[Source Kotaku]

Bionic Commando Is "Not Fucking Spider-Man"

People are worried that Bionic Commando might be a bit too hard. I’m one of them. There’s a fear that, because the game’s swinging mechanic is both integral to the game and difficult to master at the same time, a lot of players may not take the time to learn the system and give up on the game. Is this a concern to the development team? No, not really. Making the mechanic hard was the whole point, says GRIN's Ulf Andersson:

It’s not fuckin’ Spider-Man. We made a swing mechanism that’s not automatic. This means you have to focus a bit more, because it’s a proper mechanic instead of just a button press; it’s the core mechanic of the game. Everything in the game is built around that, from the environments to the enemy.

It’s really hard to do a good swing mechanic. Not many games have got it right. But we’re all really proud of ours. The original Bionic Commando was skill-based. There was a risk in jumping: you might die, you might not. We’ve stayed true to that core mood and feeling of the original in our game.

That mechanic will be too hard for some. Heck, might be too hard for many. But for others, it'll be a hoot. It’s at least refreshing to see a developer make a decision like this and stick with it, if only so you kids that are always complaining about stuff being dumbed down can take a look.

I actually have no real interest in Bionic Commando, I mainly just wanted to say:

Personally, I haven't played the game but after reading the story and some comments: your core mechanic shouldn't be too hard for the majority of people to pull off you dumb shit.

Just look at rearmed, first time i tried that game i got angry, but after realizing it's not a game like others and accepting the challenge i started loving it and now it's one of my favorites.

Just give me the damn trophies patch you promissed, capcom.

This is good. They're keeping the point of the original game which was mastering the swing mechanic. Bionic Commando: Rearmed kicks my ass evey time I play and I hope this game does too. I welcome more challenging games from developers.

See, I don't think the guy is a dumb shit because he made a difficult game, I think he's a dumb shit because he purposely wants the core mechanic of the game to be the same that's frustrating hard.

I guarantee you all that the vast majority of the people aren't nearly as forgiving as you are and Yahtzee had a pretty good rant on classic games difficulty.

Megaman 9 is actually a fun example.

Nobody would disagree with me when I say Megaman 9 is difficult and most people wouldn't disagree with me when I say it's still a good game. It's still a good game and one people can play because they made their core mechanics (jumping, shooting) easy to do.

The part where the Bionic Commando people failed is making their core mechanic (swinging) hard. The people who made Lair should be able to tell you making your core mechanic suck is a bad idea.

What they should have done was make the swinging easier and even made something where it's easy to pick up, difficult to master (of course I guess that would have taken effort). Then they could actually make situations later one where you need actual skill to get past them.

And if they're worried that they don't want to deviate from the original game then don't remake a shitty game you dumb fucks.

It's not refreshing to see developers make a shitty game and then stick with it. It would only be refreshing if they made a shitty game and then actually took the feedback and did something to improve it.

What do you want to be he'll come back next week bitching about how nobody is buying their games or it gets reviewed wrong?

Rearmed didn't deviated from the original and isn't shitty at all. And oh god, don't compare it to Lair.

Come on, it's not that hard, except of course on the super hard difficulty >.

You're holding a pretty minority opinion here. Rearmed got great reviews and is well liked by purchasers. I would be more dissapointed in them if they did go with a one button push Spirderman like approach. The swing mechanic needs to be timed or what the hell is the point?

I would hope not, or else Capcom and Marvel might have some legal issues to address. No more Marvel vs. Capcom would probably be the worst that happens(for gamers).

I don't see how making a game hard on purpose is a good thing. Old school games were hard because the controls sucked and there is no need in today's world to gimp your controls. MegaMan has shitty controls too, just to let you guys know.

I'm of two minds on this:

1. You're an idiot because we would never have gotten a game like GunValkyrie (and, to a lesser extent, PS2 Shinobi) with thinking like this--a game that eats up and spits out the so-called "hardcore" gamers, leaving only the real men* standing.

2. You're a genius because, frankly, nobody in this day and age is really willing to put in the time to come to grips with the play mechanics if it takes more than 15 minutes (once again we look at GunValkyrie which took several hours of concerted frustration until it all came together--clicked, if you will--as a thing of sweet 'n' creamy beauty but which, of the ten people that bought the game, only three of which ever discovered). Here I approvingly quote Shigeru Miyamoto: "If you haven't grabbed them in 15 minutes, you've failed."**

Basically, do you want to make a game that only appeals to a very, very narrow slice of the gaming populace (and again: the so-called hardcore gamers probably don't even fit in this category) or do you broaden that out in order to actually sell enough copies that you actually make some money and so that more than a tiny handful of gamers can appreciate it?

While you're pondering that, however, I would submit that there is room in the market for games that are, essentially, completely  unforgiving--Etrian Odyssey, Shiren the Wanderer, etc. are more punishing than fun, but there are people that do quite enjoy the hammer and tongs treatment and the sense of accomplishment at having tamed such unwieldy beasts (me, for one).

*As real as men can get when talking about video games.

**This might very well be an apocryphal tale/quote, but it certainly does explain NCL's game design philosophy--and success--doesn't it?

OK, how would you improve MegaMan's controls? Are they too tight? Too loose? Are you complaining that you simply can't do all the things you want him to be able to do?

There's also a difference in being hard because the game is un-fair (tons of old school games with slow, un-responsive controls, mandatory hits, etc.) and simply because the play mechanics are difficult to master (again: go play GunValkyrie as one example of this where the entire experience is built around a hard-to-master play mechanic).