PixlBit

(Man, look at that cover. Actually don't. It's awful.)

This is one of many reviews I should have written a long time ago, but due to various excuses--including me being lazy--I have just gotten around to. Onwards...

Back in November 2013, PS Plus updated it's Instant Game Collection to include Binary Domain, Sega's third-person shooter set in the late 21st century. I downloaded it and immediately started playing because I wanted to be distracted from the several other games that I was playing. (I have a problem with concentration; I'm the same way with books.)

Reviews I'd found were all fairly unforgiving in their negativity. For the majority of them, it seemed like they wanted something groundbreaking and outstanding. Something that would elevate gaming to the next level.
While I certainly would have liked to have played a game like that, I came into Binary Domain without any such expectations. Actually, even lower expectations after those bad reviews.

Did the game live up to the bad hype?

Eeeeeeh, yeah I guess so.

Binary Domain takes place in the year 2080, after the sea levels have risen due to climate change. The disastrous results have left cities destroyed and abandoned, allowing certain corporations to cash in on developing robots to help with reconstruction.

Out of possible rational fear, the global governments outlawed the development of human-like robots and artificial intelligences.

You are part of a Rust Crew, an elite team of soldiers who investigate and enforce the prohibitive laws. As the game starts, you are sent to look into Japan's Amada Corporation for possible transgressions.

The setup and the overall story was pretty engaging, including a forseeable, but still effective twist towards the end. The dialogue and characters are all bog-standard when it comes to a game about a ragtag group of soldiers, even having the burly lmg-toting black best friend and the overly polite French soldier (though he was a robot, this time). There were points in the game where I could recite the lines before they were even said. However, everything in the interactions worked well and didn't actually fumble at any time, so I can't really fault the game in this department.

The gameplay is what you would expect from a third-person cover shooter, with some spice thrown in. The enemies are primarily various robots found in the different areas of Tokyo. Sega added some fun to this, though, as the robots can all be destroyed piecemeal, from losing arms, legs, heads--all with different effect. Robots who lose legs continue to crawl to you to bite at your ankles, those who lose heads can begin attacking compatriots.

The player earns cash for every kill and injury, with more from headshots and multiple kills over a short period of time. Cash can be used at kiosks to purchase equipment and upgrades of which there are several levels. This is all very basic, but it was enough to have me try hard to get headshots and multi-kills and earn more cash.

I never tried the novelty included in the game, which was giving the squad orders over the headset, so I can't give any impressions on how that worked.

Binary Domain looked good. It wasn't anything outstanding, but there was enough to the visual design that I could identify the game if I were to see just an image of the city, no characters included. In fact, there were some instances where I was taken aback by the amount of detail and scope in the scene, such as when we were in the towering city of the affluent and the wide open space bright with sunlight contrasted with the earlier segments in the lower ruins of Tokyo. It really was a breath of fresh air and made me rankle at how the rich lived safe and clean while others lived in cramped filth. (Like real life, I guess.)

Character models were serviceable as well. I don't recall a single moment where the animation threw me out of the game or made me roll my eyes at bad lip syncing.

Binary Domain was a surprise. I went in expecting nothing but some mediocre fun, but there were some really nice items found throughout. I won't say go out and play it immediately, unless you have nothing else on your plate and would like a form of video game palate cleanser. Binary Domain won't offend your taste, but it won't do too much for it.