Despite the absence of a playable Resident Evil 5 and a lackluster press conference, Capcom managed to impress E3 attendees this year with some excellent software.

First up is Street Fighter IV.  Overheard next to me at the Capcom booth: “Ooooo-weee, Slickness – where you been?”  The game looks and plays great.  Presented in the handsome Japanese cabinets that we assume will house the game once it hits the streets, SF IV delighted all comers with its revamped look and control.  The quasi-cel-shaded look of the graphics is the first noticeable achievement in what Capcom has been aiming for with its return to its SF II roots.  Just as the bright and detailed visuals of SF II were defining and iconic, SF IV’s graphics are a successful and eye-catching amalgamation of 3D models and hand-drawn sprites.  The similarities continue in the game’s roster – consisting of all eight “original” characters.  The four who join, though, are no slouches, and fans were really enjoying their attempts at the new characters’ many moves.

Play was as smooth as one would expect from such a well-oiled franchise, and while not all of us are SF masters, one would be at fault for blaming the game.  The hits come fast and furious, and they bring a little more to the table with them this time.  The Super gauge is back for releasing some ultimate powers, but this time it’s joined by two new gauges that work well in shifting the balance of battles.  The “Revenge” gauge fills up over time, and its segments can be used to release more powerful versions of regular attacks, or devastating unblockable attacks that use more of the meter.  The “Ultra” meter, as well, is a nice surprise.  Only filling up after taking damage, the meter can then be used to let out a cinematic barrage of attacks that is more super than Super.  This game is meaty, and should be hitting an arcade near you in the near future, then your home console in early ’09.   Get your fingers in shape now, and get ready for many online beat-downs.  Oh thank you, Capcom, for giving us more ways to be humiliated by eight-year-olds…

Also playable at the show were the two eagerly-anticipated games from Swedish developer GRIN: the all-new re-imagining of Bionic Commando and the retooled version of the NES classic called Bionic Commando: Rearmed.

At first glance, one might be tempted to see the new Bionic Commando’s arm-swinging theatrics as blasphemous to everyone’s favorite neighborhood webslinger, but after your first dozen successful trips over the game’s ruined cityscape via your cybernetic appendage, you’ll forget all about old Spidey.  The game’s crucial mechanic, the arm, is fantastic.  Yes, it has the look of Spiderman, but the swinging is where the similarities end.  Unlike a Spiderman game, the swinging is actually rooted to objects in the game world.  Each instance of grappling with the arm needs to be aimed carefully.  It sounds daunting at first, but due to the slightly forgiving and “floaty” gravity, it quickly becomes second-nature, and you’ll find yourself swinging around quite easily.  Pull off, say, a trio of inspired grapples, and your character is half a mile down the road, leaving you feeling like a total badass.  That’s not all: the fighting mechanics involved with the arm are right on the money.  You can use the arm to pick up objects for use as projectiles, you can use it to fling people into the air, and you can even use it against certain large enemies whereby the arm grapples into them and you rocket toward them as your arm retracts for a devastating body blow.  Seeing it all in action (while you’re also firing a gun! ) is pure gaming bliss.  GRIN could make a few small touches to the game before it ships.  The framerate is a little choppier than we would like, such that it can slightly hamper your arm aiming, but it’s nothing that detracts from the overall charm of having a MASSIVE BIONIC ARM.  Our big hope for this game is that the story will fall into place nicely around the fantastic mechanics.  Too cool.

Bionic Commando: Rearmed is shaping up quite nicely, as well.  It’s a retread of the classic NES game to be sure, but it’s packed full of excellent touches that are at once reverent to the source material and full of original and good-natured charm.  The game remains the same in its main components, but added-in are numerous things like mini-games that reveal more of the story and special abilities – such as picking up objects with the arm.  The graphics in both the cut-scenes and the animation don’t disappoint, with humorous renderings in the former and well-detailed animations that enliven the would-be flat in-game characters.  It’s great to see an old-school platformer souped-up with rich 3D models.  Amazingly, both this game and the new Bionic Commando were created using the same engine ( one created by developer GRIN ), and when you see the game in action, the animation makes it noticeable.  BC:R is going to be a winner, and you can find in on XBLA available for download this summer.