Binary Domain is Half Way Between Gears of War and Vanquish

Sega has today released a proper trailer for their upcoming shooter, Binary Domain. Unlike the trailer released late last year, this one is full of gameplay that looks extremely decent. Unforunately, it is also filled with bland looking characters. I was hoping Toshihiro Nagoshi (producer of the Yakuza series, tanning bed activist) might have pulled some strings to get the bootleg Commander Shepard and token black guy tweaked for some originality, but alas, no. 

Regardless, Binary Domain is still a ways out - due to release some time in 2012 - but the early returns are somewhat convincing. Of course, you'll have to get over the fact that it's pretty much half Gears of War, and half Vanquish, which was already half Gears. So what does that make BD? I hate math.

After his work on the Yakuza series, Nagoshi knows what a compelling story in a game should be, so there's that. Also, there are some interesting action sequences in the trailer, like jet skiing and building sliding, to go along with your typical shoot 'em up fare. If the former outweighs the latter, and Binary Domain keeps on with the eye candy, we might have an acceptable Gears/Vanquish/Gears knockoff on our hands.

Yakuza Creator's Futuristic Shooter is Binary Domain

Wake up fool!

The ultra-tanned, hostess magnet Toshihiro Nagoshi, best known as the creator of Sega's prolific Yakuza series, has thrown his skin flakes into the futuristic shooter ring. With an emphasis on squad-based tactics, Binary Domain is set in a torn-down Tokyo circa the year 2080, where it's humans versus the machines, baby.

The trailer, which is quite lengthy, foregos gameplay for the trusty old cinematic sequences, chock full of the same old played out odds and ends. Robots that look like T-800s, a torn down Tokyo, and a very bland group of characters, including a Ben Affleck look-a-like and the token black man.

"When you hear sci-fi you may think of cold, clinical environments," Nagoshi-san states. "With Binary Domain I wanted to combine this with a deep human drama. The keyword we have in mind for this project is 'Life'. I wanted to make something that will be accepted by both the Japanese and Western markets, and this fundamental theme is something everyone knows but which the full extent of can be difficult to grasp." 

You gotta give it to the man, he talks a good one. Human drama is not something that's even remotely tied to shooters, but fans of Yakuza will tell you, despite its action, the well done drama element is the game's main draw. As for appealing to the both Japanese and Western gamers, well.. The hoorah-heavy, testosterone-laced man's men we're looking at aren't typically well received by Japanese gamers. You make one look like Ben Affleck, and the other a racial stereotype, and Japanese acceptance will be sure to plummet even further, no doubt. We'll see.

I admire what Nagoshi-san has done with the Yakuza series, so I'm half expecting Binary Domain to blossom into something special. If the last chunk of the trailer is any indication, we'll at least be in store for something interesting.