Binary Domain Demo Impressions

Written by Erik Kubik, kube00 Saturday, 18 February 2012 12:00

The Binary Domain demo provides gamers an action packed sampling of the full game. Despite its Japanese roots and bad American accents, Binary Domain looks very appealing to most mainstream gamers. The intense demo left gamers like myself wanting more.

Binary Domain reminded me a lot of Vanquish. The biggest differences between the two games is that Binary Domain focuses on squad based game play and there’s a robust cover system. The action is crazy and gamers are going to have to pay attention to everything, just like in Vanquish. As far as I know the game takes places in Tokyo in 2080 and its man vs. machine. A classic sci-fi scenario in which the humans are out matched and outgunned. Where’s John Connor when you need him?

Some of the features the demo highlights include the Consequence System, which is designed to build trust with your teammates whether they are human or AI. This affects both the story and the game play. For example, based on what I did, shooting my teammates affects the way they follow orders and assist me. Speaking of giving orders, there is a voice command system within the game that recognizes 6 languages. The game supports a headset and lets players direct their squad mates to move and provide cover. This seemed to work pretty well in the demo. This could be a standout feature in the game as it is unique to the genre. The cover system in Binary Domain reminds me a lot of Gears of War; duck, shoot, and move.  

There is a deep upgrade system for weapons and skills that turn you and the rest of your squad into a more effective killing machine. Different squad mates have different weapons and skills and this all comes into play in the chaotic firefights. The city’s environments look good and bits of armor chip off the robots. Structures in the environment take damage and almost anything a player can hide behind for cover will eventually disintegrate. I can only imagine how much fun an action intense game like this would be with 4 player co-op.  

Binary Domain is being developed by the team behind the Yakuza series who are hard at work making the game appeal to everyone. Based on some of the above features I truly think this game has a lot of mass appeal. The demo has converted me to a potential buyer. Binary Domain is coming out on February 28th, so do yourself a favor and support Sega. Go out and purchase Binary Domain so Sega will bring more games like this to Western audiences.