Binary Domain - wow!

[Paused]

Just thought i'd start a post about Binary Domain as it seems like it has gone by silently on this forum.

This game was bought for me recently and having sat down to play it over the weekend, all I can say is wow. The mechanics are very good, shooting at robots have brought a whole new dynamic to the third person shooter genre as it gives you some very cool new ways to play. The robots fly apart as bullets hit them, being able to shoot a leg off and see the robot try to balance itself. Shoot an arm off and they scramble around to pick a gun up with their good arm and get back in to the fight. Shoot the head off and they can start to fight each other, there are so many new options.

I also like how there are regular 'boss' fights but they are all different in how you must take them down, it seems like there is some real effort gone into it.

The characters are very cliche but the story is very engrossing. Without trying to give away too many spoilers, the whole aspect of some robots programmed to not only look and behave human but not realise they are in fact robots themselves give the story quite some depth.

I definitely recommend that this game is checked out, I would have passed it by if it weren't bought for me but i'm definitely glad I am now playing it and it definitely has me hooked.

Well done to Sega for bringing out an excellent game, I hope there will be sequels.

If anyone else here has played it, what did you think?

[+BeLGaRaTh Subscriber¹]

Have it on PC but hate the fact that the controls are shown as xbox buttons/controls even if you don't have an xbox controller attached :( That said, when you do eventually work out the keyboard/mouse controls it's awesome.

[veternan]

I'm interested :)

So you can't play it well with mouse/keyboard? :/

[+BeLGaRaTh Subscriber¹]

Yes it plays very well with K/M just that the prompts etc throughout the game are shown as xbox buttons, it's a biut annoying but as long as you remember the proper keys its fine :) I love the voice commands you can use to tell the squad what to do, works very well with my Logitech 9000 Pro webcam, it really immerses you in the game.

Overall I really like the game, an over looked gem IMO.

[Paused]

Haven't tried the voice commands out myself yet, i've been using the left shoulder button and selecting responses on screen. I understand the responses are limited though compared to what you can say via the mic, so I will have to give it a try.

I've been playing on Xbox, but can imagine it's a bit annoying if those same prompts come up on PC. Hopefully there's a patch for that.

I don't think they've done themselves any favours with the title, it's very B Movie-ish. Doesn't really sound too interesting so for a brand new IP I think a lot of people skipped it on name alone.

[veternan]

Thanks guys :) I will try it, seems like Gears of War:

[+BeLGaRaTh Subscriber¹]

Just did a little bit of digging, you can get the game to display the PC buttons/controls by going into separate config utility and change the default from xbox 360 to keyboard. Finally get to see the buttons properly without me having to figure them out in the first place and then remember them with them being different from those displayed (xbox buttons). It's just gone up a gain slightly in my ratings ... though it should default to keyboard display and have the option to change within the game itself instead of a separate app :(

[neoadorable]

thanks for posting this Paused, and welcome to neowin!!!

indeed an excellent shooter that i need to get back into seeing as i bought it on launch all those months ago...it is much better than Vanquish, and if you like third person shooters you really can't go wrong with this. the story has its moments, some political commentary here and there, but nothing too grand. the characters are indeed predictable, but are well done and well acted. and the sniper girl is super hot, forgive me, i forgot her name!

[trag3dy]

The pc version is $10 on amazon for digital download. Seems like it might be a bargain at that price?

[ViperAFK]

This is a very underrated game, I absolutely loved the characters and story. I never would have gotten this game, but happened to watch the giantbomb quicklook on it which convinced me.

[sanctified Veteran]

So, after watching the trailer, this is like Terminator/I Robot with a Michael Bay feeling. I'll pass.

[Coagulated]

The voice commands are pretty good, actually. I was quite impressed, although I did occasionally tell team mates that I loved them... but that's another matter entirely ;)

It's a relatively generic shooter, but it's been done quite well. It won't blow you away, but it's a solid title in my opinion. The shooting mechanics are pleasant, as previously mentioned the hit registration on the robots/dismantling them via bullets is very pleasing. However, the main aspect that impressed me above everything was where the story went. I'm sure some Sci-fi buffs will correct me, but the story takes a very unique twist in the last third or so, and I've honestly never heard nor seen any form of media that follows the same story path.

All in all, it's certainly worth picking up, but I'd never pay more than ?15 for it. Worthy of your full attention, just not worthy of a full price.

[jnelsoninjax]

I thought the game play was decent, the effects were pretty good, the soundtrack was really good! I agree that this was a poorly ported game, the control system was poorly documented, and as stated previously you had to run the config program and choose PC in order not to be prompted with XBOX controls on screen. I do not have a mic so I had a bit of work getting the game setup with no voice input. I would think most games would be able to detect what hardware you have and would be able to automatically switch the voice commands off if no mic was detected.

[spaceelf]

I'll check it out soon.

[neoadorable]

for ten bucks it's a steal. have the 360 version, the single player is very nice, MP never happened, i mean i never even found one game going on.