Bionic Commando Rearmed - Reception

Reception

Bionic Commando Rearmed has been very well received by game critics. It averages 86/100 across all three release platforms at aggregate website Metacritic and average 87% across platforms at GameRankings. Rearmed sold over 130,000 copies across all three platforms during the first week of its release. As of year-end 2010, Bionic Commando Rearmed has sold over 113,000 copies on Xbox Live alone. That number rose to over 119,000 at year-end 2011. In a September 2010 ranking, IGN listed Bionic Commando Rearmed fourth in their top twenty-five Xbox Live Arcade titles of all time. Overall impressions of the game gleaned comments of praise. IGN's Hilary Goldstein called Rearmed "the best downloadable game to date on XBLA and PSN" and ranked it second on her top 10 list of Xbox Live Arcade games. Jeff Gerstmann of Giant Bomb called it "terrific in almost every way" and the reviewer from GameTrailers stated it was "one of those games that feels organic to play." Reviewers praised the title's ability to remain true to the Nintendo version but provide enhancements to update the title.

The game's graphics received high marks from reviews. Hilary Goldstien of IGN described as "gorgeous" and added that Rearmed is "one of the prettiest downloadable games ever made." Jeff Gerstmann of Giant Bomb also lauded the visuals and praised the color palette, backgrounds and lighting. He further noted the game's ability to remain loyal to the original visual presentation. " makes enough visual references to the old game to trigger that feeling of nostalgia, but it never uses the old stuff as a crutch" stated Gerstmann. Similar praise was given in respect to the game's soundtrack, with 1UP.com's Jeremy Parish calling it "exceptional" and "a mix good enough to enjoy outside the context of the game". The reviewer from GameZone also gave praise for the remixed music. They called it "simultaneously retro and hip."

Reviewers were split on opinions of the game's AI, with IGN's Hilary Goldstien describing it as "the best seen in a side-scrolling game", but Tom McShea of GameSpot saying the enemies were "simply too limited to pose much of a treat". Multiple reviewers were disappointed in the game controls, citing the lack of updating to analog features and remaining too true to the original. Rearmed's multiplayer received generally high acclaim, with GameSpot's Tom McShea calling it "an unexpected treat". Both the game's cooperative and competitive modes were lauded, however some critics cited a lack of online functionality. Reviewer Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com also praised the game's challenge maps and in-game database, stating "Rearmed is a game that could easily sell for full retail price and seem like a good deal."