Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 - Xbox 360

What We Already Know:

While last year's updated version of Bionic Commando was a disaster of, well, bionic proportions, fans of the series were more than happy with the downloadable Bionic Commando Rearmed, an upgraded version of the 1988 original arcade classic that, story-wise, served as a prequel to the story in the then-new BC. Now, not surprisingly, Rearmed is getting a sequel, which Capcom showed off at a press event a few weeks before E3.

Dubbed Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, and being made by Fatshark -- a new development house which is comprised of people who worked on the original BCR while they were at the now-defunct studio Grin -- the game actually picks up the story where the bad Bionic Commando left off (though that's all Capcom would say about that).

What We're Seeing Now:

It even retains the one mechanic that game added to the series: jumping. This was, of course, a controversial addition to that game, since there was none of it in the original. Though as a representative of Capcom explained, in play-testing they found that modern gamers expect to be able to jump; when they can't, they get frustrated. That may not be what hardcore BC fans want to hear, but then, they don't have to jump if they don't want to.

Otherwise, Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 retains everything that made the first one such a desirable download. Once again you're cast as Nathan “Rad” Spencer, a commando with an extendable arm that can be used as a weapon or to swing from things like Spider-Man. Not only does the game utilize the same engine and gameplay mechanics -- yes, you still push up to go through a door -- but the same graphical style and side-scrolling perspective as well. More importantly, it has the same taut controls as the first one, as evidenced by my ability to fly through the air with the greatest of ease.

At the event, they showed off three different levels of the game: a harbor, a jungle, and an area seemingly used to house massive anti-aircraft cannons. Though our friendly Capcom representative did stress that the level numbers noted in the menu (level 1 was the harbor, 3 was the jungle, and 12 was the A.A. cannons one) may not be what's in the final game, as it's still a work in progress and won't be out until next year. It is currently slated to be released on both the Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network.