I've played this before...isn't this Metal Gear 2: Snake's Revenge?
Let me explain: The original Metal Gear had a new concept - stealth. The original Bionic Commando for the NES had a new concept as well - no jumping. This was ported to Bionic Commando Rearmed. After the success of the first game, a second game was done to cash in on the IP, adding some features so that the player wouldn't feel cheated, although they were. Sounds similar?
Snake's Revenge took place a few years after Metal Gear, where Snake and a team goes into a second Outer Heaven to fight off a new version of metal Gear, named Metal Gear 2. BC: R2 is years after the first game, where a similar neo-Nazi group as in the original game is attempting to attack the FSA (the "good" guys). A team is deployed to stop them. Let's complete side by side the setup and sequence of events in both games:
Snake's revenge starts with a team of 3 getting off a helicopter, hiding in the jungle to enter Outer Heaven. BC: R2 starts with a team of 4 getting off a helicopter into the enemy's island, Papagaya. Once you are alone, you continue your mission, every so often hearing from your teammates supposedly doing something for you to continue, or them having problems, getting captured/killed, etc. At one point, you even have to fight one of your teammates. The description above can be applied to either game.
The added features to MG2: SR are that you begin your mission with a gun and a knife besides your fists. The expanded weapons and items you acquire through the mission add to the gameplay, but very little. BC:R2 has new weapons and new skills for your bionic arm, but that doesn't add that much to the gameplay.
Jumping - Snake's Revenge also brought in a new gaming perspective: you had platforming sections where you could jump and shoot, go through tunnels filled with water and needed an oxygen tank to pass them. The jumping and awkward controls on these levels were supposed to add to the experience, but took away from it. All I've read about BC:R2 is that jumping takes away from the experience. I say that it's an unneeded add-on; the game can be completed without jumping, although there are secrets and pickups that are easier to collect by jumping.
The bionic arm controls, though, were overhauled for this game. The jumping and swinging were reviewed as one and I believe that's unfair. I can't complain about the swinging, as I saw it as more control over your swings, as opposed to the original NES game and the remake. Let's remember here that Bionic Commando was not an easy game, and not programmed perfectly. The nostalgia in most people who played the original clouds objective judgment in the controls, story, and overall gameplay. BC:R2 went away from the original formula, but I don't think it was such a bad game. The bosses and enemies were repetitive, as always, but the real challenge is getting through a level by swinging and evading all the environmental hazards. This is still a platformer, and I believe it was well done in that respect.
The story and "added features" were not that great, but if you like milking the game for all it's worth, this game has a good replay value. Once you get used to swinging, the rest is mastering your timing to release your bionic arm and successfully grapple to a surface. The challenge rooms are fun as well to hone your swinging skills, and the coop mode sounds like a good idea until you play it. Like other recent platforming games that have come out with coop (I'm thinking New Super Mario Bros. Wii), it's fun if the other person knows how to play. If not, it's a frustrating experience. Well, you can say the same for Contra, the original coop platformer.
The achievements on this game are attainable, but few for being a new game. These days, it seems that achievements are thought out well before the game is completed, but the ones here require you to know how to depend less on items and more on core skills. Personally, I've had a blast with the game, and encourage that you try it if you liked the first one and are used to platforming. Don't complain about the swinging mechanics; they are fine. You just have to relearn them, as they are different. I got the same vibe I did when I played Snake's Revenge, and I finished that game only once, as it was very difficult. It wasn't my favorite game, but darn it, when I start a game, I have to finish it. Those ones that I spent extra time beating are the ones I remember for a long time, for better or for worse.