37. Binary Domain (X360, PS3, PC)
Sega's Yakuza Team tries its hand at making a third person cover shooter and knocks it out of the park like Goro fuckin' Majima. It was pretty surreal to play this within a month of Yakuza: Dead Souls, the zombie shooter spinoff of the studio's eponymous series. While Dead Souls had its clunky shooting mechanics shoehorned into a preexisting engine and template, Binary Domain was built to be a shooter from the ground up and plays like an absolute dream. There are a number of systems in place which set the game apart from the countless other Gears of War alikes on the market: a weapon and character upgrading system, squad shooter elements, and an interesting if somewhat half baked trust system. But what really makes it stand out is just how smoothly playable it is. The game's many huge bosses are an absolute gas to take down, and the procedural damage system even makes it a blast to take on standard foes. It's profoundly satisfying to crunch through the hordes of enemy androids as fragments of armored plating and shredded robotics shower down around you. The typically ridiculous story is perfectly game-y, briskly told and managing to strike the right balance of not taking itself too seriously while also not making a complete joke of things. What really makes it hum is the chemistry between the cast, a thoroughly affable bunch who engage one another in snappy dialogue while popping off bots' heads. Also, one of them is a French robot! All in all, Binary Domain is just so damned likeable. I'd bludgeon a whole litter of kittens to death with a puppy for a sequel, but thanks to miserable sales that is almost certainly never going to happen. It makes me intensely sad that it bombed as badly as it did, and I'd just like to say a hearty "fuck you" to everyone who failed to buy this awesome, awesome game - which, judging by the sales, was all of you.
