GameCube

Mega Man X: Command Mission

Mega Man X: Command Mission is an interesting RPG that offers players with open minds a good time without any strings attached. I can definitely see the more elite class of role-playing fans out there breezing through it in a weekend, though, while the game's complete lack of an epic storyline or a killer challenge may hurt its chances with the more dedicated crowd in the long run.

Débarquant suite à un grand saut dont il a le secret, dans le monde du RPG, Megaman parvient à nous convaincre qu'une reconversion lui irait à merveille. En effet, Megaman X Command Mission se pose délicatement devant nos yeux avec la légèreté d'un soft réussi et réellement prenant. Original, graphiquement abouti, et relativement bien construit, ce dernier convaincra les personnes réticentes au monde du RPG de tenter l'expérience, et satisfera aussi bien les fans de Megaman, que les personnes cherchant un jeu de rôle à se mettre sous la dent... quand elles auront terminé Tales Of Symphonia bien entendu, et en attendant Baten Kaitos (aaaaah). Le X-buster est toujours aussi prompt à faire feu.

Mega Man, in all his incarnations, has droves of loyal fans, and many of those fans have followed his exploits through wave after wave of action games. Mega Man X: Command Mission steps a bit outside the blue bomber's usual turf, fitting his latest adventure into the frame of a turn-based role-playing game while matching X (as Mega Man is known in this series) against evildoing mavericks once more. The transition to the more measured pace of a turn-based battle system is handled surprisingly well, and while the game is too short and too simplistic, there's still a good time to be had here for Mega Man X fans.

The big disappointment came with the story, which was rife with predictability and cliches. Also, the environments all looked mechanical and drab - designed with the same robotic single-mindedness with which X vanquishes his foes. Still, all in all, I walked away pleasantly surprised.

Though the story may be more palatable to a younger audience, the difficulty levels are so uneven that any player young enough to stomach the weak plot is probably not up to the frustration some of the boss fights provide. These challenging battles were a highlight for me, but it takes inhuman endurance to slog through all of the garbage to get to them. Despite its stylish cel shading and cool combat, much of the game just feels derivative, providing fun only for the extremely patient or extremely deaf.

It’s a capably constructed RPG, to be sure, but it’s hard to explicitly recommend Mega Man X: Command Mission to anyone who isn’t already a fan of Mega Man or RPGs. If you’re a little bit of both, chances are you’ll dig it immensely. But in the final computation, it’s revealed that some aspects of the game are long past their prime.

Mega Man X has seen his share of trouble in the past few years. The last few games in the X series (the most recent being X7) have been, well, uninspired to say the least. Given Mega Man's long history of platform-based games, it was quite a surprise to see that the latest X title is a full-on, turn-based RPG. This was somewhat of a risky move on Capcom's part considering that Mega Man hasn't had the best of luck in switching genres (remember that a game called Mega Man Soccer actually exists).

We've had some great times together, and I still like to go back and play Mega Man 2 or The Misadventures of Tron Bonne when I have the time. But I'm really uncomfortable with the direction you're going these days. Where's the innovation? Hell, I'll even settle for repetitive, underwhelming fun. That's not too much to ask, is it? I've played some really good RPGs in the past few months, but this one doesn't even rank.

The Mega Man series has been one of the most enduring in video game history (only Mario has appeared in more titles than the DRN-001), but it has occasionally suffered from creativity droughts. Capcom used the only good idea they had for a RPG featuring the Blue Bomber with the Battle Network series, and even that is running out of steam. Mega Man X: Command Mission was poorly executed in every stage of development, and it’s hard to imagine even die-hard fans of the series enjoying this title.