When it comes to shooters, sci-fi games are usually the odd man out. While some games like Halo were successful, most of them are ignored for something more traditional. Despite this fact, developers still try to make a successful science fiction shooter. The latest attempt is Binary Domain, which tries to appeal to everyone, but still retain some charm and originality. By adding unique elements and a strong story focus, will Binary Domain be the next Mass Effect or is it just a poor clone?
Let’s check out what’s HOT and what’s NOT in our review of Binary Domain.
HOT
Story
Taking place in the not so distant future, robots have become a common element in day to day life. As robotics progressed, a new Geneva Convention was created. While various things were added, the main focus was on “hollow children”—robots that look, act, and think like they’re actually human. Despite this law, some people decided they would still make them. This is where you and your group come into play. You’re a task force employed to uphold these laws, though you’re mostly concerned with destroying “hollow children”. While this is the gist of the story, the real highlight is the characters.
The game starts by introducing Dan (you) and your partner Bo. Both characters are your typical American stereotypes, though it somehow works. Later on you join up with two more stereotypical British agents and a shy Chinese girl. Shortly afterwards, you’re joined by a cocky French robot and a Russian “freedom fighter”. Despite the stereotypes, many of the characters stand out in their own way. Due to this, as you select your squad for missions, you will know which characters you want and don’t want to hear from.
Strategic Gameplay
As your progress through Binary Domain, you’ll usually get swarmed by enemies. This will force you to come up with some kind of tactic. However, you’re given several options to be successful. These include using a squad member, playing it safe or exploiting the unique gameplay mechanics. These mechanics actually help to make Binary Domain an extremely interesting game.
As you find enemies, you’re able to attack certain parts of their body. Shooting off their arm will force them to drop their gun, shooting their legs will make them unable to move, and taking off their head will cause them to aid you. What makes this system so great is the fact that it rewards skillful shooting. Not only do headshots kill the enemy faster, but it also takes focus off you. Even a second is enough to shoot off another head and repeat the process. This will work on any enemies that aren’t a sniper or boss tier, so for the most part, you can always rely on these tactics.
Additionally, as you progress you’re able to equip upgrades. These upgrades do scale for where you’re at and allow you to make yourself strong. Your only limit is how you set up your 6 squared rectangle. Interestingly enough, as the skills get strong, they also take up less space. This will allow you to have far more freedom later on.
While the gameplay is overall solid, there are some shortcomings to be aware of. The first is that there really aren’t any “science fiction” weapons (save grenades). Most weapons will have an interesting design, though they will work like anything you can find today. Another thing to remember is that weapons have a lot of kick to them. As you continue to shoot, your weapon will shake around making it harder to aim at one person or enemy. This will take some getting used to, but can be annoying at first.
NOT
Online
Despite Binary Domain’s unique take on single player, the multiplayer portion is extremely forgettable. The online is set up with a standard class system. Each class has its own build and unique look. You don’t seem to be able to customize how you look, so you’re stuck with the bland designs. You can customize your skill set, though you will need to progress to get more powerful. This is definitely a step in the wrong direction.
The main problem with the online is the skill system. The more useful you are, the more skill points you earn. These points can be traded for better weapons or supplies when you respawn. This of course means a more skillful enemy will get better weapons and become even harder to kill. Sadly, this also forces many gamers to camp more, which can make playing a bore.
If you’re uninterested in playing against other gamers, there is also a co op enemy rush mode. There are a total of 50 waves, each of which features a variety of enemies. The first set is mostly generic enemies, the second uses a lot of monkeys, the next set relies on snipers, and so forth. While the mode is fun, it does have some flaws.
First, all of the unique mechanics have been removed. You’re still able to shoot off armor, though nothing else is retained. This means that the gameplay is pretty boring and far less tactical. Second, you will need absolute mastery over the other gameplay mechanics in order to survive. By this I mean evasive rolling, cover, aiming and teamwork. Without these skills, you can expect lots of failure.
Similar to versus mode, you’re also forced to use the point system. After every 5 waves your equipment will reset and you’ll be forced to buy everything all over again. The same is true if you happen to die on the battlefield. This is certainly a bad choice, as you’re basically forced to squander cash on required items like med kits.
Thankfully the online isn’t awful in every way. You’re able to play on various maps and the game features all the standard online modes (CTF, TDM, King of the Hill, etc). This will give you some choice, though keep in mind that I only found Japanese gamers. While there certainly isn’t a problem with any group of gamers, they will be speaking and communicating in their native language. This can get annoying if you’re telling a Japanese gamer to aid you or vice versa.
Trust System
Similar to popular titles like Mass Effect, you will have dialogue choices throughout the game. Every choice you make will change the dialogue options, so it definitely serves a point. Each reply can affect how others see you. A good reply will raise trust and a bad one will lower it. This is where the system falls apart.
I found that having a personality tends to lower trust. The most common choice is in reply to a command. Here you will generally be given the following three choices, Piece of Cake, No, or OK!. Saying no obviously will lower trust and saying ok will raise it. However, if you say doing something is a “piece of cake”, the AI will generally get mad at you, thus lowering trust. I can’t fathom why this happens, but if you want people to trust you, you won’t have a lot of choices to make.
Conversely, some questions can trick you. This was the case with one of Bo’s early conversations. He will say something about holding off the “scrapheads” and you have to agree or disagree. I didn’t want to undermine his ability or fail the mission, so I said okay. This caused Bo to claim I was ice cold, which lowered his trust in me. Thankfully you’re given some leeway, although you don’t want to risk someone becoming insubordinate.
Voice Recognition
Binary Domain has a very interesting feature for anyone with a microphone and headset. Instead of simply selecting a reply, you’re actually able to say it and the AI will follow your command. While it doesn’t sound too useful, you’re able to command your squad to do certain things. These include rushing the enemy, shooting, regrouping and much more. On higher difficulties or under heavy fire, this really comes in handy since you won’t need to divert focus. However, I had issues getting some of my commands to work. While the squad ones worked 90% of the time, replies that require more precise actions did not. You can resolve this issue by calibrating your voice, though it won’t make a huge difference. Additionally, while this is still a great feature, I could not simply select replies.
VERDICT
There are a lot of great elements in Binary Domain, though other elements ruin the game. It would have been nice to see an online multiplayer that wasn’t completely forgettable, but it really shouldn’t have had one to begin with. The story is certainly interesting and the gameplay more than makes up for the online. While the voice tech isn’t quite there, it is still certainly a neat addition regardless. In the end, if you would like an RPG Shooter that is light on story and heavy on the gameplay, then Binary Domain won’t disappoint. If you’re looking for more story or better execution of some elements, then it might be wise to wait for Mass Effect 3.
[Editor’s Note: Binary Domain was played on the PlayStation 3 hardware. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]