Bionic Commando

It's not so much a release date as a release month, but now you know within a 30-day period when you can expect Bionic Commando to swing onto store shelves.

It's just been announced that Bionic Commando is coming your way on Xbox 360 and PS3 in May, with the PC version to follow shortly afterwards. And it's already February. That's just slightly more or less than 100 days away!

This might still be a little far off for fans who've been waiting for this one, but having waited 20 years for a sequel, what's a few more months between friends?

In case you're wondering what the hold up is, you might have noticed that Capcom has a number of big - nay, huge - name titles coming in the next few months - beginning with Street Fighter IV and Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop this month, and continuing with Resident Evil 5 next. The decision was made by Capcom to go easy on your wallets for once and afford Bionic Commando a little breathing room.

Rest assured that this additional time is being put to good work, with the dev team using to extra months to put in a few extra tweaks, make a few enhancements and find some more space to fit in a little more awesome.

For the curious, here's the excerpt from the press release, but if you're coming to this site you already knew this stuff, right?

Capcom is also confirming Bionic Commando, for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, will be releasing this May with the PC version available in the following months.

Reloaded for the latest generation of hardware, Bionic Commando sees the return of the ultimate fusion of man and machine. A favorite amongst gamers around the world when first launched 20 years ago with the 8-bit original on the NES. Bionic Commando features Nathan Spencer (voiced by former lead singer of Faith No More, Mike Patton), as a government operative who, after distinguishing himself in a fierce conflict against the Imperials, is betrayed and falsely imprisoned by the very people he unquestioningly served.

Five years later, on the day he is due to be executed for his supposed crimes, an experimental weapon detonates the city. Unleashing an immensely powerful earthquake combined with a radiation shockwave that leaves the city in ruins, wiping out its populace. Military intelligence suggests that a large terrorist search force has moved in and occupied Ascension City, but as yet their motives remain unclear. With the terrain in ruins and the terrorists in control of the City’s air defenses the FSA has only one option open to them – the reactivation of Nathan Spencer.

Both the Bionic Arm and swing mechanic that made the original game so unique makes a welcome return. Upgraded to deliver a range of devastating attacks that allow Spencer to quickly traverse the game’s diverse environments, players can harness the power of the arm in a variety of ways to take out enemies - launch huge boulders or cars; send them flying with a close-quarters uppercut; use enemies as a shield or whip them into the air transforming them into a human kite.