That may be the most telling part of this review. Even after playing a game for over 10 hours (yeah a 10 hour single player campaign) I am willing to jump right back into it.
In a market over saturated with games that are considered “Triple A” titles, it’s sometimes easy to overlook genuinely fun and engaging games. I personally have always been a fan of really bad, but playable, games. At first glance, Binary Domain seemed to fit that mold perfectly. Upon playing it further than the demo, I found out just how pleasantly incorrect I actually was.
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