For as much as I praised last year's Bionic Commando for Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, and PC and encouraged everyone (this means you!) to play it, I've become known as the resident Bionic Commando enthusiast over at Kombo, so when one of my Kombo kolleagues, Keri Honea, found herself with a Bionic Commando strategy guide to review and no expertise in swinging through Ascension City, she offered the review opportunity to me. I gladly accepted, and now the end result — my review of the Bionic Commando strategy guide — has been published over at Keri's own guide review site, Strategy Guide Love. There's a lot more to this book than just maps.
Start flipping through the guide and you'll find that the first chunk of the book isn't maps or gameplay tactics, but a retelling of the complete history of Bionic Commando's backstory. A recap of the Rearmedmission leads into filling the gap between the remake of the Nintendo Entertainment System classic and this new modern adventure. Here you'll learn about a botched mission that led Spencer to disobey orders and allow two rogue bionic soldiers to escape a terminator order and his subsequent imprisonment and sentence to death row. BioReign's rise to prominence is also explored, as are dossiers on lead and supporting characters such as Spencer, his missing wife, "Super" Joe Gibson, Secretary Armstrong, nemesis Gottfried Groeder, antagonistic counterpart Jayne "Mag" Magdalene, the mysterious sniper, and other side characters. Knowing all of Bionic Commando's complete story beats isn't required to enjoy or understand the game, but they do show just how fleshed out this reworked fictional world became over the course of development.
Thanks to the guide's publisher, Future Press, for creating a book that is aimed squarely at the Bionic Commando fan who wants to dig a little deeper into the game's mythos and tactics. Based on my own personal experience, I am the only person out there who falls into this criteria. I've never read a book that was meant solely for me. It's exciting!
