So, I’ve recently had the chance to try the demos for two third person shooters I’ve been highly anticipating. Mass Effect 3 and Binary Domain. I’m going to stop right here and qualify my points by saying exactly what I’ve played and seen. I’ve watched every trailer and demo for each, and a lot of Japanese marketing for Binary Domain, which is immensely more in depth and informative about the game’s systems and features, if you’re able to understand Japanese. (Rather than music videos and funny camera angles, it’s normally a list of features, a minute or so of music video, and narration describing the game’s story and systems throughout each.) I’ve played both of the demos, and since that, Binary Domain was released in Japan, and I have a PS3, so why wait?

The games are an interesting pair. Both are from developers better known for their RPGs before trying their hands at third person shooter gameplay. Both bring in non-linear elements to enhance their story telling. Both feature squad command systems, and place importance on the trust of your companions. And they even both represent the first attempt of the studios to add multiplayer to their games. But the big difference is the stage these two titles are set to step out onto when they both release within weeks of each other, starting with Binary Domain on Feb 24. Mass Effect 3 is the conclusion of a trilogy, with a huge investment from EA, and the previous experience of two other games to draw on. Binary Domain on the other hand is a new IP, one of SEGA‘s few games that are developed by one of their teams rather just published, and is not only the team’s first third person shooter, but is also a Japanese developed third person shooter, the reputation in the genre being just another obstacle the game will have to overcome.

Now, to be fair, My article sort of hinges one big technicality. While both games only have demos out in the US/EU, Binary Domain is already out in Japan, and the Japanese marketing is always a lot more transparent than western marketing (remember, Binary domain isn’t just a game made by Japan to sell internationally, it’s a game made to sell /well/ to both the west, AND to Japan. So dual marketing campaigns is an interesting thing most people won’t pick up on.) And most importantly, every character speaks the language of the country they come from. The Japanese people speak Japanese with English subtitles, and the Brits speak English, and the Americans speak… as close to English as an American can. The accents are passable, and those that actually have actors of each nationality clearly stand above the others, but the most important thing Binary Domain brings that Mass Effect doesn’t is the lack of that, Sci-fi cliche of some unmentioned catastrophe somehow meaning that only Americans actually go off exploring space and sitting on the United Earth Coalition.

If the CG trailers were up to snuff, this would mean we could expect Shepard to be taking notes from Mario.

Mass Effect 3 showed London in it’s debut, and a British soldier with SAS markings in CG, but the otherwise lack of any non-Americans in what’s been shown in game is rather irritating. Why show me something that resonates with me in CG if it ISN’T going to be in the game? I can defend CG trailers like the one for Deus Ex, or Assassin’s Creed, because all of those hint at things that you’ll get to see and do in game. The CG trailers for Mass Effect 3 are almost nothing but stuff that hasn’t shown hide or hair in the ingame showings thus far. And while I’m discussing CG trailers, the children in the take back earth trailer? No more poignant than the child in the demo. That demo child is, according to Casey D Hudson on twitter, the ONLY child character model in the game. And that child is unimportant. No name, barely even a full minute of screentime, and he’s only there long enough that you can recognize him when he gets killed. It’s a cheap trick, and emotional kick in the balls, and a twist I’ve been writing into fanfics since I was 13. We don’t need children being implied to be killed off-screen to make us feel bad. Especially if you’re not actually going to see that child in the game. I’d probably put it up there with the “No Russian” level, for interupting the pace of the game and being an entirely unnecessary shock value scene. (And because I still can’t not point it out, all of America’s media there wouldn’t of been half as bothered by No Russian if they’d known it was a Russian airport and not a US one.)

Now, I know Binary Domain has children in it too, before you start saying I’m guessing, having watched the full sequence featuring the kids, it’s a lot more tastefully done. The kids are a genuine alternate perspective you get given some insight into, with a father figure to anchor them, and a good few minutes to demonstrate how they’ve adapted to machinery kicking arse all over the place besides hiding in an air vent. And you know what, it isn’t half the cheap shot that the child’s death in ME3 is, it affects you making you feel like you’re helpless to influence their situation, and that whatever happens to them, you won’t be there to see it. Showing you a snapshot of a story and giving you enough information to know what will eventually happen to the children is a lot more emotionally affecting than just watching a child run and get blown up.

The real reason I’m more excited for Binary Domain now rather than Mass Effect 3 (besides the fact that one of my favourite franchises has become a whore for exclusive weapons and DLC content for every mass effect item imaginable) is story. Binary Domain is a much more solid shooter and has it’s non-linear elements, but Mass Effect 3 has shown very little interest in the slower, more considered pace of games like the original Mass Effect. And rightly so, reapers are here, you can’t run off and spend 2 months out in the Terminus Systems mining. Though there’s a chance you can, if you feel like destroying your immersion. ME3 has only seemed to express any interest in throwing around some Diehard style oneliners, and flaring up the electric guitar and fire effects while Shepard flashes his omni blade around. To be honest, I don’t even consider Binary Domain and Mass Effect 3 to be much of a comparison at all, they’re very different games, even if the original was more of the slow and considered look at each level of the society in it’s world. Looking at the release windows, I’d daresay that the best comparison for Binary Domain, would be Spec Ops: The Line.

And I’ll give Binary Domain one thing, competitive multiplayer is another point of pride to prove a Japanese Devleoper can actually produce something worthwhile in that arena, so it’s less of a bullet point on the box than for Spec Ops. Binary Domain does have, however, hubs and area’s to interact with the characters and people of the area and an upgrade system to keep my RPG sensibilities busy, as well as deciding how much face time I want to put with which squadmates with the free time I have. And this as well as your tactics in the minute to minute gameplay also affect the events of the prefab cutscenes. It’s not quite a dialog wheel, but it’s more subtle and doesn’t result in 30 second pauses while I read every option, while still influencing the opinion of the squadmates and their behaviour as a part of the squad or as an individual. Being able to do the squad voice commands and stuff without kinect is nice too, for a PS3 owner. Regardless, I’ll likely to both of these games in the coming months to provide what I really want from Mass Effect 3 (Of course I’m still buying it, what are you, crazy?).

I’m just going to have to accept that Mass Effect isn’t the slowly considered look at how a society copes with these massive shifts, and it isn’t quite a best in class third person shooter either.

So with all three of these games looming, what do you, the EBA audience think of what you’ve seen? Are you looking forward to the story, excited about the new characters? Are you just waiting for the gif of Chobot licking her character’s face on a vita?