Binary Domain surprisingly good!

On 03/25/2013 at 02:16 AM by asrealasitgets

After having been playing a few RPGs back to back, sometimes I break up the game play with a nice short game I can finish on a weekend. Usually an action game or shooter. My steam library is backed up with bucket list games. So far I've enjoyed Spec Ops the Line, and it's solidly good story and DMC, which was a great game. Needing a break from playing through Etrian Odyssey and XCOM I decided play Binary Domain, a Sci-Fi shooter by Sega.

I haven't heard a lot about this game. I wasn't sure if it was good or bad? I remember playing the demo then just putting it aside to play other things. I don't particularly like shooters. I do particularly like games with Sci Fi themes however, so I played through it this weekend and was really surprised with how good it was. The thing that stands out the most about this game was the story and it's visuals. In terms of game play, it can be described as a typical corridor runner focused on cover based shooting. There are a lot of trash robots to run through with really awesome japanime giant robot boss fights that really stand out. Every now and then there is some chase sequences on the road or in one case jet skiing through the sewers. There's also an electronic themed soundtrack bumping through the whole game.

I have to admit that I fealt a bit underwhelmed with the way Mass Effect 3 turned out story-wise and was sort of let down by the way it seemed to steer away from the human v machine theme in place of more politics. I really think that the story and theme of man vs machine was treated a lot better in this game than the ME series as a whole. I like Mass Effect, but I think the ME story sort of drifted away from where it began with ME1 and thus I feel ME1 was the better game. I know ME2 had better combat and played better, but I jumped on board with the ME series because of the story first. In the same way that the story grabbed me in ME1 while lacking good game play, so to has binary domain grabbed me with it's story and some what average game play. There are even characters in Binary Domain that I feel are just as good or stronger than ME, including a love story.

If you are a sci fi fan and like robot/future themes in games in general, I would recommend playing through this short game. It's a nice departure from the typical sandy brown war shooters that are so common place.

Super Step Contributing Writer

03/25/2013 at 02:28 AM

Only game I think I ever really played for story first and gameplay second was MGS and its series. Not that the gameplay was bad, just that I don't think I'd be as willing to keep with its stealth action focus unless the story had hooked me.

The two and a half minutes I watched of that trailer you posted sure do look nice, and looks like a bit of variety thrown in with those water-way segments; I know what you mean about "sandy brown" shooters, this one has a much more clean futuristic vibe in its aesthetic I'm really digging, as it's a nice departure from the "everything in ruins dystopia" I'm used to seeing in too many games now.

asrealasitgets

03/25/2013 at 05:33 PM

The aesthetic of this game world makes it really stand out actually. At moments it feels like Final Fantasy XIII with it's mech bosses and vehicles. I would like to see this world revisited. It's very similar in tone to Vanquish.

Captain N

03/25/2013 at 02:50 AM

I always wanted to try this game since I always see it at the store. I'm really going to give it a go if I can find the PS3 version. I always thought Binary Domain was a sequel or part of Burning Rangers because of some of the backwards letter thing.

03/25/2013 at 05:35 PM

At a sale price, there's not much reason why not to buy it. I actually got it on sale during Steam's many sale events, so it was easy for me to just press play.

daftman

03/25/2013 at 11:47 AM

I remember this game got mostly panned when released but the 1UP review was positive enough that I wanted to try it. Since then the number of games I buy has really dropped off (not that I was playing all the ones I bought anyway lol) and so Binary Domain has remained elusive. But I've watched it drop in price so maybe I'll pick it up sometime still.

03/25/2013 at 05:37 PM

A lot of reviewers compared the game to Gears of War due to it's squad style game play, so in comparison it doesn't stand up as well, however in terms of visual style, voice acting and story, it is pretty interesting on it's own.

stratu23

03/25/2013 at 09:50 PM

Yeah I really enjoyed this one too. It was really tough though, for me anyway. There was a hell of a lot of swearing on my part during boss battles, ha ha. I think Vanquish was better though, but this was still great enough that I finished it.

03/26/2013 at 12:36 AM

It was tough because the AI of your squad wasn't very good. The game does have issues in this regard. I fealt like I took on the game by myself, but still enjoyed it though. Those bosses were tough, especially the last one. But that's the way it should be. Tough Bosses.

GeminiMan78

03/26/2013 at 09:54 AM

I remember the squad AI being the real issue with the 1up review. That and repetative waves of the grunt enemies. But the boss fights made up the difference. May have to check it out, I liked Vanquish so if this is similar I'll probably like it too.

angelfaceband42

03/25/2013 at 10:39 PM

I've seen this in the stores and was curious. I'm going to keep this on my sale radar now. I'm always up for the story.

03/26/2013 at 12:37 AM

The story was quite good. A bit short though.

BrokenH

03/27/2013 at 09:04 PM

Based on your blog, I should enjoy this! A shame it did not do better. I bet its' sequel would have been spectacular.

I don't mind if it's a bit short as I've been more busy lately. There seem to be less idle moments I can sit down to play a long engrossing rpg. Guess that's the price paid for adulthood. lol.

04/01/2013 at 10:02 PM

I think a strong point is that it is short. The game ends when it needs to and that's okay. It's basically a mission run to the tower so-to-speak, like mario or castlevania etc. except with robots in tokyo. Actually, the game resembles FFXIII quite a bit especially when you end up downtown in the futuristic city.

Keegs79

04/01/2013 at 06:53 PM

I once had my eye on getting this game but I might again at some point in fhe future. You have made me more interested in this game. I am a fan of the team who did the Yakuza titles and really wanted to see what they did with something different.

04/01/2013 at 10:05 PM

I think part of the issue with the game is that it was compared to Gears of War and other squad based games but didn't do much better than those games in terms of combat. Taken as a purely action game where you are just moving forward towards a final objective, albeit with some awesome visuals and boss fights, and you've got Binary Domain. It's like a umm, japanime gears of war. I thought it was good. Especially at a bargain bin price. I got it off a steam sale.

PixlBit