Binary Domain
Preview
Gamescom 2011: Run, gun and shoot for fun
by Liam Edwards
previewed on X360
Run, gun and shoot for fun
If you have played any of the previous Yakuza games, you'll know that characters were clunky and animations weren't the smoothest. But these problems seem to have been addressed with Binary Domain. As a third-person cover-based shooter it draws immediate comparisons to Gears of War, but manages to differentiate itself with the details.
Dan can kit himself out with a variety of different weapons and roll between cover. Animations are smooth when jumping or rolling between cover and even a large marine such as Dan looks graceful jumping between two bits of smashed wall. Enemy robots use a procedural system within the game. This means that players could potentially shoot of an arm of a robot and once that robot runs out of bullets and needs to reload, it can't because of the loss of its other limb. This applies to all of the limbs the robot has use over; if its legs are shot out it will crawl towards you in a last ditch effort to bring you down.
Robot enemies also have various layers of armor depending on how difficult they are to defeat. Lower enemy robots have none while more difficult enemies having to be stripped of three layers of armor before being defeated. Binary Domain doesn't seem to want players to just shoot anywhere in the traditional Japanese game way. Instead, the creators are asking you to think about where you place your bullets and think smart about how you take down enemies.
Voice control
One of the key features that Sega were very happy to show off was Binary Domain's use of voice-control. With use of a headset players can use voice-commands to not just control the RUST team, but also interact and have conversations with them. Producer Yun Yoshino showed a few examples of how players and the team can interact. Whilst in a level or mission players can talk at any time to a team mate or the whole team. Simple conversations can take place with players being able to use a limited amount of commands to talk to the A.I companions. When asked, director Daisuke Sato stated that the phrases players can use were currently up to about 60, including phrases such as “charge,” “enemy,” “re-group” and “i love you.” Your companions will respond with acknowledgement if the command has been understood, or a “can you repeat that?” will follow if your voice has fallen on deaf ears.
When I asked Sato about the possibility of the game not being able to pick up commands because of a different accent, he explained that they are working on making sure that the game will pick up many different variations of a phrase. And with the game being localized and the voice-control being available to many different languages, he said that the problem with different dialects and accents should be non-existent.
A promising start
Although third-person, squad-based shooters have been done to death, not one has ever really captured relationships with the companions who help you throughout the game. Binary Domain is promising to show us exciting third-person action, which is highly tactical and makes players think. It also aims to include an engaging story line and a deep system of conversations and actions. If you liked the Yakuza games and like shooting robots, then Binary Domain ticks all the boxes.
