Caltrops - Bionic Commando: Rearmed





	[quote name="Horrible Gelatinous Blob"]Notes for future review(?): <li> There's a lot of whining on QT3 about how hard the game is. This game is nowhere near as hard as the original. You have a life gauge when you start in BCR, as opposed to the one hit kills of the original. I'm actually glad they changed this; having to collect a bunch of those bullet powerups to get one lousy tick on the life gauge was pointless, repetitive, and unnecessary. Actually, to go into this in some depth: if I recall correctly, neither the instruction manual nor the game itself ever indicated to you in any fashion that collecting those bullets would eventually give you energy. I played the game for weeks before realizing that collecting a bunch of them did indeed grant a reward and that I should milk the first stage to build up a cushion before attempting the later stages. I got halfway through the game or so without an energy gauge because the basic game mechanics were so poorly documented. <li> The tutorial and brand new Area 00 are great, mostly because they define and elucidate upon the mechanics of the bionic arm and the game's physics, which the original didn't even attempt to do in any shape, form, or fashion. <li> Jesus fuck, the 360 D-pad sucks. I mean, really, really sucks. The analog stick really is the way to go, especially once you learn to trust the game and not press in any direction for the 45 degree angle bionic arm extension. <li> Challenge rooms will drive me insane if I don't ignore them. They also need an "instant restart" option in the menu. <li> Barrel-as-shield/weapon mechanic makes game much easier in some sections. Same goes for grenades, only doubled. <li> Don't really like the newly added puzzle aspect of some of the bosses. A good deal of trial and error, because there are absolutely no hints given about how you should attack or in what order your attack should proceed in. <li> Out-of-porportion-annoyance: Like the original, all of the enemies respawn when you enter/exit communication rooms. There's no reason for it, because this isn't an 8 bit game with the attendant memory limitations, but okay. UNLIKE the original, you get no bonuses or powerups for killing the respawned enemies. They're just there to rape you. It shouldn't annoy me that much, but it does. <li> The dialogue is reasonably entertaining, especially if you remembered the ESL-quality writing of the original. All of the art looks really really nice. <li> Haven't played co-op, probably won't. :( It'll be up to the Cables to review that part of the game.[/quote]