Normally, if a particular game manages to do solid enough business, its publisher is most likely willing to look past less than stellar reviews should the game fail to be as received as highly as anticipated. However, if a game fails to charm the critics and fails to sell well, then you have what the French call a “bad situation.”

Well, this is precisely where mega-publisher Capcom finds itself today. As Gamasutra reports, the company’s latest next-gen installment in its classic action franchise Bionic Commando, developed by GRIN, only managed to sell 27,000 copies in its first month of release. What makes that number even more painful is the fact that, as Joystiq reported last August, GRIN’s other BC game, Bionic Commando: Rearmed (XBLA, PSN, PC), managed to sell 130,000 copies just in its first week when it was released last year. Rearmed was also more well received by critics, as it currently has a Metacritic score of 85, while BC has a score of 70, which should please many a "gameplay over graphics" advocate out there.

Price obviously has a lot to do with the massive disparity between the sales of the two titles, but there’s no doubt that 27,000 sales in a month is nowhere near what Capcom had hoped for from the first truly next-gen installment of one of its most beloved and long running franchises.

How many of you picked up Bionic Commando during its first month of release? Did you also buy BC: Rearmed? Which one do you prefer?

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