The strangely great things from Binary Domain

[Azahul]

I can't remember how I ended up owning this game. It must have been in some kind of collection on Steam or Humble Bundle, because it isn't the kind of thing I normally play. Still, I've resolved to work through my Steam backlog in alphabetical order, and so I've ended up playing Binary Domain over the last week. And... huh. It ended up surprising me. A lot.

Setting aside the gameplay, which turned out to be a good bit better than I was expecting from something that looked like a generic third person shooter (well, it still is a generic third person shooter, but the modular way you go about destroying enemies and the sheer variety of different foes was a lot of fun). Particularly the characters. The story is ok, and there are some strange writing quirks and really, really corny bits at times, but the characters really took me by surprise. Sure, the protagonist is every white male video game protagonist ever, but the others are all quite interesting.

The one that really surprised me was Rachael Townsend. I can't think of many genuinely unattractive women in games, at least in the "under 50" age group. She's this hulking block of a woman taking on some of the team's most physically demanding roles, namely the close quarters fighting with a shotgun and lugging the team's RPG around. She's not really a full three-dimensional character, her only real attributes seem to be "brash" and "likes explosives", but I can't say I can think of many female characters like her in games. I just kind of appreciate the fact that they didn't feel the need to pretty her up.

The story certainly isn't perfect, but given that the basic premise is "robots that look like humans are being made, discover who is doing it and stop them", I was pleasantly surprised by the route the game chose to take.

Spoiler

Namely the fact that it would have been so easy, and so obvious, to have a team member turn out to be a Hollow Child in disguise. The route the game took with hybrids was a lot more interesting (even if I'm not entirely sure how hybrids are meant to be any different from humans).

I went into the game with pretty low expectations. It's not a masterpiece, but there are a lot of weirdly novel elements that managed to consistently surprise and entertain me. I dunno, does anyone else remember this game?

 

[Zhukov]

[sub][sub]Aww, poor thread gettin' no love.[/sub][/sub]

Yup.

Had a similar experience with it here.

It's goofy and cliche and corny as fuck, but I found myself having significantly more fun than I expected. It also actually managed to make blasting robots satisfying.

Seconded on Rachel as well. She's the only non-pretty, non-old, non-monster female character I can think of off the top of my head other than Avaline Vallen from DA2. Wish she'd actually use that rocket launcher though. I mean come on lady, giant fucking gorilla robot stomping the shit outa me, might be a good time for it? No? Okay then.

However, my personal favourite has to be the French combat robot, mostly on account of him being a fucking french combat robot. Also had some fun with the straight-man british guy though ("Am I the only one who understands the meaning of "covert"?)

I was a bit disappointed by the story though. My expectations were coloured by that one trailer [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_8G3gaQgfc] which seemed to be hinting at least at the attempt at something more. But oh well.

As a last bit of praise, I liked how dialogue and animation would change a bit depending on who you took with you. There's one bit where something or other explodes and everybody dives for cover. But if you have the robot with you, rather than take cover he stands himself in front of a team member to absorb as much of the blast as possible. I thought that sort of thing was a nice touch.

 

[raeior]

Same here.

Played the demo, thought it was nice but didn't buy it right then because "Meh..still just a 3rd person shooter". Then after it being on sale for like 2,50? or something I bought it and played through it pretty much nonstop.

They story was interesting enough, the combat was surprisingly fun, cool enemy design, level design was okayish. The companions were pretty good too, although I hated it that they ran right into the firing line just to start insulting me for shooting them and losing trust points. The voice command feature was a bit weird too (not that I used it). Can't imagine to sit in front of my PC and start shouting at pixels to make them do my bidding.

All in all I was really surprised how much fun a 3rd person shooter can be.

However, my personal favourite has to be the French combat robot, mostly on account of him being a fucking french combat robot.

This! Loved that character and basically took him everywhere with me.

 

[BlackBark]

Yeah, I have to agree. Binary Domain was a pleasant surprise. To me, the combat was by far the best element of the game and was enjoyable enough that I could overlook the average story and really annoying main character. I probably won't play it through for a second time, but it definitely deserves some praise.

 

[Akiraking]

The enemies were great in this game, the devs said they would have all robot enemies and they went for it, Giant Robot spiders and apes were great. The locations were also good too. All the characters were solid even if you did play as a generic white guy. Despite being generic Dan (the white guy) has a few shades to him that are not blurted out and are instead revealed as the game goes on.

The only thing I think the game needed was more sections for exploring and talking, there were a few areas like the Black Market and the flashy Cafe area where you could just look around and talk. It made me feel this could have been an amazing RPG if it had more money and time.

OVERALL THOUGH AMAZING!!!!

I might just play it again after seeing this thread.

 

[Sonicron]

I had a similar experience. Binary Domain wasn't a milestone of gaming or anything, but behind the generic premise there was a surprisingly well-executed sci-fi story with likeable characters and a game with polished, entertaining gameplay. Not something I'd have paid full price for back when it came out (I rented it), but if I saw it in the bargain bin anywhere now I'd snatch it up to have a go at it again.

 

[1Life0Continues]

Played through it on Survivor difficulty (one of the only games I have ever played at the hardest difficulty) because I had too much fun with it on standard difficulty. Yeah, it's a bog standard over the shoulder shooter, but it did some things I really enjoyed. The fact bits would fly off the robots as you chipped away at their outer armour; shooting off their heads added some basic tactical combat, especially in those areas where the game decided you needed an army of enemies; the dialogue scenes that set up the trust system (not unique in any way, but depending on the chosen team, you could really set yourself up badly with at least one party member which I really liked

Spoiler

choosing both the women at the very first rendezvous point resultd in some amusing dialogue about male chauvinism I had a good guffaw at

); some of the enemies were a huge frustration to fight but you felt good taking them down (seriously, screw the Shinobi); the story itself was weak but there were moments I really liked, such as Yuki trying to hit on you (Japanese legal age of consent), any scene with Cain, and the scenes where Charlie and Rachael had a very obvious British jab at the Americans.

The ending was clichéd and telegraphed to hell, but I didn't really mind. I am kinda annoyed

Spoiler: For the sake of kindness

Rachael wasn't an option for romance like Faye was, and indeed how it was the pretty Asian lady that had to be the love interest at all

and wished they'd thought a little outside the box, but otherwise it was great. One of my favourite 'sleeper' hits.

The speech recognition system was clearly broken, but thankfully they made it optional. It didn't seem to understand the Australian accent, which meant I had Big Bo cursing me out for the entire tutorial section because the game thought I was being a prick.

I think it was actually Binary Domain that I first completed 100% (outside of the multiplayer achievements, seriously, fuck off with those) so I must have liked it.

 

[LaoJim]

Hmm bought this cheaply well over a year ago and only played the first two levels or so. This thread has encouraged me to pull it off my backlog pile and have another go.

 

[Azahul]

Seconded on Rachel as well. She's the only non-pretty, non-old, non-monster female character I can think of off the top of my head other than Avaline Vallen from DA2. Wish she'd actually use that rocket launcher though. I mean come on lady, giant fucking gorilla robot stomping the shit outa me, might be a good time for it? No? Okay then.

Oh yeah, Aveline. I dunno, I feel like more effort was made to make Aveline attractive, at least in a strong, handsome kind of way that's pretty unusual for video games, than with Rachael.

Either way though, I'm very happy that both characters exist. I just wish there were a few more like them.

Hmm bought this cheaply well over a year ago and only played the first two levels or so. This thread has encouraged me to pull it off my backlog pile and have another go.

I'm glad. I should mention that the gameplay gets better as the game goes on and you upgrade your character's main weapon. Makes getting those headshots a good bit easier. And the enemies get a lot more diverse as well as the game goes on. The bosses and the regular enemies all managed to impress me at one point or another during the course of the game.

 

[The_Scrivener]

I am ecstatic that this game brought you all joy.

I could not get into this game to save my life. Within the first forty minutes or so, there's a dialogue option where your black sidekick (because of course there's one) jokes with you, in the middle of a battle zone no less, that if you play your cards right, you could get some sex or some such.

To me, this was one of the more, if not the most insulted I've ever been as a video game enthusiast. It wasn't just that it was poorly written or stereotypical of how I feel developers view the gaming consumer (although those things sure as hell don't help), it was almost tutorial in its misguided promise to be like other bigger games that have sexual relationships for more reasons than "just to have them." It was like a half-naked girl ad on the side of a College Humor page telling me "I Have to Click This!"

So anyway, it really put me off. And it was space marine-y, hyper-tech stuff too which I'm over. But again, no hard feelings, and I'm certainly glad that folks got enjoyment out of this game even though I could not. I imagine the gameplay itself could be very good based on what I played. Just couldn't get over the flaws.

 

[hermes]

Hmm bought this cheaply well over a year ago and only played the first two levels or so. This thread has encouraged me to pull it off my backlog pile and have another go.

It does get better. The first levels have some weird stealth sections and QTE that almost made me abandon the game... luckily, they leave all that behind after a couple levels.

 

[Azahul]

I could not get into this game to save my life. Within the first forty minutes or so, there's a dialogue option where your black sidekick (because of course there's one) jokes with you, in the middle of a battle zone no less, that if you play your cards right, you could get some sex or some such.

To me, this was one of the more, if not the most insulted I've ever been as a video game enthusiast. It wasn't just that it was poorly written or stereotypical of how I feel developers view the gaming consumer (although those things sure as hell don't help), it was almost tutorial in its misguided promise to be like other bigger games that have sexual relationships for more reasons than "just to have them." It was like a half-naked girl ad on the side of a College Humor page telling me "I Have to Click This!"

I'm reasonably sure I know the event you're talking about, and I think it only appears if you have both Bo and Faye in your party after you first encounter Faye, Charlie, and Rachel. Personally though, I felt it was more a reflection of Bo's character (and Dan's, depending on how you respond to it) than how the game thought of its audience.

Then again, the game is pretty damned corny and silly, and I'm sure its sense of humour wouldn't appeal to everybody.

 

[antidonkey]

Might as well as my general surprise to how much I like this game, too. I loved how the bullets felt like they had some weight and impact to them. Perhaps because they were hitting metal robots instead of squishy flesh....whatever, I liked it.

Many people seem to think Big Bo comes off as a bit racist. I never picked up on that but found him generally annoying. Still, It's a highly enjoyable game, as most Platinum games are, and worth checking out....especially on the cheap.

 

[Doom972]

I love this game too. I got it on the Sega Humble Bundle, and I enjoyed it so much I played it twice in a row. It's not a masterpiece, but it's pure fun - The action is good, the visuals make you want to keep exploring (unless it's the sewer level), and I liked the game's humor.

 

[LaoJim]

Hmm bought this cheaply well over a year ago and only played the first two levels or so. This thread has encouraged me to pull it off my backlog pile and have another go.

I'm glad. I should mention that the gameplay gets better as the game goes on and you upgrade your character's main weapon. Makes getting those headshots a good bit easier. And the enemies get a lot more diverse as well as the game goes on. The bosses and the regular enemies all managed to impress me at one point or another during the course of the game.

Hmm bought this cheaply well over a year ago and only played the first two levels or so. This thread has encouraged me to pull it off my backlog pile and have another go.

It does get better. The first levels have some weird stealth sections and QTE that almost made me abandon the game... luckily, they leave all that behind after a couple levels.

Ok, thanks for the replies, I'm going to be too busy to play most of next week, but I'll let you know what I think after I've had a chance to play a bit more of it.

 

[fhmy]

Might as well as my general surprise to how much I like this game, too. I loved how the bullets felt like they had some weight and impact to them. Perhaps because they were hitting metal robots instead of squishy flesh....whatever, I liked it.

Many people seem to think Big Bo comes off as a bit racist. I never picked up on that but found him generally annoying. Still, It's a highly enjoyable game, as most Platinum games are, and worth checking out....especially on the cheap.

I think you may have gotten your developers mixed with Vanquish. Binary Domain is made by the Yakuza Team.

Anyways, I like it. Characters may not be deep or interesting, but they are entertaining and they add a lot of personality to the game. The story is very much like some cheesy B-movie type so how much you like it depends on your attitude towards the game (I personally enjoyed it) but it has some great set pieces and the pacing is near perfect. It's a fundamental third-person shooter so nothing too special there, but shooting robots is fun and there's loads of visual feedback, which I think is important for shooters. I like that there's different effect for targeting different extremities, even though shooting the heat is still the best.

Fun little game, defo worth checking out if you like shooters.

 

[fhmy]

I loved the voice commands in Binary Domain. More games need to have that feature!!
I didn't like how the game made you feel as if you could change the plot depending on which characters you befriended, only to put you on rails and make sure that the relationships you built don't matter at all.

It does matter a little bit.

Spoiler

If you don't have enough trust with Big Bo at the end of the game, he betrays you for real and Rachael takes the hit and dies. If you have high trust all around, Cain shows up at the final battle and takes the hit so everyone lives. I think there're other variants as well. It also affects tiny details in some scenes, like when Faye goes nuts, I think she attacks whoever you have the lowest trust with. Gameplay-wise, characters with low trust flat out tell you to get fucked when you give them orders.

Could be better, but I wasn't expecting much from such a feature anyways.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

I found it enjoyable, especially the story and how the story concluded based on how much reputation you had with the characters.

Very unique for a third person shooter and surprised me quite well. Too bad it was underrated as hell.

 

[antidonkey]

Might as well as my general surprise to how much I like this game, too. I loved how the bullets felt like they had some weight and impact to them. Perhaps because they were hitting metal robots instead of squishy flesh....whatever, I liked it.

Many people seem to think Big Bo comes off as a bit racist. I never picked up on that but found him generally annoying. Still, It's a highly enjoyable game, as most Platinum games are, and worth checking out....especially on the cheap.

I think you may have gotten your developers mixed with Vanquish. Binary Domain is made by the Yakuza Team.

Anyways, I like it. Characters may not be deep or interesting, but they are entertaining and they add a lot of personality to the game. The story is very much like some cheesy B-movie type so how much you like it depends on your attitude towards the game (I personally enjoyed it) but it has some great set pieces and the pacing is near perfect. It's a fundamental third-person shooter so nothing too special there, but shooting robots is fun and there's loads of visual feedback, which I think is important for shooters. I like that there's different effect for targeting different extremities, even though shooting the heat is still the best.

Fun little game, defo worth checking out if you like shooters.

You would be correct. Now the important question.....why the hell did I have Platinum stuck in my head when thinking of this game? Perhaps because I played this and Vanquish back to back......or maybe I just need to drink less.....or more? Who knows?