Capcom was at the IgoMir event in Russia for another character reveal and it is none other than the Red Cyclone himself, Zangief. Zangief is the latest veteran added into the roster with three more left to be revealed till Street Fighter V's release window. The trailer along with a new stage is shown off is available to watch below.
Just like all of the returning characters announced so far, Zangief has undergone some changes. From the trailer alone, he doesn't have his green hand special move to absorb projectiles (well it's used more offensively in the Street Fighter IV series), but he does have his lariats and signature spinning pile driver back. With command grabs for certain characters being no longer 360 motions and half circle instead, it's gonna be interesting how players that used Zangief for years adjust to that execution change. His air grab from the Alpha and versus games returns too.
Zangief's V-Skill and V-Trigger is where things get interesting just like the majority of the cast. His V-Skill is called Iron Muscle, which is a Street Fighter IV-esque focus attack as he can absorb hits as armor to move closer to opponents and even hit them if you hold the V-Skill buttons. For his V-Trigger, Cyclone Lariat, he vacuums his opponent close and hits them multiple times if the buttons held. At least Zangief and Donkey Kong have something in common now.
The design to this iteration to Zangief goes back into the mentality of wanting to scoop opponents up than just being a threat at normals range playing footsies while mixing in grabs. He now has better tools to get in range and actually living up the "Red Cyclone" name. It has been a mixed reaction from social media already because of obviously his spot is deserved for more highly requested characters that haven't been playable in a while and debunking most leaked roster lists.
Street Fighter V is out on Q1 2016 for Playstation 4 and PC.
