Mega Man X8

"Megaman X returns to his 2D roots."

Intro:

The first time I saw this game, I thought it would be promising. No 3D stages like those found in the aptly named "Megaman X7" (Which makes little sense considering X is missing right from the start). Now, I've been a fan of Megaman games as long as I feel like remembering, so this review may be some-what biased, or it could tear this game to shreds comparing it to other great Megaman(X) games. Who knows for sure? I sure as hell don't. Now then, as I said, at first glance this game looked rather neat. Sigma being dead for real this time, made me think Capcom had to be pulling some kind of gimmick because Sigma has been the final boss of the X series since the very first one. Not having gotten far in this game, I'm not too sure if they actually went through with this plan, but it's a neat idea...

Story:

Another "neat" idea in this game, is the overall story. The opening scene shows a rather... Odd, way for getting from Earth to the moon, a highway that stretches all the way from here to there... Now, maybe the moon is stationary in the future, but I don't think Capcom thought out how the hell this thing is supposed to work, but it's a cool idea nonetheless. But back to the actual story, the builder of this highway is a new model reploid (a robot in the X-series) and has other reploids that are immune to certain kinds of viruses that older-class reploids aren't, plus his bodyguards have a cool ability to transform into other reploids, just like Axl from X7. Now then, the builder dude gets kidnapped by a maverick (evil reploid), that first appeared in the first X game, who also looks surprisingly like Boba Fett. Now then, it's up to you and your Maverick Hunter buddies Zero and Axl, and this time X, to stop the new maverick menace.

Gr4ph1><:

The graphics in Megaman X8 are pretty good. The characters in the game are cel-shaded, now, cel-shading isn't for everyone, as are cookies dipped in nacho cheese, but cel-shading works well for this game. The backgrounds are a different matter though. Simply put, they're beautiful. From the first level set in a jungle, they look terrific. Giant waterfalls to the depths of the Cyber-Universe, it all appealing to the eyes. But all old-school gamers know that graphics don't make the game, which leads into my next point...

Gameplay:

To fulfill your goal of rescuing the architect, you're gonna need some abilities that'll take down any hostile reploids that get in your way and the Megaman series isn't one to falter when adding new abilities to your arsenal. New to your weaponry, is the "Double Attack", which allows you to kill pretty much every enemy on the screen, or badly damage a boss character. The controls in X8 are quite similar to those found in the Playstation X games, the characters move a lot faster than their counterparts in X7, and their attacks (especially Zero's) aren't as sluggy. Controlling the characters takes very little time to get used to if you're familiar to Megaman games, and probably would be just as easy to master even if you aren't. As for the difficulty of the game in general... Hard... Just "hard", pure, plain and simply, "Hard". I've been playin' Megaman games for years and I'm having a bit of trouble, now maybe it's because the last Megaman game I've played was X7, and that was way different than other X games, but I dunno. The difficulty however, doesn't stop me from playing this game, although it's difficult, it's a fun difficult, rather than being a frustrating one.

Sound:

The sound in this game is pretty good, although I tune out the music when I really get into the game, the parts I DID hear were pretty cool, the old "Techno" music from the older Megaman games have been replace by some nice "Metal" tracks. Now, I'm not a big fan of metal, I can still appreciate the music of this game. As for the sound effects however... They aren't half bad, things sound like what they're supposed to sound like (e.g explosions, sabre swings, etc.). Now, a "recent" ("Recent" pertaining to Megaman 8) addition to the sound effects in a Megaman game, are voices for the characters (Not just things like "Ugh!" or "Ow!", actual dialogue), and the voices suit the characters rather well, X doesn't sound like a little girl anymore, Axl sounds a little more grown up, and Zero is just cool. All the voices are suited perfectly (from what I've heard), and don't take away from the game at all.

Overall:

Megaman X8 is a great new addition to the X series, and is a must have for all Megaman fans. Amazing gameplay, nice sound, and just a bit of difficulty, Megaman X8 has all the qualities of a good game, a definite rental for all casual gamers. All in all, I hope Capcom can keep up the good work with the next installment of Megaman X. God speed Capcom.

This is BMoP signing out.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/20/04