Binary Domain

Initially, Binary Domain doesn't look like much. But it grows with the experience, delivering a great story and top notch action.

It's ironic that a game about robots wanting to be human has so much heart, but is failed by technology that simply won't reach as far as its developer would like. [Issue#120, p.112]

Binary Domain has a respectable mechanical foundation and a feel that allows it to mingle with the mammoths of third-person shooting. However, it does not manage to surpass any of them. The campaign offers a engaging ride through Neo-Tokyo, but the multiplayer is so uninteresting that the product as a whole would not suffer if it was removed.

Right now, Binary Domain is an accomplished and enjoyable shooter that proves excellent combat can make up for shortcomings in other areas.

Some of its ideas work and others don't, but Binary Domain can really offer some solid third-person shooting hours.

Binary Domain is definitely a very solid third-person shooter, and while it falls short in some areas, there's enough variety in the meat of the game to make it worth a playthrough.

Binary Domain is like a Frankenstein of ideas and concepts that work well, but it ends up not being better than many other games.

This aimed for Vanquish and missed – but in doing so it at least made a decent Terminator game that's better than any actual licensed Terminator game.

The gameplay is sound at its core, but suspect AI, plodding boss fights, and a heavy-handed plot all stand out as flaws that should have been eliminated before mass production. As is, this interesting prototype could be worth examining--just don't expect it to attain peak performance.

It's definitely a mediocre game. It plays it safe in every way possible. It's only feature of note is its voice recognition system, but everything else feels like it came straight out of a How to Make a Cover-Based Shooter for Dummies book or something. It's not bad; it's just generic. It's a "me too" game that tries to sell you on ideas that could be awesome but aren't fleshed out all that well.

Binary Domain wants to be more than a generic shooter, but unfortunately drops the ball with the unique gameplay elements. What remains is an entertaining, reasonably interesting and good looking shooter that could've scored better with an extra layer of technical polish.

Though sometimes repetitive, combat is tense, frantic, and structured in such a way that a big new boss or new challenge is always around the corner.

Binary Domain ultimately feels as if it's pandering to schizophrenic expectations. It aims for the stars, incorporating a jack of all trades mentality, but in a market crowded with third-person shooters, this lacks the quality to stand out. In the end, it's more I, Robot than Blade Runner - an enjoyable romp, but far from a classic.

When the curtain drops on Binary Domain, you're left with the sense that, while accomplished, this game is largely a rote exercise in genre. It adequately, but not outstandingly, mimics the nuts and bolts of the western cover shooter, while bringing little new of worth to the table.