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We grapple with Capcom's re-imagining of a NES classic.

Capcom seems to be on a real retro trip these days; about half of their E3 showing consisted of two-dimensional platform and fighting games. Most curious, however, is Bionic Commando. Some of you may remember the NES game of the same name, a rather difficult platform game with the gimmick that the main character used a bionic arm to swing from platform to platform instead of jumping.

No, the next-gen version of Bionic Commando is not a simple upgraded remake, as is all the rage these days (that would be Bionic Commando: Rearmed, headed for the XBLA). Instead, Bionic Commando is a complete re-imagining, a next-gen sequel that takes the bionic arm concept and moves it into three dimensions.

You play as Nathan Spencer, the protagonist of the original (albeit with a slightly altered name) ten years after the events of the NES game. After being betrayed and falsely imprisoned, Spencer is called into duty to fight a terrorist group in exchange for clearing his name. It's a plot that could have been taken right out of a 1980s action movie, but it really seems like little more than an excuse for the player to run and gun and grapple with his arm.

The real star of the game is of course the bionic arm. The game's levels are designed so that once you get the hang of the controls you swing everywhere, almost like Spider-Man. But that is where the similarities to Spider-Man end; although the Spider-Man 2 game was hailed for its web-slinging engine that allowed you to navigate a full-scale recreation of Manhattan with absolute, the Bionic Commando developers felt that swinging was too simple.

Part of the challenge of the original Bionic Commando was in learning to use the arm to its full potential, and the same is true of this new title. Pressing the left trigger causes Spencer to latch onto the nearest grippable surface within range, but swinging to latch onto another surface or to get a lot of air with a jump requires a keen sense of timing and momentum. After twenty or thirty minutes with the game, I found myself very frustrated at my inability to succeed.

The Grin developer on hand said this was intentional, and that they wanted to create a skill-based game where you got a real sense of accomplishment from successfully maneuvering with the arm. I worry that the difficulty curve may be set just a touch too high, but the limited amount of time I spent with the game was not nearly enough to make a fair assessment.

Although platforming is clearly the focus of the game, fighting enemies felt very polished. Shooting is accomplished using standard third-person 360 controls, and works well enough, but, like in all other areas of the game, the bionic arm is the preferred way of doing things. By latching onto an enemy, you can either hold him in place for an easy target or launch yourself towards him in a deadly kick maneuver. One of the demo levels had me picking up cars with the arm and hurling them at enemies.

Graphically, Bionic Commando looks great. I was worried when the first few levels I encountered were generic gray-looking destroyed cityscapes, but the color palette shifted towards brighter colors when I moved to a jungle locale. I'm not so sure about the design of Nathan Spencer (what is up with that haircut?) but other than that the visual design is spot-on. The game has a gritty feel without it feeling forced.

On the whole, I found Bionic Commando to be a refreshing change of pace. Despite the frustratingly unintuitive grapple arm controls, the demo was quite fun, and it provided a very different experience than most other third-person action games out there. Bionic Commando will be coming out for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC.