Retrospective: Bionic Commando

By Jeffrey Matulef Published 6 March, 2011

Parks and Spencer.

Sequels made over 15 years later are notoriously awkward. The Phantom Menace, Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Plastic-Wrap Aliens, and more recently Tron: Legacy have tainted that which we held dear all those years ago.

Modern videogames have the more difficult task of bringing something that worked on a 2D plane into the infinitely more complex realm of 3D. Sonic the Hedgehog never made this transition effectively, so bringing Capcom's favourite cyborg super-soldier to the modern era seemed an arduous task indeed.

As an act of good faith, the studio behind Bionic Commando, GRiN, preceded it with an HD remake of the original NES classic, which it dubbed Bionic Commando Rearmed. It captured the cheesy eighties action-movie atmosphere effectively, with leading man Nathan Spencer sporting shades, a green windbreaker and white sneakers as he attempted to rescue national hero Joseph "Super Joe" Gibson. Fighting dwarfs, grumbling about his ex-wife and making Hitler's head "explod" was just the kind of daft nonsense one would expect from a guy nicknamed "Rad".

It may come as a surprise then that GRiN seemingly abandoned this tongue-in-cheek humour in favor of a grittier soldier's tale with the 2009 home console release, simply called Bionic Commando. Spencer – who in Rearmed was all smiles and pointy Phoenix Wright index fingers – has degenerated into a dreadlocked, Tarzan-like creature voiced by Mike Patton.

'Retrospective: Bionic Commando' Screenshot 3

"What? No sequel? There's no reason to live!"

"Super Joe", meanwhile, has now become simply "Joe Gibson", the corrupt government agent who removed Spencer's arm and imprisoned him for a decade after bionics were deemed unsafe. It's a jarring transition after their budding bromance aboard the sinking Albatross last time out.

Reinvention is all well and good if done well, but things get off to an uneasy start when Spencer starts shouting lines like "Nailed ya!" every time he defeats an enemy. Rather than continue down the path of satirical machismo or humanise him, GRiN's ill-fitting response was to make him edgier. Did we learn nothing from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within?

This never improves. In fact, when Spencer learns the truth about what happened to his wife in one of the most preposterous game endings ever, his purpose in life goes from, "I'm gonna murder Super Joe," to, "Now I'm really gonna murder Super Joe!" Hardly compelling character development.

'Retrospective: Bionic Commando' Screenshot 4

Still safer than Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.

So how did I come around to not only tolerating Spencer's portrayal but actually enjoying his work? (Because he certainly didn't work his way through charm school by throwing a grenade into a mechanical gorilla screaming, "Sucks to be you!") The trick is that the game around him is an underappreciated gem. What it lacks in manners, it makes up for in soaring highs, and Spencer's likeness merely serves as a reminder of all those great times we had together.

He was there when I catapulted myself from underneath a bridge to latch onto a flying sentry whose innards I proceeded to rip out. He was there when I swung round an atrium taking out half a dozen meticulously placed snipers. He was there when I propelled myself through the clouds, grappling from droid to droid in an attempt to murder a Walt Disney lookalike in a robot suit, whooping and hollering all the while, mirroring my own exhilaration.

It's not immediately apparent how to get around with a bionic arm, though. We've been trained for years that the best way to launch oneself far is to release at the apex of one's swing, but in fact releasing towards the middle offers greater propulsion.

Getting into the swing of swinging things takes some getting used to, but the accomplishment is meaningful. It's something you've earned. When it clicks, it works so well that playing any third-person shooter without a grappling hook feels archaic in comparison. Was Just Cause 2 the only game to get the memo?

After playing through Bionic Commando on each of its three difficulty settings, I couldn't look at the real world without imagining how I'd swing around it. Streetlights, buildings and ceilings were transformed in my mind. At every turn I found myself frustrated with our antiquated legs and arms. Bionic Commando makes me dream of a better world where we all have bionic arms and never get stuck in traffic (shut up – it would be better).

'Retrospective: Bionic Commando' Screenshot 1

50 per cent of marriages end in bionic parts. Good luck, people.

While Bionic Commando's 2009 outing lacks the retro stylings and kooky characters of its predecessors, it's not entirely humorless either. It just presents its rambunctious personality in different ways. When facing off against a giant mechanical worm (which you actually get to fight, unlike the one in Gears of War 2), Spencer retorts, "Is that a long health bar or are you just happy to see me?"

Your contact replies, "There's no way out. You'll just have to fight it." Upon dying and starting over he'll change his tack to, "There's no way out. You'll just have to f*** it."

"Ummm...?" Spencer snickers. This line is never repeated again no matter how many times you die. Even stranger, the subtitle still reads "fight it". Not since I woke up slaying vampires in Snake's dream in Metal Gear Solid 3 have I been so afraid I was hallucinating. (I've checked around and it really happened. I'm not hearing things. Well, not these things.)

'Retrospective: Bionic Commando' Screenshot 2

Despite the nickname, nobody ever refers to Spencer as 'Rad'. A pity.

With such attention to detail, it's a shame GRiN went under shortly after its release. Due to poor marketing, middling review scores, and some misguided attempts at baditude, Bionic Commando fell by the wayside for many. It's not all bad news though. Several GRiN staff moved on to Fatshark to work on Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, and our angsty tank-topped pal made an appearance in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

Then again, limiting the agile Spencer to an enclosed fighting arena seems cruel, like that Star Trek episode where people find themselves part of an intergalactic zoo. Captivity doesn't suit a man who was born to swing. Maybe his devil may care attitude wasn't misguided after all, but a cathartic last stand. Sometimes, you just have to f*** it.

Picture of Jeffrey.

About Jeffrey Matulef

Jeffrey Matulef is a yank, but don't hold that against him. A freelance journalist by trade, he likes eating rhubarb pies, but not baking them.

Read more articles from Jeffrey by visiting the Jeffrey Matulef archive page.

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Comments (50) Latest comment 11 months ago

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  • lucky_jim #1 12 months ago

    There's always one I guess. For me, this is just another misguided attempt at "gritty" in a series which totally didn't need it, like Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within, Jak 2, and many others.

  • tachometer #2 12 months ago

    Good article. The game had some excellent ideas and lush visuals in places, especially the jungle. They just made it too long and spread it too thin. Instead of an enjoyable 5 hour game it was a gruelling 12 hour slog.

  • Concrete #3 12 months ago

    I still really rate this game. I'm not into third person action games, but I played it the whole way through and enjoyed it for what it was. It was really quite atmospheric in places.

  • photoboy #4 12 months ago

    I enjoyed it quite a lot too, my two main criticisms were lack of checkpoints (I was never able to beat the library section) and it wouldn't remember which hidden items I had collected. This meant having to make time consuming detours to re-collect them every time I died. If they could have softened those two edges I think it could have been a real gem.

    That said the combat was usually excellent, with the arm providing a unique attack style and some of the swinging sections in really high areas were truly vertigo inducing. The sense of speed as you hurtled through the air was incredible fun.

    I was actually surprised that hardened games reviewers didn't like it, as they shouldn't have struggled with the difficulty like I did, and that was the only thing that I thought was wrong with the game.

    Oh and the score with its orchestral remixes of the original theme was really excellent.

  • patchbox360 #5 12 months ago

    middleclass

  • menage #6 12 months ago

    I tried playing this, but sadly the controls are just too clumsy for me. I might have persevered if it wasn't for his archenemy called WATER!

    It could have been great with some extra thought put into it, it wasn't bad at all on a base level.
    Edited by 1 at 06/03/11 @ 10:18

  • CameO73 #7 12 months ago

    After having played (and thoroughly enjoyed) Rearmed, I was really looking forward to this one. As in "reading up on everything and scouring forums for anything new" looking forward.

    When it finally arrived, it did a couple of things to make it very easy to hate: the radioactive clouds (I never understood that -- invisible walls would have been much better!) and the "puddles of death" (nothing is more frustrating than seeing badass Spencer die slowly because you can't get yourself out of a small puddle ...)

    Still I persevered and realized at the end that this is one of my favourite games. For those who want to try this one out: the first 1/3 of the game is nothing like the rest. Don't let it stop you enjoying this game!

  • tvcasualty #8 12 months ago

    Better after the first third you say? Maybe I'll go back and try it again. I got it for a tenner long after its release because I needed to scratch a Spiderman-like urge to swing between tall things, but gave up a level or two in because I was having a rubbish time.

  • ChocNut #9 12 months ago

    It sickens me that the rearmed version survived and this didn't. I hated the 2d remake but I cherish this game in my collection.

    I haven't beaten it yet but it's a true classic in my eyes.

    It's hard but mostly very rewarding once you get the 'knack'. Jumping off ledges feels great.

  • YobRenoops #10 12 months ago

    Retrospective? It's just over two years old!

    What next? A retrospective on Resistance 3?

  • spiderignacio #11 12 months ago

    I love Grin's Bionic Commando. I am replaying it these days and I am enjoying it a lot.

    The game is awesome, it's a pity reviewers were in general, so cruel with BC. I am so sorry we do not have a sequel.

    Graphics are awesome, gampley is hard but when you get used to the bionic arm and get all its uses, you enjoy so much that you get hooked to the game until it finish.

    So bad that Grin had to close its doors, hope Capcom trust in Sweden again.

    Please come back Spencer!!! (Or Rad)

  • TonyB #12 12 months ago

    I agree with pretty much this entire article, I've always thought this was underrated and that something shone through despite its flaws. I'm surprised no-one's mentioned its challenge-based character advancement system - a very gamey but nonetheless more interesting way to advance your abilities than a raw XP bar.

    I have to disagree with the suggestion that invisible walls would have been better than its radioactive clouds - sure the way the clouds were done was crap as you rarely had enough time to turn around and get back out, discouraging exploration in a game that should have been encouraging it, but invisible walls in a game which is all about aerial freedom of movement would have been a metaphorical and literal smack in the face whenever you hit one. Invisible walls in games are one of my biggest bugbears as they're normally a massive immersion-breaker - if I can't go a particular way you should at least be able to come up with a reason why I can't, not just smack a transparent polygon in my way at let me rub up against it until I realise why I'm not moving.

  • Gearskin #13 12 months ago

    I loved this game to pieces and I'm gutted for GRIN. The graphics were really nice, controls were tight and the soundtrack was freakin' epic! So many fond memories of this.

    I'm going to have to play it again!

  • Inquisitor #14 12 months ago

    I absolutely adored this game. It's one of the most satisfying titles I've ever had the pleasure of playing. It really is such a great feeling when you finally fully understand the swinging / combat mechanics. It looks stunning too, really lovely environments and pleasingly chunky robotic enemies.

    I take issue at the vitriol you levelled at the story line. It really doesn't take itself all too seriously, a giant mechanic spider captained by an outrageously voiced faux Nazi?. As for the ending, I actually enjoyed it. I remember it garnered a lot of snide jokes and comments with games media at the time perhaps because it was so jarring in relation to the rest of the game but I thought it was fairly interesting, daring and epic whilst retaining the games playful cheese factor.

    Best use of achievements in a long time too. Love the spread of points and the way it rewards you as you become more competent with each weapon. My biggest complaint comes with the horrible poisonous clouds though. I understand that occasionally they need to restrict your freedom but so often these clouds are placed so close to your path it beggars belief. For the most part they're completely unnecessary.

    It's a small tarnish on an otherwise fantastic game, one which easily made it up there with my best of 2009.

  • GamesConnoisseur #15 12 months ago

    Control, variable difficulty and checkpointings were what killed the game for me, I dont want too easy game after all I loved playing Ninja Gaiden on its normal difficulty. But what I detest was being punished severely by doing over the large level again when I fall at the last possible hurdle.

    That was quite common in 80s game but for nowdays and where gamers often have quite limited time as it is, not suitable to me. The fact there were a lot of middlings reviews does perhaps mean that the game has just one flaw too many for it to be taken as endearing part of game?

    Mass Effect was quite buggy, awful control and so on, but the pros far outweights the cons in the whole package, I didnt find that with Bionic Commando despite how badly I wanted it to be otherwise.

    Loved the game when its worked well, swinging freely across beautiful scarred urban landscape is a dream but not worthwhile in the larger content.

    What I m hopeful is that the sequel in work will recognises the worse of the flaws and irons them out to make it an unmissable experience.

  • darkmorgado #16 12 months ago

    Nice article, but when is game only a couple of years old considered retro?

  • KDR_11k #17 12 months ago

    I tried playing the multiplayer on the PC once (long after release), it was hurt badly by the lag but I could imagine it being a fun game with all the swinging if it worked correctly.

  • TonyHarrison #18 12 months ago

    I'm surprised there's so many people here who have actually played this, it's one of the biggest flops of this generation.

  • espibara #19 12 months ago

    Problem is bionic commandos diffuclty curve was all over the bloody place. At times it was brilliant at other times it was controller smashing frustrating.

  • HASJ #20 12 months ago

    I still like the game and the release of MvC3 with him there, just made me play the game again.
    I really do hope Capcom try this series out, but since Capcom is after money like never before, I think they won't take risks. Shame.

  • gjgjg #21 12 months ago

    i enjoyed this one a lot, probably a little motivated by my romantic memory of the nes original somehow.

    The multiplayer was excelent imo, but matchmaking was a huge deterrent unfortunately. Taken wwith a pinch of salt the sp was also very enjoyable. Good trashy story with good gameplay. Shame a squel is unlikely.

  • captain-future #22 12 months ago

    Loved the Rearmed game and Ben Judd seems a likeable dude... but oh oby I hated the swinging in Bionic Commando 2009... just couldn't get the hang of it.

    I never finished the game cause it was too painful to play.

  • Baranga #23 12 months ago

    Dat music!

    http://ww w.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj94owo0k...

  • chessboxer #24 12 months ago

    The game was fairly entertaining to play but I really loved the title music. I thought it was an awesome change from the heavier version that would bang out of my speakers when I booted up BC:Rearmed.
    Edited by 1 at 06/03/11 @ 15:44

  • number3son #25 12 months ago

    You went through this entire article without mentioning the game's biggest problem - the ridiculous "radiation barriers" that would kill you within 3 seconds of leaving the pre-determined corridor. Combined with very few checkpoints and having to re-discover all the special moves and collectibles, it's as if the developers wanted to punish you for playing the game. Sorry, but this one was over-rated, not under-rated.

  • Nithron #26 12 months ago

    throwing a grenade into a mechanical gorilla screaming, "Sucks to be you!"

    Sold.

  • mqblank #27 12 months ago

    Totally agree. One of the few games I actually played through the higher difficulty settings right after completing it the first time. While the swinging is tough to start with, once you get the hang of it you feel like Spider-Man.

  • Anslant #28 12 months ago

    By far one of my favourite games of '09 and criminally overlooked following some strangely negative reviews, much like Mirror's Edge a year earlier. Oh and that bit with the worm - yep, I heard that too - bizarre line, but very amusing and a great fight!

  • Pinewood_Groves #29 12 months ago

    I felt this game was unfairly maligned. It wasn't perfect, and had a ridiculously unlikeable 'hero', but was pretty good fun.

  • Doctor_What #30 12 months ago

    This is one of the few games that I own that I've not bothered to finish. It felt decent, but there wasn't quite enough polish to really bring it home for me. There would be occasional leaps in the difficulty that didn't help, and the feedback for navigation options could have used mroe work. I loved this game in the 80s and wanted to like this too, but with so much stellar competition it simply lost out to the other stronger titles.

    It's a shame for the talented people at GRIN, but I get the feeling that there were too many people trying to pull the project in too many directions and the end result isn't quite focussed enough on its own (bionic) strengths.

  • IMD1_Pk #31 12 months ago

    A great soundtrack and AMAZING multiplayer. That's what it had going for it in my mind. I bought the game based off the multiplayer demo because the multiplayer was so fun to play, despite all the lag.

  • Mister-Wario #32 12 months ago

    I tried this briefly when a friend lent it to me. I thought it was a pretty good game. Maybe I should give it another go.

  • lordofthedunce #33 12 months ago

    Enjoyed BC a lot. I feel it's a fairly straightforward arcade game wrapped up in some pretty visuals.

    As some people ahve mentioned, it would have benefited from slightly less frustrating checkpoints and stored collectables.

    The grapple hook is superb in BC, but I whenever I load up another Capcom game, Lost Planet 2, I feel it could really do with the same thing. The grapple in LP2 just feels pointless since you can't swing on it, can't fire it mid-air and can't jump and fire it!

    Did anyone here ever try the multiplayer in BC? I thought that was pretty cool.

  • andywilkie35 #34 12 months ago

    This game was an absolute festering turd, possibly the worst game this gen in fact. Absolute toilet.

  • andywilkie35 #35 12 months ago

    ABSOLUTE guff.

  • DDevil #36 12 months ago

    I think the "ooooh... I get it!" moment for me was when I reached the gardens. Playing on hard, the mechs can take you down easily, and there's a bit where there's 3 or 4 of them on you at once. Staying still meant death so I was swinging around between trees, rocks and the mechs themselves. Spencer flipping around between grapples, blasting away without ever hitting the floor. It clicked with me then, the realisation it wasn't just A to B, shooting baddies... It was the possibility to feel like a proper ass-kicking, spider-man-swinging super hero while doing so.

  • Lunastra78 #37 12 months ago

    BC was a nice experience for the £9 I spent on it. But had I paid full price for this game, I would undoubtedly have felt ripped off.

  • el_pollo_diablo #38 12 months ago

    It had Mike Patton doing the voice?

    /buys

  • NunianVonFuch #39 12 months ago

    Tron Legacy was brilliant! For shame Mr Matulef, for shame. Thoroughly enjoyed Bionic Commando as well, mainly for the gameplay which is tough to market in fairness.

  • joeymoto108 #40 12 months ago

    Got it 3 quid brand new in an HMV sale last year... absolutely wonderful game. Flawed, yes. But nevertheless, wonderful.

  • MagicM #41 12 months ago

    I liked this game very much!
    First I bought it for PS3, but was dissappointed because of the bad resolution of the game. Very crispy...
    But then I got it for the PC! There I played it at 1680x1050 - it is a great experience! Even I like the control with the mouse much more than with the controller! This game should get at least 9/10 for the PC! For me, it´s not often that I finish a game. Most times I get bored and stop it somewhere at level 4 or so. But this game I played through to the end! AND WHAT A SHAME there is no BC II coming out!If you haven´t played it: Go and get it for the PC! Feel the freedom of the Open-World-Swinger! (Or little-bit-closed-but-feeling-free-Swinger!) :)

  • asphaltcowboy #42 12 months ago

    Loved this when it came out. It really is an underrated gem. Yes, there are a few chuffin' stupid design decisions (recollecting collectibles and redoing combat challenges after dying), but overall it presents an exhilarating experience once you nail the swing mechanic. I really must got back and finish it on Commando difficulty.

    EDIT: In fact, cheers for reminding me EG... gonna start going back through this TODAY!
    Edited by 1 at 07/03/11 @ 09:31

  • fluff_the_tiger #43 12 months ago

    I'm glad I wasn't the only one that liked this game. I'm a little bit surprised that there was no mention of the audio, which was one of the best videogame soundtracks that I can remember in recent times.

    As previously pointed out by some commentators here, the spacing of the stupid clouds was ridculous. But that is really the only real fault that I can hold against it. I can see why it was designed this way (perhaps to mirror the quite restrictive and super difficult NES orginal), but if only they gave you a slightly bigger play area it would have been perfect.

    My friend HATES this game, but he is not too good at games and finds it frustrating. Once you get the hang of the swinging mechanic it is a true joy to play; one of the few games that I replayed through multiple games to get 1000 gamerpoints. If you like hardcore and difficult games that you have to persevere through then I highly recommend it. It is one of those games that scales in enjoyment as you get more proficient.

    One of the best games of 2009 for me, and up there with Peace Walker and Demon's Souls as one of my favourite games in recent years (ha - maybe my taste is strange, but hey, it's what I like). Thanks for a great article!

  • MrJoeSnow #44 12 months ago

    Amen Brother, I loved this game. It's so funny what you said about Just Cause 2. I agree totally.
    Bionic Commando is a real satisfying challenge and some of the battles are epic when played through on the hardest setting.

    Grappling hooks and parachutes should be made compulsory.

  • geeza2020 #45 12 months ago

    While this game was a solid third person action game, probably only slightly over-looked, did it really justify a retrospective? Are we running out of old classics for these articles?

  • mcreddie #46 12 months ago

    I enjoyed it too. Though I felt alot of people jumped on the bandwagon of saying 'nah it's shit' without giving it a chance. Sure it had inaccessible areas that would send you to an early grave as well as scarce weapon and ammunition caches, but I found it to be endearing overall.
    Edited by 3 at 07/03/11 @ 14:26

  • evnewell #47 12 months ago

    "Capcom's favourite cyborg super-soldier" is not Nathan Spencer: it's Rockman.

  • ToAks #48 12 months ago

    i recall when this came out, i was the only guy on my friends list (about 90-100 on it) who had the game and everyone went like, ugh! that game is supposed to be crap! blah blah.

    I really enjoyed the game so i tried to recomemend the game to everyone but in the end ... maybe 5 guys got it eventually (and they actually enjoyed it aswell).

    I blame lousy reviewers for the bad sales (and little marketing) and i recall reading them after i completed the game and it was quite apparent that they never even tried to give the game a chance and most of all most of them never even got further than a few hours into it.

    I totally lost respect for some reviewers after this game.

  • muscleblade #49 12 months ago

    One of my favourite games this gen. I played it through 3 times and got all the achievements. Best use of achievements in any game yet was a bonus. The atmosphere was fantastic. Loved the music.

  • Nevflinn #50 11 months ago

    I'm playing this game right now, and I dearly wish I'd bought it in its first month - this game did not deserve to flop.
    Sure, the writing was awkwardly bad (except for when they justified game mechanics), but the game itself had a heap of soul. They could have given Spencer as many bad one-liners as they liked, but moments as triumphant as zipping after flying mechs with a whoop and a shout is something that just has to stick with me, no matter how rough the game was around the edges.

    To any former GRIN staff out there, I salute you. o\