Fez
22-10-2007, 05:59 PM
http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3163807
Bionic Commando holds a special place in the hearts of many longtime gamers, but to those who missed out on the NES era, it's unlikely that the American-developed Bionic Commando: Elite Forces for Game Boy Color had the same kind of lasting effect. What's a franchise-friendly publisher like Capcom to do? The answer came earlier this week with the announcement of a new take on Bionic Commando (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3162515) for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, but to suggest that the publisher simply mined its vault for another retro-linked new release would be misleading. It started out as a passion project for American-born producer Ben Judd, the first full-fledged foreign producer at Capcom Japan. During his time as a Japanese translator for the publisher, Judd pushed hard for several years to have the company consider a fresh take on the long-dormant brand, but met resistance on multiple fronts. While the NES version of Bionic Commando found an audience in North America, it did not fare quite as well in Japan. Pair that with a conservative corporate culture that rarely puts outsiders in positions of power and you have something of a no-win situation.
http://media.1up.com/media?id=3173724
http://media.1up.com/media?id=3419434 (http://www.1up.com/do/media?cId=3163679&sec=IMAGES) SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Bionic Commando screens. http://media.1up.com/media?id=3173725
However, persistence eventually won out, and Judd was allowed to assemble an international task force responsible for an all-new Bionic Commando. Judd is flanked by a crew of notable developers at Capcom Japan, many of whom worked on Shadow of Rome (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=2018632) for PlayStation 2, as well as the team at Swedish studio GRIN, which was responsible for the PC versions of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and its numbered sequel. "Bionic Commando is being developed using an international style of game production," says Judd, elaborating on the virtues of utilizing multiple design perspectives to produce the best possible experience.
While still early in development, Bionic Commando was shown at a recent press event via a brief guided demo, which showed off the core swing mechanism that draws undeniable comparisons to the recent Spider-Man movie games. As Judd and his cohorts used protagonist Nathan Spencer's bionic arm to grab hold of girders and crooked streetlights in a city devastated by a recent terrorist attack, we kept flashing back to the iconic web-head and his exploits in the densely packed metropolis that is Manhattan.
The comparison is just, at least on the surface, but Bionic Commando looks to set itself apart in a number of key ways. Judd takes pride in the intricate, yet supposedly easy to handle swing system, which allows for freedom but will reward skillful navigation. Spencer's grip will not be forced upon a grid of pre-determined points, nor can he swing wildly in midair without a clear connection to a grounded object.
http://media.1up.com/media?id=3173724
http://media.1up.com/media?id=3419433 (http://www.1up.com/do/media?cId=3163679&sec=IMAGES) SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Bionic Commando screens. http://media.1up.com/media?id=3173725
An orange, on-screen reticule indicates the aim of his arm, and assuming the player is headed in the right direction and times the move correctly, Spencer's arm will shoot out and grab the intended spot, swinging the player forward and continuing the cycle. Judd concedes that a light auto-aim cushion will be provided on the vertical axis, but otherwise, it sounds as though players will be given full control of Spencer's bionic arm -- and be expected to make the most of it.
Spencer's mighty appendage also allows for at least a handful of other tasks, including the ability to zip upwards along a wire (ala Lost Planet), rip down pieces of the environment to crush nearby foes (such as abandoned monorail cars), and toss large objects strewn about the bombed-out settings. Additional abilities can be unlocked throughout the campaign, which will likely take on a linear mission-based structure, with some backtracking expected through the more memorable (swing-enabling) settings. The bionic arm represents only one part of Spencer's arsenal, as he will also be able to use traditional firearms, resulting in a unique swinging/shooting experience unseen in previous 3D titles.
http://media.1up.com/media?id=3173724
http://media.1up.com/media?id=3419432 (http://www.1up.com/do/media?cId=3163679&sec=IMAGES) SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Bionic Commando screens. http://media.1up.com/media?id=3173725
As announced earlier this week, Bionic Commando takes place 10 years after the NES original, with Spencer falsely convicted of murder, stripped of his wondrous limb, and sentenced to death. However, on the day of his scheduled execution, Ascension City is bombed and Spencer is given a full reprieve (and reunited with his bionic attachment) in return for his services in tracking down the terrorists. The woefully dilapidated city seen in the brief demo provided a wonderland of twisted metal and protruding surfaces for Spencer to grab hold of, but it will not be the only setting in the game, as a forest is shown in the screenshots and the team at GRIN hinted at additional surroundings to explore.
Judd knows that he's still fighting an uphill battle; at first, it was convincing his superiors that there was a worthwhile reason to come back to Bionic Commando, and now it's convincing gamers that his worldly team won't ruin the good name of the NES original. "We knew that we were going to get a lot of flak for this," says Judd, referring to the steady stream of complaints levied at Spencer's character design (namely his animated dreadlocks) since the game's announcement on Monday. Though clearly upbeat about the project and proud of the work to date, he concedes that fighting nearly two decades of expectations is likely a losing prospect: "You cannot beat a person's nostalgia."
Retro comeback ftw
Bionic Commando holds a special place in the hearts of many longtime gamers, but to those who missed out on the NES era, it's unlikely that the American-developed Bionic Commando: Elite Forces for Game Boy Color had the same kind of lasting effect. What's a franchise-friendly publisher like Capcom to do? The answer came earlier this week with the announcement of a new take on Bionic Commando (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3162515) for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, but to suggest that the publisher simply mined its vault for another retro-linked new release would be misleading. It started out as a passion project for American-born producer Ben Judd, the first full-fledged foreign producer at Capcom Japan. During his time as a Japanese translator for the publisher, Judd pushed hard for several years to have the company consider a fresh take on the long-dormant brand, but met resistance on multiple fronts. While the NES version of Bionic Commando found an audience in North America, it did not fare quite as well in Japan. Pair that with a conservative corporate culture that rarely puts outsiders in positions of power and you have something of a no-win situation.
http://media.1up.com/media?id=3173724
http://media.1up.com/media?id=3419434 (http://www.1up.com/do/media?cId=3163679&sec=IMAGES) SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Bionic Commando screens. http://media.1up.com/media?id=3173725
However, persistence eventually won out, and Judd was allowed to assemble an international task force responsible for an all-new Bionic Commando. Judd is flanked by a crew of notable developers at Capcom Japan, many of whom worked on Shadow of Rome (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=2018632) for PlayStation 2, as well as the team at Swedish studio GRIN, which was responsible for the PC versions of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and its numbered sequel. "Bionic Commando is being developed using an international style of game production," says Judd, elaborating on the virtues of utilizing multiple design perspectives to produce the best possible experience.
While still early in development, Bionic Commando was shown at a recent press event via a brief guided demo, which showed off the core swing mechanism that draws undeniable comparisons to the recent Spider-Man movie games. As Judd and his cohorts used protagonist Nathan Spencer's bionic arm to grab hold of girders and crooked streetlights in a city devastated by a recent terrorist attack, we kept flashing back to the iconic web-head and his exploits in the densely packed metropolis that is Manhattan.
The comparison is just, at least on the surface, but Bionic Commando looks to set itself apart in a number of key ways. Judd takes pride in the intricate, yet supposedly easy to handle swing system, which allows for freedom but will reward skillful navigation. Spencer's grip will not be forced upon a grid of pre-determined points, nor can he swing wildly in midair without a clear connection to a grounded object.
http://media.1up.com/media?id=3173724
http://media.1up.com/media?id=3419433 (http://www.1up.com/do/media?cId=3163679&sec=IMAGES) SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Bionic Commando screens. http://media.1up.com/media?id=3173725
An orange, on-screen reticule indicates the aim of his arm, and assuming the player is headed in the right direction and times the move correctly, Spencer's arm will shoot out and grab the intended spot, swinging the player forward and continuing the cycle. Judd concedes that a light auto-aim cushion will be provided on the vertical axis, but otherwise, it sounds as though players will be given full control of Spencer's bionic arm -- and be expected to make the most of it.
Spencer's mighty appendage also allows for at least a handful of other tasks, including the ability to zip upwards along a wire (ala Lost Planet), rip down pieces of the environment to crush nearby foes (such as abandoned monorail cars), and toss large objects strewn about the bombed-out settings. Additional abilities can be unlocked throughout the campaign, which will likely take on a linear mission-based structure, with some backtracking expected through the more memorable (swing-enabling) settings. The bionic arm represents only one part of Spencer's arsenal, as he will also be able to use traditional firearms, resulting in a unique swinging/shooting experience unseen in previous 3D titles.
http://media.1up.com/media?id=3173724
http://media.1up.com/media?id=3419432 (http://www.1up.com/do/media?cId=3163679&sec=IMAGES) SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Bionic Commando screens. http://media.1up.com/media?id=3173725
As announced earlier this week, Bionic Commando takes place 10 years after the NES original, with Spencer falsely convicted of murder, stripped of his wondrous limb, and sentenced to death. However, on the day of his scheduled execution, Ascension City is bombed and Spencer is given a full reprieve (and reunited with his bionic attachment) in return for his services in tracking down the terrorists. The woefully dilapidated city seen in the brief demo provided a wonderland of twisted metal and protruding surfaces for Spencer to grab hold of, but it will not be the only setting in the game, as a forest is shown in the screenshots and the team at GRIN hinted at additional surroundings to explore.
Judd knows that he's still fighting an uphill battle; at first, it was convincing his superiors that there was a worthwhile reason to come back to Bionic Commando, and now it's convincing gamers that his worldly team won't ruin the good name of the NES original. "We knew that we were going to get a lot of flak for this," says Judd, referring to the steady stream of complaints levied at Spencer's character design (namely his animated dreadlocks) since the game's announcement on Monday. Though clearly upbeat about the project and proud of the work to date, he concedes that fighting nearly two decades of expectations is likely a losing prospect: "You cannot beat a person's nostalgia."
Retro comeback ftw