Review #270: Binary Domain

 Holler if you are dead!

 I'm gonna cut straight to the chase, Binary Domain is amazing. This is a third-person shooter done by a Japanese Company, the 'Yakuza team' particularly, and it's amazing. You wouldn't expect a TPS from a Japanese dev to be THIS good, but it is, while maintaining a particularly strong Japanese flavor.

 The game pits you as Dan and his 'Rust Team' crew, a team comprised of members from England, America, France and China that band together to stop the Japanese Amada Corporation, a tech-corp that broke the third Geneva convention that prevented companies from researching into human-like robots. But obviously, Yoji Amada broke it, planting 'Hollow Children', robots disguised as men that don't even know that they are robots themselves, as sleeper agents. The story is very generic 'Action Movie' fare, with cheesy lines and cheesier deliveries, but it works for what it wants to do. Your team members are a lovable bunch, Charlie the deadpan snarker bookworm, Rachel, the explosives expert that came from the slums, Faye, the silent type, Cain, the most badass robot out there, and then there's Dan and Bo, those two guys! As previously mentioned, the game was designed by the Yakuza Team, and it shows. There's a ton of cutscenes, much more than your average Third Person Shooter, and a ton of drama, and I wouldn't have it any other way, the cutscenes are great anyways.

 This is a modern third person shooter, so y'know the drill: Regenerating health, large focus on cover-based shoot-outs, carry a limited amount of weapons(two main weapons, a gun with infinite ammo and explosives), over-the-shoulder aiming, etc. As far as the shooting goes, it doesn't reinvent the wheel, not does it do anything particularly original, but it works and it works well. There were a few quirks though, like getting into covers sometimes is a bit iffy, if you press X while dashing, even if in front of cover, most of the time you will roll, instead, you have to let go of the analog stick and then press X. Also, sometimes, while popping out of cover, Dan will aim towards a wall, these cases are easily fixed by holding the left analog stick in the direction you want to pop-out of... but this shouldn't have been an issue in the first place.

 The game employs a 'relationship gauge' for each team member. Performing well in battle, as well as giving the right answers when your allies engage you in conversation will the increase, or decrease, their individual gauges. This affects two things: A) How well they'll respond to your orders and B) The ending. I didn't particularly care for the relationship system, but if one thing annoyed me, your allies will occasionally run in front of your line of fire, and if they get hit, their relationship gauge decreases.

 Your enemies are all manner of robots, and there's all kinds of ways you can dismantle them. Aim for their heads and they'll go blind, engaging in friendly fire. Or break their legs in order to handicap their movement. Or you know, destroy their arms in order to... dis-arm them, literally. The more damage you cause to an enemy, the more points you'll earn, which can then be exchanged for upgrades to your main weapon as well as your allies, or buy Nanomachines which can be equipped on any team member for passive buffs.

 I loved Binary Domain. The story is great in what it wants to be, what it presents tribute to, rather than what it is at face value. The gameplay is tight, even if it suffers from a couple of quirks. It all comes together into this fantastic tribute to action and sci-fi movies that's a blast to play.
 9.0 out of 10