Anyone walking past the Old Truman Brewery on London's Brick Lane this week could be forgiven for thinking that the nation was under attack. The sound of gunfire peeled into the mid-autumn sky, but this was from combat of a digital kind. Eurogamer Expo, organised by gaming website Eurogamer, is a two-day consumer fair showcasing a plethora of new titles on multiple platforms, alongside gaming tournaments, a career fair and assorted corporate marketing events. This also showcased new instalments from four important video games franchises - Resident Evil 5, Call Of Duty: World At War, Gears Of War 2 and Street Fighter IV - which all delivered more of the same, but better.

The cavernous space of the former brewery buzzed with hundreds of TVs each with a cluster of furtive, young men (and some women) myopically focussed on the blistering new titles on offer. Capcom's Street Fighter IV marks the return of one of the most popular franchises in the industry. Most gamers, both casual and hardcore, have had some sort of contact with the series, be it the original Street Fighter (which has sufficient vintage to have been available on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum) or the ubiquitous Street Fighter 2. However, the fourth incarnation marks the first new release in the series since Street Fighter III 3rd Strike came out nearly ten years ago.
"There are obviously those SF fans who have been eagerly awaiting a brand new title since the release of 3rd Strike," explained Ben Le Rougetel, Capcom's director of European PR and community, "but there is also now a whole new generation of gamers who may be aware of SF's heritage, but may never have played any of the titles. So the time was judged to be right for a new game."

Aside treasured characters, such as Ryu, Chun-Li and Blanka, Street Fighter IV ushers five new characters into the series; slick female spy C Viper, Lucha libre (Latin American free wrestling) expert El Fuerte, self-pronounced greatest American fighter Rufus, amnesia-suffering mixed martial artist Abel and finally Seth, a genetically engineered fighter who draws combat data from his opponents. Le Rougetel confirmed that a story will underpin the main single player campaign, but most fans at Eurogamer Expo were more concerned with knocking seven bells out of each other.

The game was shown alongside Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (out next year on PS3 and Xbox 360) and producer Yoshinori Ono has previously indicated a desire to retain the ethos of SF II in the fourth incarnation. Graphically, SF IV avoids the Technicolor glow of Turbo HD Remix and instead opts for more textured character tones and rendered 3D backgrounds. This certainly gives added depth to the typically fast and frenetic combat. Capcom will confirm the game's release date soon, although rumours suggest it could be during February 2009.

Staying with Capcom, Resident Evil 5 (RE5) also drew the crowds, especially as it will not be released until March 13, 2009. Gamers were not disappointed by the incredible-looking game, which will feel instantly familiar for those who played the critically-acclaimed Resident Evil 4 (RE4). Visitors to the expo could play the opening sequences of the game, which were first revealed at E3 in July, where main character Chris Redfield and his compatriot Sheva Alomar are in an African village to investigate a mysterious incident. Artwork and animation is beautifully realised, with the sun occasionally refracting the lens and dirt kicking up around the characters feet as they walk. Capcom has retained the same feel and movement for Chris, but tweaked and refined where necessary.

A big gameplay change will be dynamic cooperative play with Sheva, which marks a significant advance on the hero-damsel relationship between Leon Kennedy and Ashley Graham in RE4. After witnessing a brutal execution, Chris and Sheva are drawn into a frantic fight with the locals which first involves defending the hut they are in and then moves out into the street after the axe-wielding executioner crashes through the wall. As well as the usual firearms, Chris has a number of new attacks, including an upper cut, as well as the trusty knife. The sheer quantity of enemies is noticeable and it seems more important to keep moving than attempt to deal with each enemy. Use of traps, such as flammable barrels, will also prove important. This was evident when battling a fearsome chainsaw-wielding maniac towards the end of the demo.

During the fight, Sheva can get in trouble and require assistance, but she is no wall flower. She reacts pretty quickly to trouble and takes out zombies with extreme prejudice. The co-op gameplay with Sheva will form a big part in the series and Le Rougetel confirmed that there will be function for online co-operative play built into the game. However, he was unable to confirm as yet if there will be any additional missions, such as Separate Ways in RE4, included in the title. However, if RE5 proves even half as good as its predecessors, then most people will be extremely happy.

Continuing the theme of guns, guts and glory, Gears Of War returns for a second instalment this November, and the Eurogamer Expo crowd couldn't wait for a taste. Microsoft and Epic have staged the sequel six months after the first game, with players taking the fight to the Locust horde by going underground. Moreover, the game's story will dig a bit deeper into the main characters in Marcus Fenix's roughneck Delta squad, particularly Dominic Santiago. Using the improved Unreal Engine 3, the game looked a sharpened, more honed version of its predecessor.

The multiplayer at Eurogamer Expo proved impressive, with the famed cover system as effective as ever. Downed enemies can now be dispatched with the butt of a rifle or a brutal curb stomp, and chainsaw attacks can become duels to see who gets the right to splatter limb and tendon asunder. Fenix can also use downed corpses as 'meat shields' for cover from enemy fire, which forms an innovative mode in multiplayer called 'meat flag' involving using an enemy corpse as a gruesome flag. The long line of people waiting to try the game out indicated that Gears Of War 2 will likely fly off the shelves when it is released on November 8.

Finally, to Call Of Duty: World at War. After overseeing the hugely successful Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare, Infinity Ward has passed the development baton back to Treyarch, which has returned the series to familiar World War II territory. The game will focus on the gruelling conflict fought on the Eastern front and around the Pacific Rim. New elements include swimming sections alongside the much publicised flame-thrower, which proved a destructive hit in multiplayer contests at Eurogamer Expo.

Overall, aside the Nazi zombie co-operative survival mode, the game appears not to be a massive departure from tried and tested elements of the series, but that is certainly not a bad thing. Graphically, there are also few major differences, but the single player campaign will hopefully make most use of the lush tropical Pacific setting. However, it was a little disappointing to notice a few bugs at the show, most notably with a rock suspended mid-air. Out on November 14, we'll have to wait and see if this latest Call Of Duty can stand out from the crowd of World War II first-person shooters.

Other titles on show included Insomniac Games' PS3 exclusive Resistance 2, which looked sharp, alongside the typically lush Tomb Raider: Underworld. Atari's Legendary appeared decidedly average, but EA Dice's Mirror's Edge proved (barring LittleBigPlanet) to be the most innovative game at the fair. The fluid Parkour style free running looked majestic over the vibrant colours and ice whites of the game's modern cityscape. This largely passive game is certainly not for the more brutally minded, but they are certainly well catered for by all the above.