1/11/12

On the Radar: Binary Domain


As more and more people become aware that the advent of a technological singularity is rapidly approaching, it's been fascinating to see the stream of narrative works dedicated to the usurpation of the human race by our own inventions as the dominant species on the planet.

Unfortunately, very few people telling these narratives seem to be able to view artificial intelligence as anything beyond the whole "killer robots" concept, leading to an endless stream of Terminator (I swear it's coincidence there has been so much Terminator stuff today) and The Matrix one-offs, instead of the in-depth explorations of artificial intelligence that literature has provided.


This repetition of concept isn't entirely a bad thing, as it has led to films like Terminator and The Matrix, as well as other interesting takes on the concept engineered speciation like Blade Runner and even the under-appreciated-but-stil-kinda-iffy I, Robot "adaptation." For the most part, these stories have all adhered pretty strictly to a "crazy-robots-is-tryna-kill-us" and have all, with the exception of Blade Runner, led to some conclusion about the triumph of the human spirit.

Sega's Binary Domain definitely falls into the category of simplistic takes on artificial intelligence, but it definitely looks interesting. It's also cool to see the Japanese dev team behind the Yakuza franchise tackle a more Western-style shooter, continuing an interesting trend that was sparked by 2010's excellent Vanquish.

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