CES 2011: Capcom

by: John - posted: 1/6/2011 7:53:00 PM

Capcom made its annual trip to CES, but this time they weren’t at the Planet Hollywood hotel. I had to hike it over to the Aria to see the almost final build of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Bionic Commando Rearmed 2.

Let’s start with Bionic Commando Rearmed 2. Rearmed 2 is a direct sequel to the previous game and I got to play an older build cooperatively. The game play should be familiar for those who have played the previous one. The extending claw is the primary way to scale areas in the game and you’ll be able to upgrade it throughout the game with new abilities.

Retained from the previous game is the death from above play mechanic where you can jump and drop down with force to kill enemies or destroy blocks. Added to Rearmed 2 is a jump, but it’s a very minor jump. You’re not going to go Super Mario as the jump gives you a small lift to let you grapple other areas that might just be out of your reach if you are standing.

The co-op gameplay is nice, but it’s only going to be local co-op, which is disappointing. There’s some leaderboard features to help compare scores with others, but I wanted the ability to play with friends online. No reason was given when I asked, but it’s a little disappointing to see Rearmed 2 without online co-op.

Moving to Marvel vs. Capcom 3, I played a near final build of the game. It didn’t have Phoenix or Haggar, but the event that was after my appointment might have them enabled. Either way, the game’s looking pretty slick and had all the characters announced before today to play with.

I tried out both simple and normal mode and simple mode’s going to appeal the novice fighters who just want to button mash. With the setup of three buttons equaling attack, special move, and super move, those that don’t have the skills to perform the joystick movement and button sequence to activate the special and super attacks will easily be able to pull them off this way. Now, lesser skilled players don’t have to be frustrated.

Normal mode gives you the light, medium, and heavy attack buttons on the top row of the six button layout. I was a lot more comfortable in this mode since I played a lot of fighting games in my days.

The action’s smooth and the backgrounds are nicely done. There’s not much more I can say how it looks as the videos show just how great all the characters look and the game ran smooth, of course. I’m sure it’s going to be another big fighter hit for Capcom and I’ll definitely be on the list to pick it up come next month.