Although it's a slight letdown, Bionic Commando is easily worth spending a day or two swinging around.
In this original sequel, you play as Rad Spencer from the first game, though now he's called Nathan Spencer. Under orders from Superintendent Joseph Gibson (Super Joe!), you are to recover a secret weapon of mass destruction from a terrorist group called BioReign. It's a pretty functional story that's unfortunately lacking in character development. Every character is very one-dimensional and dull. We don't learn much about most of the characters except Nathan, and even then it's pretty light.
Basic gameplay involves swinging from point to point using your bionic arm. By aiming at virtually anything in range and pulling the left trigger, Spencer will fire his arm at the target and begin swinging. You can also zip straight to your grapple point and jump off that same point to propel yourself upwards. By combining these abilities, and adjusting to a slight learning curve, Spencer can navigate through areas quickly and gracefully. The mechanics involved here are very rewarding and even somewhat immersive. You'll feel a great sense of satisfaction as you swing through the air.
It's a shame the rest of the gameplay doesn't hold up so well. You have access to the most basic types of guns; namely a pistol, machine gun, sniper rifle, and so on. There's only one type of each weapon, and actually firing them is just boring. None of them look too scary, or sound too loud, so it's almost like playing the original game again (in a bad way: just point and shoot). There's no cover system, enemy tactics, or any other features seen in most modern shooters. Later on, you get to use your bionic arm to latch onto enemies and throw them, zip-kick them, and so on.
Not that there's a lot to shoot at anyway. Typically you'll run into the same grunt over and over. You'll also see a couple of different robots that require different tactics, but there's not enough of these encounters to make the combat any less stale. Boss fights are also surprisingly rare, with about four throughout the entire game. Considering the original BC, and Rearmed, had a boss for every level, it's odd to see so few this time around.
There is also a long list of challenges to complete, most of them involving taking down enemies in different ways. A lot of these unlock achievements on 360, so you're in luck if that's your thing. In addition, there's hidden collectibles to be found in each level. Confusingly, the game doesn't allow backtracking, so if you miss some collectibles, you'll have to get them on another play-through. It can be a major problem considering how many collectibles there are. The game's not so great that you're gonna play through it multiple times.
At least the graphics aren't an issue. The environments, while there are few, look great, with a very good draw distance and nice looking textures and lighting. Spencer animates very fluidly, and you can unlock his BC Rearmed skin if you don't like the dreadlocks (few do). Yet another gripe appears, though, when you try to explore these environments. A blue radiation coats most of the areas, forcing you on a set path. It's a very unfortunate design choice that cuts deeply into the fun. Had this been a sandbox game, I'd have given it a 9 or 10.
Aside from the awful gun sound effects, the audio might just be the best part. Spencer is voiced by Mike Patton here, and he does a pretty decent job, though he comes off as maybe too 80's action hero sometimes. Steven Blum voices Super Joe, and as always, he does a great job. The music is superb, with great, epic remixes of the classic NES version's soundtrack. You'll just wish the game lived up to its music; it sounds like it belongs to a better game. The soundtrack alone is why I added another .5 to the score.
In the end, Bionic Commando is a flawed example of what could have been. It's not buggy or broken, its just the sum of its parts and nothing more. I do, however, recommend at least a rental, as its more fun than it initially seems.