Mega Man X7

"It's finally here. And yes, Mega Man X7 is a worthy sequel."

Upon starting Mega Man X7, I was hoping it would be good. Whereas I wasn’t completely right about it, Mega Man X7 is a very, very good game. If you’re a Mega Man fan, I’m sure you’ll buy it. If not, then I’ll show you a little about it. Us Mega Man fans have been waiting for awhile for this game to come out. We were told all sorts of things about the game. A lot of the rumors weren’t true, and ones that weren’t mentioned were put in the game. All and all, Mega Man X7 lived up to the hype that it got. Not to mention, this particular game is in 3D. Some people don’t like that, and think that it should still is in 2D. But, I think it makes the game more fun. Now, let me break the game down for you.

Gameplay: 9/10

Fun, fun and more fun! Thank you for making this game different, Capcom! Some people don’t like the whole 3D Mega Man concept, but as I said before, it makes the game all the more enjoyable. You can move the camera around and get different angles, but sometimes the camera moves by itself, which is a bad thing, but can be good, as well. Also, you can only control the camera in a few certain areas, and in Boss battles. All in all, the camera view is mediocre. But enough about that, in the missions, you can now use two characters, and switch them whenever you want. This is great, because at some parts you’ll absolutely need Axl, and half a minute later, you’ll need Zero. Or maybe you’ll need Zero to slice through some baddies, then use X to shoot a big energy blast through the other baddies.

As for the control of the game, it is a wee bit laggy at times, and sometimes very hard to control the character your using. Wall jumping is a bit harder this time around, but if you’ve played Mega Man before, you shouldn’t have much trouble adjusting to the change. The controls probably aren’t as good as they could be, because this is the first 3D Mega Man game.

Story: 6/10

The story is quite interesting. It starts off with X, who has stopped being a hunter, and hasn’t been around anywhere lately. Also, there is a young guy reploid named Axl, who has the ability to take the form of other reploids, but has no clue how he got the ability to do this. Then there is Zero, who is trying to take down Red Alert. Eventually, Axl and Zero meet, and after a few events, they end up working together to stop Red Alert, a group with which Axl was once aligned to. Halfway through the missions, X decides to join up with Axl and Zero so that he can finally bring true peace to the world.

Sound: 7/10

Oh, this baby sounds great! I love the music in the game. It goes along great with the scene. It’s perfect. Unfortunately, the voice acting is pretty bad. The characters don’t even move their mouths when they talk, probably because Capcom was too lazy to remake the animations for different characters. The sound effects are very good; they are never, ever off cue. All in all, the sound is pretty good! My only major complaint is the repetitiveness of the voices. When fighting, they say the same words over and over again. This is especially for Flame Hyenard, who yells “Burn! Burn! Burn to the ground” every 2 seconds. Not to mention there is more than 1 Flame Hyenard, so it gets VERY aggravating. This factor right here is enough for you to grab a baseball bat and smash up your gaming area. Or turn off the sound, whichever is more convenient.

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics in Mega Man X7 are pretty good. A lot of people said the transition from 2D to 3D wouldn’t be good. In my opinion, they were wrong. The graphics are smooth, the characters and stages are well detailed, and everything seems to look good. There are a few parts where it is sort of hard to see the character. And there are other parts where you go crazy because you can’t move the camera to a certain place.

Replay Value: 9/10

Mega Man games always take me awhile to get bored with them. X7 is no exception to this rule. I’ve already played it through twice, and I’m getting ready to play through a third time. With everything that is in the game, such as secrets, reploids and other things; you’ll definitely be playing through more than once. Hell, you’ll probably be playing this game over for quite awhile.

Should I buy or rent Mega Man X7?

If you are a Mega Man fan: Yes. It is a must buy. But, given the fact that not everyone is a Mega Man fan, some people won’t have a clue about what to do in the game. If you aren’t a Mega Man fan, at least rent the game. Who knows? You might fall in love with the series and decide to buy some more Mega Man games. So, yes, anyone who enjoys action, adventure and shooting games, go check it out.

Overall Rating: 9/10

I give Mega Man X7 a near perfect rating because it is a great game, but it still has it’s flaws, most of which could have been fixed with a little bit of time. Mega Man fans will like this game, and even non-Mega Man Man fans will. If you’re new to the series, go out and try it. You might just surprise yourself.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/14/03