Binary Domain

[K]

Binary Domain isn’t that niche, is it? It’s a third person shooter, i.e. the genre that alongside FIFA 13 basically comprises mainstream videogames in their entirety. It’s about as niche as Taken 2.

[Matteo]

The way I see it, what makes BD niche is his story, characters, humour, not to mention squad dynamic and voice command. also its a low budget game from a director, Nagoshi, who's knows for Yakuza, which is not really a traditional 3rd person action game.

Yakuza on PS2 was criticised as a GTA clone, and its nothing like GTA.

BD is criticised as a Gears clone, and its nothing like Gears.

IMO the misplaced criticism of Yakuza as an inferior clone of a better Western game missed the point completely. they are both 3rd person action games, but they have little else in common.

BD is all about playing well and impressing your squad with your moves. and then saying stupid things on the mic. Gears and other 3rd person shooters have nothing like that.

But yes, if you just looking at screenshots, then there is little to distinguish BD from everything else out there.

[K]

It’s a bit of a stretch to say that it’s nothing like Gears of War, the actual robot shooting from a third person perspective while moving from cover to cover alongside your squad is basically the same. It’s got a quirky, less macho tone and a trust mechanic on top of the squad commanding, but come on – it’s a third person shooter, it’s hardly Journey.

[Matteo]

OK, maybe we are talking about different things here,

BD IMO is a niche-as-they-come GAME in a popular genre.

By your reasoning, there is little to distinguish something like Virtua Fighter (a niche fighting game) from Smash Bros (a fighing game with wider appeal) just because they both present three-dimensional fighters battling on a horizontal plane.

[CrichStand]

I am somewhat confused why Aspel despite curiously hating one of the most fun 3PS's I've encountered in some time is still playing on despite clearly hating it so much.

Some kind of gaming masochist riff perhance?

Not far off actually! I've got this thing going, that if i impulse buy a game, then i'll force myself to finish it. After a few crackers like this, i'm sure i'll lose the urge to needlessly buy stuff, so i'll end up saving myself a fortune in the long run. Genius!

Guess what I'm doing as we speak?

I can only begin to imagine the total abomination you'll end up creating.

Seriously though, hope it goes well for ya!

OK, maybe we are talking about different things here,

BD IMO is a niche-as-they-come GAME in a popular genre.

By your reasoning, there is little to distinguish something like Virtua Fighter (a niche fighting game) from Smash Bros (a fighing game with wider appeal) just because they both present three-dimensional fighters battling on a horizontal plane.

IMO Binary Domain is an attempt to make a popular Western style game, that's gone badly wrong.

GOW, Mass Effect etc are the big Hollywood Blockbusters. BD is the straight to video knock off, starring Steven Seagull, Channel 5, 10pm.

Good game design is anybody being able to pick up and play and have fun. Then underneath, layers of depth that can make the game challenging and hard to master. Along with Nintendo, its something Sega have always done brilliantly, especially in their classic games. Binary Domain has none of that. There really is no challenge or skill involved with playing it. Its essentially a mindless, on rails, rollercoaster ride. But its not the Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Its more the Teacups at Chessington World of Adventure.

[Matteo]

I guess we have to disagree on this one then, because if you dont see BD combat options and challenge, then there is no point in further arguing.

PS: let me quote this one more time, lets see if you still dont aknowledge it:

Many dismissed the game as a me-too cover shooter from a Japanese studio desperate to appeal to a western audience. There is some truth in that, but timing was a factor too: this is a crowded genre at the best of times, and Binary Domain hit western shelves two weeks before the launch of Mass Effect 3. Nor should it be ignored how hard it is to make an accomplished thirdperson shooter. Many western studios have tried and failed: one need only look at Terminator: Salvation or Dead to Rights: Reckoning for evidence of that. Binary Domain’s systems were held up against the likes of Uncharted and Gears Of War, and found to come up wanting.

What makes them such satisfying opponents is the feedback. Quite apart from blasting off a limb or a head – the latter of which is particularly useful as they're rendered unable to tell friend from foe, opening fire on their mechanoid allies – simply spraying rounds of fire into an enemy's torso scatters pieces of its protective carapace across the environment. Better still, you’re actively rewarded for doing so: the incentive for a headshot is a healthy helping of experience points, though you’ll get even more for demolishing them piece by piece. The weapons, while ostensibly an uninspiring selection, are a joy. SMG rounds buzz angrily like a swarm of metallic wasps, while the pump-action shotgun proves a delightfully uncouth way to deal with the gymnastic ninja-bots in the closing act.

The great thing about headshots in Binary Domain is that you need to hit a robot's head several times before it comes off - destroying the initial layers of armour before blowing away the exposed circuits. Hitting three or four shots in a row is difficult, but do it and that robot instantly turns and starts firing at its buddies. During the next few seconds, it's your chance to hit more headshots as the enemy deals with this new threat, meaning that one good headshot can set off a chain of them and destroy huge groups with a few bullets. One little touch especially delights: Binary Domain's smoke effects are excellent, dense and impossible to see through. But robot eyes glow red, brightly enough that they can be seen through smoke. Ready, aim...

There are brief hub sections where Dan can walk around, chat to team-mates and civilians and stock up before heading onwards. These would be fun, and do offer a few laughs, except your walking pace is reduced to a trudge. However, downtime reveals another unusual distinction of the game, for its genre at least; it feels like it's been written by adults, with set-ups and face-offs that have an ease of reference and a ready wit.

Quotes from 16 years old paedophiles at Edge and Eurogamer, ban this sick filth.

[NecroMorrius]

IMO Binary Domain is an attempt to make a popular Western style game, that's gone badly wrong.

It's an attempt to make a game with international appeal. Robots for the Asian market, hulking gorilla men for the Western market, and a cast of NPCs and teammates from all over the place. I really liked the 'flavour' of it, though I didn't love the game like some people here did.

[CrichStand]

I guess we have to disagree on this one then, because if you dont see BD combat options and challenge, then there is no point in further arguing.

PS: let me quote this one more time, lets see if you still dont aknowledge it:

Many dismissed the game as a me-too cover shooter from a Japanese studio desperate to appeal to a western audience. There is some truth in that, but timing was a factor too: this is a crowded genre at the best of times, and Binary Domain hit western shelves two weeks before the launch of Mass Effect 3. Nor should it be ignored how hard it is to make an accomplished thirdperson shooter. Many western studios have tried and failed: one need only look at Terminator: Salvation or Dead to Rights: Reckoning for evidence of that. Binary Domain’s systems were held up against the likes of Uncharted and Gears Of War, and found to come up wanting.

What makes them such satisfying opponents is the feedback. Quite apart from blasting off a limb or a head – the latter of which is particularly useful as they're rendered unable to tell friend from foe, opening fire on their mechanoid allies – simply spraying rounds of fire into an enemy's torso scatters pieces of its protective carapace across the environment. Better still, you’re actively rewarded for doing so: the incentive for a headshot is a healthy helping of experience points, though you’ll get even more for demolishing them piece by piece. The weapons, while ostensibly an uninspiring selection, are a joy. SMG rounds buzz angrily like a swarm of metallic wasps, while the pump-action shotgun proves a delightfully uncouth way to deal with the gymnastic ninja-bots in the closing act.

The great thing about headshots in Binary Domain is that you need to hit a robot's head several times before it comes off - destroying the initial layers of armour before blowing away the exposed circuits. Hitting three or four shots in a row is difficult, but do it and that robot instantly turns and starts firing at its buddies. During the next few seconds, it's your chance to hit more headshots as the enemy deals with this new threat, meaning that one good headshot can set off a chain of them and destroy huge groups with a few bullets. One little touch especially delights: Binary Domain's smoke effects are excellent, dense and impossible to see through. But robot eyes glow red, brightly enough that they can be seen through smoke. Ready, aim...

There are brief hub sections where Dan can walk around, chat to team-mates and civilians and stock up before heading onwards. These would be fun, and do offer a few laughs, except your walking pace is reduced to a trudge. However, downtime reveals another unusual distinction of the game, for its genre at least; it feels like it's been written by adults, with set-ups and face-offs that have an ease of reference and a ready wit.

Quotes from 16 years old paedophiles at Edge and Eurogamer, ban this sick filth.

WTF? What EDGE review have you been reading? Here's some bits from the one i've read.....................

Binary Domain is a rote exercise in genre, that only adequately manages to ape games like GOW. It brings nothing new to the table, its a Japanese team mechanically cloning its competition and feels soulless. It contains monotonous cover shooting and on rails sections, that don't light the fire of excitement, you just chug away. It has cliched characters, and a cliched narrative. The team mate system is shallow, empty, tame and has no real effect on proceedings. You get little actual input and the squad commands themselves aren't actually needed. The game is designed for casual players. 6/10.

I've just got to the "Chandelier Boss", and i can honestly say its one of the worst, most poorly designed bits of a game i've ever played. None of the bosses attacks injure you, so you can just stand out in the open with fire held down for about 5mins until you trigger the next phase. Then you're tasked with climbing a tentacle. You have to stand in an exact spot, that's not made clear outside of "get on the tentacle", to initiate the button prompt to jump on. Climbing up the tentacle involves nothing more than pressing up on the stick for about 1min. When you get to a certain point, you can't get any further. You have to sit doing nothing for 30secs, waiting for a cutscene to trigger. On the next bit you have to shoot at a target moving around the center of the room. To do this you have to circle the room yourself which takes ages. All the time the boss and its attacks do zero damage to you. What's the fucking point of the boss fight then? After about 5 minutes of this Benny Hill style war of attrition, one of my team mates suddenly died (even though i'm invicible) out of the blue. So i've failed this section through no fault of my own. Utterly appalling design.

[CrichStand]

It's an attempt to make a game with international appeal. Robots for the Asian market, hulking gorilla men for the Western market, and a cast of NPCs and teammates from all over the place. I really liked the 'flavour' of it, though I didn't love the game like some people here did.

Yeah, its clearly a Japanese team trying to be relevant in todays more Western focused market. That's part of the problem with it. Instead of concentrating on what they do best, they've spent too much time shoehorning in a load of popular fluff, that looks good as a feature on the back of the box.

[Down by Law]

I would sooner play through this a fifth time than either of Gears of War or Mass Effects poor-ass final efforts

[CrichStand]

I would sooner play through this a fifth time than either of Gears of War or Mass Effects poor-ass final efforts

I'd sooner Japanese developers not bother trying to copy Western games at all, and focus on what they're actually good at instead.

[mr_woo]

I'd sooner Japanese developers not bother trying to copy Western games at all, and focus on what they're actually good at instead.

Well they are since Yakuza 5 is coming out this year in Japan (please localise this Sega ) Binary Domain's still one of my favourite games this year, I think it's a great shooter tbh, not just because of the bosses which I enjoyed a lot but because I came to love the characters, loved the story and just the core gameplay of shooting the robots was terrific fun with a lot of cool varied setpieces.

I'm not going to have a go at you for disliking it though as I'm not like that and that would be silly anyway

[CrichStand]

Well they are since Yakuza 5 is coming out this year in Japan (please localise this Sega ) Binary Domain's still one of my favourite games this year, I think it's a great shooter tbh, not just because of the bosses which I enjoyed a lot but because I came to love the characters, loved the story and just the core gameplay of shooting the robots was terrific fun with a lot of cool varied setpieces.

I'm not going to have a go at you for disliking it though as I'm not like that and that would be silly anyway

Yeah, but where's my Shenmue 3!

In terms of action games, i lean towards Sega's 80s output, or games like Ninja Gaiden. Ya know..............proper games. Ones were its all about the brilliant, straightforward, fun, challenging gameplay, that has depth, with none of the annoying padding.

[Preacher]

Fully Aspel is right about one thing: teammates have no real effect on gameplay. I managed to beat the game on my first playthrough on survivor (or whatever the highest difficulty available from the start is) having completely ignored them and their input. Honestly, I could have taken any two members and the outcome would be the same. I'm sure it has some affect on story (or what little there is - it mostly revolves around meeting your teammates) and characterisation, but it really doesn't affect difficulty at all, just a bunch of binary choices here and there.

[Cheyenne]

Teammates affect nothing, apart from quite a few elements of the ending?

[no muisc found]

I've played through four or five times and never been able to get the ending where

Cain takes the punch from Phillips' mech instead of Big Bo

[Cheyenne]

You generally should be aiming to max out everyone's Trust. I got that scene (and the overrall 'best' ending) by having all characters bar Rachael maxed out.

[Down by Law]

To get everyone to 100%, I did the following:

• Make sure you buy the Trust +5% multiplier from the guy in the slums after spider boss. It's practically impossible without it.
  
• Go for full trust on one of the easier difficulties. You'll want to keep the pressure on groups of enemies without too much fear of being overwhelmed and knocked down. Also you can ease off if it looks like a team-mate might get in the way, without fear of being rushed and beaten down by fast moving bots.
  
• Focus on Charlie and Rachael first, as you get little time with them in the latter half of the game
  
• Take Cain and Faye after the first squad point in chapter III
  
• Always go for headshots and always top up on grenades and explosives via the terminals - you'll need 50 multi kill bonuses for one of the achievements anyway and explosive multi-kills always yield a positive trust
  
• Make sure you fully power up the Plasma Shot and the Capacity before the

  Shindo scrap - head tunnel run

  Keep clustering the enemies together and hit them all with a charged Plasma shot, you can fully max out this character in this area alone as long as you keep the multi-kills comings
  
• The SPAS-12 shotgun makes short work of the security bots on chapter IV V and IV, just storm through blowing them apart for generous trust helpings
  
• On chapter V after the sub-boss , make sure that when you regain control

  Turn around and save Big Bo from the Cerberus for a secret achievement and a big trust boost. Again, difficulty comes into play, on Rust Crew it's practically impossible to hit the damage limit before he's dragged off and eveytime you hit Bo you'll lose trust from him and Charlie / Rachael

I got the top ending by the skin of my teeth , Charlie's max trust popped during the final battle with the

first wave of government mechs in the AI chamber

. You can still get the Cain cut scene as long as everyone's trust is Very High, not maxed.

[Mars]

Even above Resi 6?!

[mdn2]

After buying this game dirt cheap in April, I played through the first chapter and was thoroughly underwhelmed. I put it to one side with the aim of giving it another chance down the line. Last night I was trying to decide what to play and it was a toss up between this and Gears of War 3 (another game I'm not really feeling). Needless to say, this won out - and I'm glad it did. I'm up to the beginning of Chapter 5 and it's great, stupid fun. The dialogue is better than most similar games and the set pieces are fantastic. While I think I prefer Vanquish in the third person shooty stakes, this runs a pretty close second and I'm really glad I decided to go back to it.

[Kayin Amoh]

Yup!

1) Binary Domain

2) Dragon's Dogma

3) Resi 6

I fully agree with your top two choices there. Same as my own.

[Smitty]

I thought the characters in this were great - and that was a surprise.

It's light hearted with lots of quips, but it has character.

[Pekoe]

Started playing this. It's really good. ktnbye.

[Paulando]

Oh man, this is absurdly good fun. Watching the Terminators fall to pieces is very satisfying.

[Paulando]

And the next minute I'm sliding down a huge water chute! And then taking a huge robot down with a remote controlled crane! Fucking brilliant. Does it ever run out of steam or is it this good until the end?

[Cheyenne]

Many think that the opening is a bit of a slog. It's going to get WAY better.

[Kayin Amoh]

So, I'm holding a competition to win a copy of Binary Domain over at http://caneandrinse....c.php?f=1&t=391 (It's our topic of the week for the podcast) where entrants are encouraged to photoshop or comment on Cain. I think the first entry set the bar waaaaay too high:

[Nespresso]

Just started playing this. Will I be missing out on anything if I don't have Voice Command enabled? They don't seem to work for me half the time without having to resort to shouting.

[mr_woo]

I disabled that shit from the start and it's still one of my favourite games this year, works just fine without it

[Down by Law]

Yeah man - just turn it off. You'll only miss not being able to communicate with team members you haven't picked, which is more of a novelty than anything else (a fucking cool novelty mind)