10 Disastrous Redesigns That Ruined Iconic Video Game Characters

Bionic Commando – an action-platformer, released in 2009 – is another example of a game pointlessly reformatting an iconic series, negating any sense of humour of personality in the process. I mean, the original is about an egocentric redhead, literally named “Rad” Spencer, tasked with assassinating a powerful leader – essentially Adolf Hitler – using any means necessary, including a bionic arm capable of jettisoning him around the environment.

Naturally, the remake is about a guy trying to rescue his wife from terrorists, because who needs imagination when you’re a company comprised of soulless, inexpressive executives desperate to appeal to as many demographics as possible without offending anyone in particular, thereby depriving every project of any uniqueness whatsoever?

As such, the character was redesigned. The tone of the games was changed, so the tone of the character needed to be changed in order to reflect that. Nathan Spencer – the second iteration of the character, no longer “Rad” – can be described using many adjectives, including “bland”, “forgettable”, “insipid” and “uninspired”, but if he needed to be summed up in two words, those would be “tank top”, because that’s probably the most interesting thing about him.