Review #027 – Bionic Bay

“Well, I’m glad I don’t have to do that part again…” — this thought came through my head numerous times while playing Bionic Bay. There’s some clever ideas at play here — one mechanic late in the game is especially cool — but I found myself frustrated with its mechanics more than enjoying them.

It takes a decent amount of inspiration from PlayDead games like Limbo, but I don’t think it’s on the same level as those games. General movement feels surprisingly tight which does make some of platforming pretty fun. But, because the game relies so heavily on real-time physics, some sections can go completely differently from one death to the next.

By the time I neared the end I was very much ready for it to be over. It’s relatively brief (took me about 6 hours), but it feels much longer. It’s definitely not a bad game and its aesthetic is very pretty, but it just has way too many frustrating sections.