Mega Man X: Command Mission - The Blue Bomber goes RPG
Capcom might be most famous for its epic arcade Street Fighter series and deservedly so, but they've also quietly produced more than 25 Mega Man games on various platforms over the years. This makes it one of the oldest and most prolific franchises around, and it's been through a few forms. Even a soccer game, believe it or not. So, how does the platform game translate to an RPG?
It depends, I guess, on what you expect from a role-playing game. This is definitely a hack 'n' slash, albeit a futuristic robot-based one. There's no character development, no side-quests, no real exploration, minimal plot... like a lot of RPGs, really. The game consists of ten largely self-contained linear chapters, with a 'boss' at the end of each.
The plot is laid out in the opening anime introduction. X and Zero, who may be familiar from previous games, are sent out to investigate renegade reploid activity on Gigantis. The locals have developed a special force metal that makes reploids more powerful, and basically, hostilities break out over it, between, oddly, the Resistance and the Rebellion. X has to put together a team to put down.. the Resistance, I think. It really doesn't matter.
MMX: CM has a distinctive and appealing look to it. Graphics are cartoony, brightly cel-shaded, and crisp. All of the eight characters you can choose between have a distinctive look and even move differently. Not quite so much effort seems to have gone into the backgrounds, though. While the plain, bare metal look of the corridors and rooms might be appropriate to the setting, they exaggerate the repetitive nature of the gameplay, because everywhere you go looks the same. It's more than possible to get lost, even in such a linear game.
One thing the Mega Man series used to be famous for was the appalling scripting and voice work. CM shouldn't be causing any inappropriate giggling: the voicing is nothing spectacular, but it's not excruciating. Sound effects are reminiscent of previous MM games: bright, synth-heavy music, appropriate clanks and booms.
Where CM really stands up is the combat system. Which is good, because you'll be using it a lot. It's turn-based but affected by character speed. You field three characters at a time, though you can swap them out at any point. Each character has a main and a secondary weapon or attack. All the combat graphics are laid out plainly at the bottom of the screen and very easy to read. You have to watch your Weapon Energy: it goes down every time you make an attack, and recharges slowly over time. To use a character's special ability, their Action Trigger, you need a certain amount saved up. Some of the Action Triggers require timing or dexterity from the player, making them a blast to use. They're a combination of luck and skill that gets you a big pay-off for a large cost, so you need to plan when to use them.
You also have Hyper Mode, which makes characters hugely powerful for a limited amount of time. The stat boost is huge, but the game is still well-balanced around it. And when you've finally whittled that Boss down to 25% Life Energy, you can unleash a Final Strike. This allows you to do totally gratuitous amounts of spectacular damage, but only to badly wounded enemies. Seems odd, but the sheer overkill is a lot of fun.
When your party is trashed, the game will give you the option of reloading your saved game, or just starting again at the beginning of that battle, which makes things a bit easier and saves on repetition.
You can pick up Force Metal in the game, which allows you to improve your own reploids, especially once you get Cinnamon in your team. She can build new improvements, giving you a vestigial crafting system.
Mega Man X: Command Mission is very combat-heavy and light on the role-play. While that might make it disappointing as an RPG, it helps it stay true to its platform origins, and probably won't let down fans of the series. The game is short, though, and with no real replay value, might be one for a fun, intensive gaming weekend rental rather than a buy.
Overall Rating: 7.8
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