Alright, after being left flat (to say the least) when Capcom announced C Viper as one of the new additions to Street Fighter IV, I didn't have very high hopes for the rest of the new cast. However, my expectations got just a little higher today when I saw the screens for Abel, the second new character announced. As you probably already know, Abel is a man with no past, possibly meaning he has amnesia. People are already positing that he is a soccer player based on the shin guards, but he certainly doesn't look dressed like a soccer player to me. Rugbee or MMA, sure, but no way in hell is that a soccer outfit.

The point or upshot here is that Abel looks worlds better than C Viper, even if at this moment he doesn't appear to completely mesh with the original World Warriors. He almost looks modeled after Cody from Final Fight/Alpha 3 in some ways. Hopefully the rest of the new characters are on par or even better-designed than Abel, because I just don't think I could stand playing a game full of bouffant-wearing clown gangsters

However, I swear if they put someone named Cain in this game, Capcom is officially out of ideas.

Check out 1up's media page for more screens.