Today brings the promised survey of E3 downloadable titles. Before we get started, it bears mentioning that Castlevania: Harmony of Despair falls under this banner. However, because It already had the run of the site’s front page last Friday, today it gets this paltry link. Take that, you self-centered but probably still awesome digital product. Pickings were actually pretty slim for interesting downloadable titles, but what was there was awesome.

Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2 (PSN/XBLA)

GRIN may be dead, but a good chunk of the development team that made Bionic Commando: Rearmed has found new life as Fatshark. Their first Bionic Commando game was a remake, but without a suitable sequel (no the Game Boy game doesn’t count), Fatshark is in uncharted territory.

Rearmed 2 makes the list because it has committed base heresy. If you watch the trailer closely, you’ll see that Ladd Spencer (or someone who looks a lot like him) can jump.

“But Pixelsocks,” you’re saying, “jumping isn’t heresy in a 2D platformer!” This is how I know you’re 25 or younger. Ladd Spencer does not jump. The draw of Bionic Commando is really a combination of the emphasis on swinging and the clever level design this necessitates.

Of course, the trick is that not all heresy is an evil. It’s not like the folks at Fatshark are trampling an established trope out of ignorance. They made Bionic Commando: Rearmed, and so they doubtless have some fancy plans for Spencer’s fancy new knees. So the reason to watch this one is to see what they do.

Limbo (XBLA)

Limbo caught our attention at this year’s IGF, where it won awards for technical excellence and visual art. Microsoft nabbed them for the upcoming Summer of Arcade shortly thereafter. It’s easy to see what piqued their interest.

Limbo follows a kid through the titular not-quite-hell as he searches for his sister. Limbo is . . . not a friendly place, and everything inside wants you dead. So the game primarily consists of anticipating threats and working out a way to circumvent them. More generally, it’s a puzzle-platformer with an emphasis on sight-reading the levels.

Limbo is remarkable for how compelling it is. Your little boy is a fragile thing in a world of violent death. He’s not particularly heroic, or even agile, and your vulnerability captures the same creeping dread you see in survival horror. It feels strange to be emotionally invested in a platformer, and it’s a good thing.

The sophisticated animation technology is another draw. Beyond the striking silhouette aesthetic, the game actually looks a fraction of a second into your future (presumably extrapolating from the game’s physics) and uses that to anticipate animations it will need. The result is that the boy does little things like reaching out to grab a cliff edge before he catches it. It makes the cartoony animations look remarkably natural, and the visible feedback makes the platforming feel tighter.

It’s compelling, impressive, and coming soon.

Friday, mainstream platform releases.

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Tags:   bionic commando: rearmed 2 · downloadable · E3 · E3 2010 · fatshark · limbo · playdeadNo Comments

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