The Iron Physique steps again into the ring

Final week’s Sony State of Play presentation was notable for its gameplay reveal of the ultimate three characters becoming a member of the launch roster of Capcom’s great-looking punchfest, Avenue Fighter 6 — And alongside the ever-popular Cammy and cutesy new gal Lily, we additionally noticed the return of a real Avenue Fighter veteran, the wrestler with an iron physique and a golden coronary heart: Zangief.

Hailing from Russia, Zangief made his debut as one of many iconic eight playable characters in 1991’s groundbreaking Avenue Fighter II: The World Warriors. As the important thing grappler for that sport, Zangief made a reputation for himself together with his violent array of throws, dizzying airborne headbutt, and one of the crucial well-known strikes in combating sport historical past, the Spinning Piledriver. Zangief has since appeared in nearly each Avenue Fighter title so far, and continues to be thought-about the de facto grappler of the collection, eschewing velocity and mobility for the flexibility to crush a cornered opponent with ease.

Due to the ability of Avenue Fighter 6‘s RE engine, the Russian powerhouse is trying higher than ever.

Whereas nonetheless retaining his immediately identifiable form and trademark beard/mohawk combo, SF6 Zangief is designed in such a manner that really capitalizes on the brand new engine, turning him into an nearly amorphous mass of muscle tissue and Scott Steiner veins. Moreover, the animation on his vary of throws is stupendous, together with his commonplace Physique Slam and German Suplex maneuvers having an incredible sense of weight and inertia to them. After all, his gravity-defying supers are current and proper, together with his devastating piledriver and double suplex. New additions embody a wall-bounce-inducing standing dropkick, a hammer blow Drive Affect assault, and Goldberg’s trademark finisher, the Jackhammer.

We have no idea what function Zangief has to play on the planet of Avenue Fighter 6, however our boy has usually at all times fought on the facet of excellent… effectively, save for a brief interval within the Avenue Fighter film. A person who solely lived for energy and energy, the later years have softened Zangief considerably, and seen him gladly share his information and knowledge with youthful fighters similar to R. Mika and Laura Matsuda, whereas forming an allyship with sumo E. Honda, with whose energy and type Zangief deeply respects.

Avenue Fighter 6 launches on PlayStation, PC, and Xbox June 2, 2023. You’ll want to try our different stories on Manon, Marisa, J.P., Dee Jay, Lily, and Cammy, in addition to 50 issues I liked concerning the beta, our ideas on how the sport is shaping up, and a listing of Do’s and Do Not Do’s for the brand new sequel.