Binary Domain Review
Solid writing and interesting gimmicks can't save this game from being little more than a Gears of War retread, though not for lack of effort
The gameplay itself is standard Gears of War cover-shooting fare with tactical overtones. While not a new concept, Binary Domain makes earnest attempts to be unique and take the mechanics to different levels of strategy and immersion. A system in which one can plug in a microphone to their controller to give orders to squad mates is actually fairly functional, and provided you’re not in a place where barking orders to computers in an Xbox headset won’t make you look like an idiot, it can be extremely satisfying and immersive to literally tell a team member to do something for you, and then watch them actually follow your orders.
Or it would be.
The system is let down by a ‘trust’ gauge, in which the way that you treat your team affects how directly they will follow your orders. Too much friendly fire or too many bad decisions, and your squad mates will begin to disobey your commands. While clearly set in place to give the system extra depth, in practice, it simply makes the system even less reliable than its iffy voice recognition technology. When they run into your line of sight a few too many times, or a wayward “regroup” command magically turns into “blitz!”, it’s hard to not feel betrayed by the system when your teammates have decided that you aren’t a fit enough warrior to lead the pack. It’s a critically undermining addition that makes the system an annoying necessity to setting up tactical positions and strategy, bringing chance and unreliability to a concept that was already difficult to implement into Gears of War style mid-range skirmishes.
But the cutscenes and voiced command system are just additions surrounding gameplay, and what is there to be said about the gameplay? It’s as standard as it gets. The minute-to-minute action is the definition of routine, conjuring up just the same amount of thrills to never be exhilarating but just entertaining enough to not shut off the game. As repetitive as the claim “Gears of War ripoff” has become, even in this very review, it’s simply the best descriptor. In many ways, it surpasses that franchise. It has better writing, better visual style and the settings are more cohesive and easier to see. However, the gameplay is the same: cover, pop-up and fire, occasionally toss a grenade, as you’d see in GoW or Quantum Theory or ostensibly Warhammer 40K Space Marine. The gameplay is time tested and never unplayable, but still tedious and samey.
The bridging gameplay segments range from interesting to dreary and flow breaking. These segments rarely last long enough to achieve depth or define the game beyond being ‘merely a shooter’. Not for lack of trying however, every activity, from sliding down a building to hopping onto a jet-ski is conceptually interesting, and any game designer worth his own salt would understand that even the mere addition of these mini-games, as lacking as they might be, is a helpful addition to breaking up the third-person shooting, but they still don’t achieve the level of depth they could have or are as interesting or exciting as they could have been. The game deserved better.
In the end, Binary Domain is a game damned by good intention. The idea of bringing interesting narrative nuance, good writing, fresh ideas and mature polish to the modern cover shooter is one that most could get behind. With a near-broken voice system, however, coupled with boring, un-urgent gameplay and an average cutscene length rivaling a Hideo Kojima game, Binary Domain falls into the deadly, albeit well-meaning, category of “would have been better as a movie”.
Our ratings for Binary Domain on Xbox 360 out of 100 (Ratings FAQ)
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