It's not a very big month for the PS3 this May. There are really only 2 games worth mentioning. So I will make them a little detailed.

BIONIC COMMANDO: REARMED - 22nd May



All right, first of all I am an enormous Bionic Commando fan. I played it for hours and hours as a kid, and I still play it on my PSP more often than a lot of current games. It was revolutionary for it's time, the swing mechanic, the mini-map, upgradeable weapons, as well as featuring a completely different top-down engine for the missions where you are attacked by the enemies on the road. It was amazingly fun and repayable for a game of yesterday, as we find a lot of games from way back when do not stand the test of time. However, for me, BC has more than achieved this.

From all of the images and trailers I have seen for this game, it seems to be a shot for shot remake of the majority of the assets from the original. The dude in charge of the production of this game is one Ben Judd, self professed fanboy of Bionic Commando, and it most certainly shows in the footage thus far. The movement, enemies, levels, weapons and pretty much everything else has been overhauled to make it work and look as best as possible, while also updating the gameplay to comply with new technology. Ben is intent on delivering the best and truest BC experience he can, while still delivering a new gaming experience, and I like to think he has done just that.

Basics



Bionic Commando: Rearmed, unlike it's next-gen brother, is a 2.5D platforming game based completely off the original NES classic. You are a soldier known as Captain Rad Spencer, awesome huh?, who is tasked with rescuing a secret agent known as Super Joe. You go through 19 platforming levels, with about a dozen top-down missions spread in between. It also features unlockable areas in earlier levels that you can open with weapons you earn in future levels, providing more than a small amount replay value. On top of this, Ben has included a whole bunch of puzzle based "VR" levels reminiscent to that of the original Metal Gear Solid, offering staggering amounts of gameplay.








The basic aim of the game is to utilize your bionic arm for climbing and maneuvering around levels. It isn't as easy as mashing the bionic arm button though, as contact with an enemy, even while swinging will cause you to lose health. This means you must time your swinging and plan what you are going to grapple and swing to. The arm can grapple almost anything, which is handy seeing as you don't have a jump button, except for a few spots which adds a little more depth to a few puzzles.

Wee-pons



You get your basic pistol to start off with, but can also pick up an array of other weapons like a shotgun, machine gun, multi-directional semi-automatic, RPG and more. As well as other useful equipment like flash bombs that light up dark areas and small upgrades to your stats like health and armor. All of this was in the original game, but has simply been updated and given some bells and whistles. I highly recommend at LEAST downloading the ROM and playing the original game if you haven't played it, I assure you that you will enjoy yourself thoroughly.

The Other guys

The Badds. Coolest name for villians ever? No. But still cool. The Badds, in the original game at least, consisted of 30 -different- kinds of enemies. Ranging from paramilitary, cannonball throwing roid junkies, RPG soldiers, mechanized gunners, tanks and more. The game had a mammoth amount of variety for a game at that time and even by todays standards would put up a good fight. I can only assume the amount of enemies will only be lengthened thanks to Judds reworking of mini-boss and boss battles.

If there was one thing wrong with Bionic Commando, it was the boss battles; they were just awful. Every single one lasted about 30 seconds while you shot at a big, flashing computer while dodging bullets from varying degrees of enemies and machines; your bionic arm was never utilized at all, and the bosses, for me anyway, merely served as a marker for the end of a level. Ben knows this all to well and has made sure that the boss battles are unique and fun, utilizing all of the new mechanics he has implemented in to the new version. From flying robots to mechanized soldiers, he has gone all out on making BC:R an amazing, new experience, as well as nostalgic.

Multiplayer



The original game didn't have multiplayer, as was to be expected at the time. But seeing as we are in 2008 and multiplayer is pretty much a must for most games now, the team have gone ahead and added in an extensive multiplayer feature. You can call in reinforcements and enable a second player to help you out; the levels will change depending on whether 2 people are present or not, switching up the amount of enemies, as well as the difficulty. Every level can be tackled in multiplayer and you can really set up some deadly combos when the 2 of you work together.

Final thoughts

I am buying this game. It embodies such a large amount of nostalgia for me that I almost explode just looking at the sexy screen-shots and footage. If you love 2D, sidescrolling platformers then do yourself a favor and pick this little gem up. It has tons of missions, a multitude of VR missions, multiplayer mode and some awesome remixes of original BC tacks; at only US$10, you would be absolutely crazy not to pick this up.


Excitement Level: 4.5 out of 5








HAZE - 20th MAY



Haze has been under the firing line for a while now, from people saying it is a poor mans Halo 3, that the Nectar gimmick doesn't add anything exciting to the gameplay, that it is a mish-mash over other, better FPS's and so on. All of this is unsubstantiated of course, until we get our hands on the game we shouldn't pass judgment too harshly; far be it from me to base my game purchases on another persons likes/dislikes.

Basics



So anyway, for anyone who doesn't know about Haze, it is your run of the mill first person shooter. You are some kind of soldier, you have a gun, you shoot things, and they die; bada-bing, bada-boom. What Haze tries to deliver, in terms of innovation, is the interaction with your enemies. Haze uses the standard melee combat techniques found in first person shooters today, but also implements a disarming technique that allows you to snatch your enemies guns in close quarters. In addition to this, and the main gimmick of the game, is the utilization of a drug known as Nectar.

Nectar is a performance enhancing drug developed by the Mantel corporation. It is used on all of Mantels soldiers to ensure 100% from them at all times in terms of physical abilities as well as mental stability. Mantel soldiers are a very conditioned bunch who are brainwashed in to thinking they are the good guys; Mantel keeps them in order by making battles as easy as possible for them, they have twice the strength and ability of a normal soldier, dead bodies simply fade out of existence and a constant fix of Nectar is always strapped to their backs, ensuring all of these abilities are well stocked.

The Other Guys



Enter generic rebel force #3, aka 'The Promised Hand'. The rebels are, of course, against mantel, and don't mind killing anybody who decides to stick with the fluorescent, yellow drug. They are weaker than mantel soldiers, not as fit and no where near as organized. But what they lack in strength, they make up for in tactics. Rebels can use the Nectar against their enemies, stabbing a knife coated with nectar straight in to their bodies, shooting/slashing the nectar-packs on their back or using a nectar-grenade will cause an 'overdose' in the victim, which will make them go crazy and start shooting anything that moves. Apparently when a soldier has too little or too much of the drug, it impairs any kind of hold they once had over their mind and they simply go insane and start to kill anything until they are killed themselves, or commit suicide.



Now, you will have a chance to play both sides in this game. You start off as a Mantel soldier, pumped full of Nectar, beefed up and ready to shoot anything that doesn't have a light bulb for a head. Once half way through the game, you are freed from the drug after some 'event' and join the rebels cause for justice and revenge, initiating your battle as part of the rebel force; good luck with that. The single player campaign spans the course of 3 days in the game and will feature all the usual monotony breakers we are all so familiar with such as the mandatory vehicle level etc.



Multiplayer



As for multiplayer, the game is set to feature 4 player split screen coop along with 4 player online coop, both of which utilize the much loved jump-in, jump-out feature. As well as 16 player online battles each side will have their own unique abilities that they can also use in single player. "But thats unfair, they have super-drugs helping them, what do the rebels have?", do not fear! You, as a rebel, can be assured of protection from these soldiers. How? By playing dead of course. Yeah I know it's a bit weak, but as I said before, Mantel soldiers automatically block out dead bodies, so as soon as you hit the floor you are invisible. I assume this will only work once on any one soldier though.

Final thoughts

I can't say for sure whether I will buy this game or not, I am going to have to at least play the demo and get a feel for the controls etc., but I also don't think it is a good idea to snub this game off without actually seeing what it has to offer. It has a semi-interesting plot, beautiful graphics, some neat ideas and a good developer to back it up. It has everything it needs to be a great game in an infinite sea of sub-standard first person shooters, but whether it will reach the tipping point or stay teetering on the edge of mediocrity like so, so many before it, we will not know until it's release.


Excitement Level: 3.5 out of 5