Stripped of its unique ideas, you'd be forgiven that this is a hyper generic third person shooter. Luckily there are a few new ideas that give it extensive appeal beyond conformity. Such ideas come in the form of the Voice Recognition System. Whilst the idea is flawed (you need to sound very American to trigger the most elaborate recognition) it's a good idea to give it a slice of novelty. When giving commands, you have a quasi moral mechanic. Do you act like a fool, and constantly reply in childish and sophomoric ways? Then expect them to ignore you, though they only betray you if you keep slamming your gun into their mush and acting like a noob. The real star of the Domain though is the deformation of your bot foes. Decapitate their head and they'll instantly fire at fellow drones. Shoot out their legs, they'll scrabble over to you in an attempt to take you out. In this way it's more hectic than other shooters. Though there are great ideas at work, it's still all about progression- shooting, following objectives and orders whilst occassionally varying up the repetition with boss fights and some wild excursions. Generally a decent game with great ideas that don't quite congeal into a blockbusting blaster.… Expand

Brilliant game! Do not miss it! The gameplay is buttery smooth, making it very satisfying to blast apart robots. The characters are in-depth, interesting and likable. The graphics and art direction are superbly. The boss battles are huge and impressive, making them very satisfying to take out. But most of all, the story in Binary Domain is top notch. This game will keep you interested from start to finish.… Expand

Sad story of a brilliant game just not getting good enough advertisement.

Try it now you've finally heard of it, if you like cover shooters, you'll love it.

A excellent third person shooter. Though it looks generic and mediocre at first glance, it has a lot of things which sets it apart from other third person shooters. The 'trust' system is a great addition to the genre, the story is brilliant and shooting robots never gets old.

Overall, Binary Domain is a fine game. It blatantly rips off GoW but thats not so bad. My problem with this game is its very "generic" there is nothing new here, and the ability to "communicate" with your team seems useless, at least to me. The controls are tight, the graphics are good, and the story is well done. yet everything here has been done before and in some cases done better. if your looking for another shooter to play for the weekend this may fit the bill but don't buy it, rent it instead. Fun in small doses, boring after an hour or two.… Expand

Binary Domain is a fairly mediocre Gears of War clone. The story is good but the characters, although like-able enough are extremely generic. Rugged muscle bound, wise cracking space marines with short hair and designer stubble is the order of the day here. The combat itself is the usual roll, duck and cover while popping out of cover to shoot an enemy then reload and repeat. The main problem with the combat is how your team mates keep walking into your line of fire then have the cheek to blame you for shooting them. The game is unfair in other areas as well, such as when you get knocked down and use a med kit. Before you can get to your feet to escape the AI will hit you again from off screen. There's also times when you will be fighting a mech but wont know whether or not your attacks are being effective.

There's plenty of online options but again nothing that you haven't seen done better in a million other shooters this generation. Overall fun but ultimately throwaway.… Expand

I'm pretty surprised by the low scores this game has received by the critics. This is a game with an interesting storyline, likeable characters (even if a bit stereotyped), exciting set-pieces including some epic boss battles and with no really big flaws in it. The controls don't feel as tight as other games such as uncharted or gow but work perfectly. I've heard that voice commands aren't recognised as good as they should but that's an optional feature and in any case, a feature that most games don't even have. The only real flaws i can think of are just the framerate dips (easily noticeable on the bigger battles) and its multiplayer lacking players.
If you like third person shooters not only for their multiplayer this is a must. If you don't, then convince some friends to get the game aswell.… Expand

I bought this game with the expectation that it would be mediocre at best. Sega don't have the best track record when it comes to shooters and Alpha Protocol did nothing to inspire confidence. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered just how well they've done with Binary Domain. The graphics are a wonderful, detailed affair - Sega got it spot-on with the limb destruction on the various robots. There were times I felt like I was in the middle of a Terminator movie. Unfortunately, this also extends to some of the cheesy lines: Sega have made a multicultural team of squadmates, but fallen into the trap of making some of their lines very stereotypical. That's not to say the characters aren't well written; they most certainly are, but a lot of the depth is revealed towards the middle and end of the game. What seems like a one-dimensional rag-tag bunch turns out to be something much different.

The music is atmospheric, neither standing out or fading away. It serves its purpose, highlighting the tone of each area or set piece, but I wouldn't shell out for the OST. Where Binary Domain really excels is the gameplay and story. Being a fan of Gears of War, I was always hungry for more depth; Binary Domain does this brilliantly. The player is morally and philosophically challenged at several points over the span of the game, but never loses its sense of pace. Every run-and-gun moment is offset with conversation, occasional "rest points", then straight back into the action. The set pieces are varied and universally fun, with mixes of advanced QTEs and interactive cutscenes, many more than I had expected to see. Despite being set geographically in only one location, the game does a good job of making you feel as though you're progressing.

I wouldn't say Binary Domain is perfect, but it's much better than the Critic Metascore gives it credit for. It's such a shame that this might be seen as a failure, because I would love to see Sega rewarded for making such a wonderful game.… Expand

If you like 'gears of war' style games you'll like the feel of Binary Domain. If you like films like 'I, Robot' Bladerunner, Screamers, or Mecha cartoons, or even the new Capricia/BattlestarGalactica TV series, then you'll like the story line and grahics. The plot is full of holes, but I didn't care, I was having too much fun blasting holes in rebelling robots. Its a great game - I ended up enjoying it more than Gears 3 - but then I really liked 'I, Robot'.… Expand

Starting off my review, the command/dialogue system, good but with the options available it can get rather confusing what your actually saying and wondering why saying "you fool" is a dialogue option where it makes no sense(mic untested). Next character dialogue, meh, due to squad combat dialogue just doesn't seem right or got lost in translation, but cutscenes are good. Yes the cutscenes, good for story but being japanese there can tend to be about 3 before you get back to actual gameplay, and have better graphics than actual gameplay. Graphics, good, it isn't battlefield 3, but they are pretty standard graphics of the last few years.
Audio, okay, but guns just don't sound right when you listen to them, otherwise fine, nice soundtrack. Gameplay, a rather standard third person shooter (find cover and shoot from there), upgrading weapons/customising nanomachines is boring(leveling up), the trust meter is a strange thing, leveled up with headshots/one hit kills/melee kills and agreeing with your team. Team commands, I found on the last boss fight my team member refused to revive another making me use up MY medkits to get them to just go down after a few seconds. Otherwise campaign is good however incredibly short. (Total for Campaign8/10-length)
Now the multiplayer, utterly and completely mind-blowing at how it's dissapointing. After a good campaign I thought I'd try multiplayer(about 2months after release), hardly anybody online and 85% are Japanese(maybe Chinese the writting all looks the same to me), a poor attempt at multiplayer filled with max level people and it's incredibly unbalanced. So final decision on this game overall good but not great due to length and sub-standard multiplayer and low replayability of campaign.

Yes a big fat 5 best describes binary domain.
RECOMMENDED AS RENTAL ONLY(unless on sale).… Expand

Binary Domain is an interesting beast. Whereas Yakuza: Dead Souls was still uniquely Japanese in flavor and has endured some criticism of its TPS mechanics as a result, Binary Domain is a Western-style shooter with some added elements that its Japanese developers must have thought would enhance the typical TPS experience. The result is surprisingly effective and enjoyable.

Yas, if your team is the one who localized Binary Domain, I need to give you some serious commendations. The script, the voicework, and the crisp presentation are all high-caliber. The same love and care that obviously went into the localization for Yakuza 4 and Dead Souls are here, but the addition of a great English dub makes it even more impressive (not that I would EVER want the Yakuza games to be voiced in English again, mind you).

That being said, Binary Domain is still quite different than its Yakuza brethren. It's a lot more linear, and the gimmicky voice command and relationship systems don't work that well most times. The multiplayer is also pretty mediocre, but the single-player campaign is far more enjoyable than any standard Western shooter that I've played in the last few years. The constant banter between teammates, the well-conceived story, the atmospheric locales, the variety of gameplay, the brilliant mechanical designs, and the satisfaction of blowing pieces off of the enemy bots all combine for some compelling gameplay and replay value. The enemies are fairly intelligent and can be quite difficult to take down, which contributes to a sense of real achievement. Menus and interface components are streamlined and user-friendly, and the auto-save/checkpoint system is about as perfect as you could ever hope to have. You never need to worry about losing progress or screwing up a save file, career profiles, hard saves vs. quicksaves, or any of the other aggravations that seem to pop up in Western shooter campaigns.

Also, the plethora of upgrades, crafting options, item pickups, and shop offerings still feel like they benefited from Yakuza's pedigree. And like Yakuza, you actually start to understand and genuinely care about the characters, even if they do seem painfully stereotypical and forgettable in the first couple hours. I love the way that minor puzzles, mini-games, and QTE-esque rail sequences keep the shooter combat from feeling repetitive, and the quality cutscenes are lengthy but don't overstay their welcome. Players can also approach objectives in a variety of ways. NPC squad members might suggest an action to take down the enemy, but you are still welcome to do it your own way, to which they will sometimes reply "nevermind" in a comical way. The script is perfectly balanced, too, throwing in some clever humor amidst the intense drama of the narrative. It tackles some difficult existential material at times, so the occasional comic relief is certainly appreciated.

If there is one thing that I could say is a missed opportunity, though, it's the linear structure of the game. While shooters normally ARE linear and it may not bother a majority of players, I feel like Binary Domain would have been a more stand-out title if it had allowed you to approach mission content and objectives in a more free-roaming fashion. I didn't expect the game to be a Mass Effect contender or anything, but if you were able to set up a base camp as you moved through Tokyo and handle secondary objectives freely before moving to the next hot spot, perhaps even selecting your teammates to supplement your abilities in each scenario, it probably would have made better use of the relationship system and customization that the game touts. Still, this is just wishful thinking, and perhaps the devs will consider that if Binary Domain 2 ever becomes a possibility. Otherwise, the major gripes that you will hear in reviews for this game are focused on the lack of multiplayer options. Sure, the mainstays are present, though not original or revolutionary by any stretch, and there is no campaign co-op. And that's a shame, since it could've garnered Binary Domain some much-deserved attention from critics and players alike.

The bottom line is this - Binary Domain is, surprisingly, one of the best third-person shooters we've received in the seventh generation, if only for its meaty single-player campaign. Unfortunately, the game wasn't marketed very well for its American release, and many gamers may overlook it assuming that it's just a generic throw-away title. In actuality, even the best Western TPS franchises could learn from Binary Domain's stellar presentation and localized script. I would encourage ever Yakuza fan, shooter fan, or general action gamer to give Binary Domain a shot, and you may be pleasantly surprised by the quality of its experience.… Expand

Just got it today, only played the first mission and a little of the second chapter and so far it's exactly what most people are saying, wonderful & awesome game. Pick up if you get a chance, especially if you are a shooter/action fan.

Standard but well done TPS gameplay. Excellent level design and visuals, but the framerate on the PS3 gets bogged down at certain points in the game and for certain boss encounters. The characters are very enjoyable and the voice acting is great, but tactically, it really doesn't make a difference which characters you choose to bring with you. The voice command system works well but it's much easier and safer to issue commands with the controller since the game doesn't always pick up your commands correctly. The AI is also goofy at points, often bumbling into your line of fire and forcing you to lose trust with them as they complain about it. Trust is another mechanic that didn't pan out that well. By doing well in combat or responding favorably to dialogue cues, you can increase trust levels with certain party members. This affects the outcome of certain plot points in the story, but little else. These plot points are also few and far between. I was hoping choosing different companions when replaying portions of the game would affect the outcome of the events more, but sadly, it doesn't. The competitive multiplayer modes are awful but the cooperative modes are a blast. Buy this game mainly for the single player, which is somewhat replayable, and the coop modes. Great game.… Expand

Binary Domain created by all or most of the team that make the playstation exclusive yakuza series. This is there first attempt at any kind of 3rd person shooter, and turned out to be surprisingly good.
more of a cult classic than a game everyone will like. The game manages to revive the shooter genre that has become a stale wasteland of c.o.d clones. The game does not pander to the casual gamer and is a reasonable challenge on normal. A very good challenge on hard, recommended difficulty too enjoy the enemy ai. they will try to out think you. completion time is around 8 to10 hours a little longer if want all the collectables. the campaign story is one of the best this year, robots, politics and humanity to weave an interesting story around some characters you actually care about by the end . re-playable by changing your team members each with there own skills and upgrades but you always play as dan the main character and voice or button control your team. Voice control works after adjusting settings and i found using an old mic worked better than the official one. using voice isnt needed but adds to the overall feel of the gameplay. character voices are localised so you have a robot ninja that speaks french for example . Over all good voice acting in this game no corny mockney accents anywere to be seen. after the campaign you have 50 wave horde mode, online co op and multiplayer ,deathmatch, team death match. more like socom online than cod mainly japanese players online but fairly busy and populated lobbies. i would recommend this game if you liked the movie ai robot as the robots look similar in places. the boss fights are great fun while still challenging. Graphics are very good. 8.5… Expand

Gears Of War w/ better characters, better story, better boss battles.... only thing lacking is the multiplayer. Which doesn't matter because the campaign is excellent.

I bought SXX, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and got a third free - Binary Domain. For me the best arcade shooter on PS3 (similar to Gears of War on 360).
Neotokyo style + good graphic + simple controls + dynamic action + typical Japanese storyline :) you just enjoy playing it without getting bored.
really need to appreciate this perfect game and to support the artists by buying the game.

I'm actually shocked with how good this game is. Think of it as Uncharted meets Gears of War meets Front Mission meets Mass Effect. It's something like this. To put it simple: this game is AWESOME. I was surprised. Small publicity, bad cover, I mean, it looked like one of these games no one cares. But I decided to give it a chance. Great graphics (although occasionally meh), great story, great characters, fun, perfect gameplay with may surprises on the way. THIS GAME MUST NOT BE MISSED.… Expand

The most fun I've had playing a game for about, oooh, a few years? It's brilliant. Don't understand the 'meh' attitude from the game press. Sure, it's not original, but the gameplay is amazing fun the whole way through, it never gets dull, and its story is the best I've seen in a game for a long time.

Game of the Year contender for me, no question!!! I really hope these guys are planning a sequel...… Expand

It is very likely you, at present, do not own a copy of this very charming third person shooter. A game designed in the East with the mindset of the West at the forefront of its development, the result is something surreal. A game with balanced combat, great visuals, impressive boss fights and an enjoyable, if slightly surreal, plot to weave them all together in one of the most complete and enjoyable campaigns I have ever played in a shooter. The package is, however, somewhat let down by its multiplayer component. Its a tack on, and I have no other words for it. Obviously an obligation rather than concern, the developers have made no exemplary effort to set Binary Domain's multiplayer apart from the herd. It can, however, be enjoyable for small sessions at a time but will never raise you out of your seat or impress in you anyway. Is this a game for the competitive purist? Neigh, but it is likely the best campaign you will find in a third person shooter this year. Highly recommended.… Expand

Generic Shooter is Generic, however before kicking me in the ass, lets just say stereotypical characters isn't funny, The graphics on the other side are decent with the detail of enemies crumbling as you shoot them. Shooting is a bit "tight" but plays like Uncharted which is alright. Multiplayer? What?

Great game with a superb story.The interaction between the characters is believable and sometimes humorous. You can choose reply options that can hurt or help the trust between yourself and your teammates and effect the endings.The sci-fi setting is really well done and looks clean and sharp throughout. In some of the areas there is a break from the action and you can walk around and speak with NPCs. I think that the best way to describe this game is like a great book...you want to keep going because the story builds into it's greatness but you also realize that by progressing you're moving closer to the end of a great adventure...if that makes sense.The best testament to this game is to just try to find someone who finished it and didn't like it,...I'm not talking of professional reviewers who sometimes don't even complete the game before passing judgement, but just regular people who have played it..check the forums of regular gaming sites and you'll see the love for this game. In fact this is the only game I've ever written a review for because I felt it was that good and more people should know about this game.… Expand

I was watching this game since it was announced and had very high hopes for it. I was expecting a 7-8 point tps that would help me with the wait for Mass Effect 3. But boy, this game is absolutely astounding ! Characters are great, voice acting is superb, graphics are nice, AI is responsive, voice commands work, a little joke here and there to lighten up the mood and one of the greatest endings I have seen, period.
If you enjoy TPS at least a little bit, you owe it to yourself to get it, since they don't even charge the usual 60 bucks for the game, but around 40.… Collapse

Played the demo, all i can say: WOW! Great fantastic game, and its got perfect graphics. Runnings a little weird, but cool game all the way. People who rated it bad, are too stupid to know how to get past the enemies lol.

Binary Domain is a third person shooter that owes a massive debt to both Gears Of War and I, Robot.
The graphics are solid, but there are better looking games this generation. The boss encounters are huge and time consuming.
The squad mechanic is under par as your team mates will routinely run into your line of fire and complain at you as if it was your fault! Also they spout the same repetitive phrases throughout combat.
There's no online co-op which would have boosted my enjoyment further, and I can't see why Sega didn't think to include it seeing as you're always fighting in groups of 2 or 3 within the story. Shame.
Overall it's a solid shooter, i can't say I didn't enjoy it. But it brings few new ideas to the genre, and without campaign co-op which it is so crying out for, a bit of a let down.… Expand

Like Sci-Fi, robots or just a good action romp? Well you owe it to your self to play one of the must underrated cover shooters in a long time.

At first i thought it was just another gears of war cover shooter but after the initial disappointment i realized i was having a blast and couldn't put the game down.

Often cheesy but always entertaining this game delivers the goods with the most satisfying shooting around! Mix in squad based commands via mic ( it actually works pretty well ) or buttons, a loyalty system where helping and talking to your team mates in the right way will make them more keen to follow your every word and even some light rpg mechanics with a nanomachine upgrade system and you are set for some good times.

Did i mention some of the most awesome and bad ass boss fights? Well theres that too.

Seriously just pick it up and give it an hour of your time before you judge, you wont be disappointed i promise.… Expand