Mega Man's latest foray on the GameCube and PlayStation is a solid offering, bringing the Blue Bomber into the realm of role-playing while keeping intact the spirit of the long running X series. While Mega Man X: Command Mission isn't a perfect product for a number of reasons we'll detail later, it is a good game that fans looking for something a bit off the well beaten path of the X series will probably find enjoyable and gratifying.
At its heart Mega Man X: Command Mission is a role-playing game with some twitch gaming elements thrown in for good measure. In the game players control X, his pals (Zero, AXL, etc), and a few new allies as they traverse various regions in and around Giga City in a battle to save the populace from a rebellion army comprised of renegade Mavericks and other weirdos. Players traverse the world as Mega Man in third person, exploring as they go, unlocking doors, finding treasures and encountering enemies. The game's exploration portion of the game is in real-time and third-person, but when randomly attacked players and their allies (three at a time, with the ability to swap out if you have more in reserve) face off in a turn-based battle using standard attacks, supplemental attacks and powerful attacks using WE called Action Triggers.
While the attacks are turn-based, the special attacks using Weapon Energy (WE) infuse a twitch style of gaming. For instance, Mega Man's attack is the tried and true charged attack which is facilitated by pressing R2 and then pressing and holding the X button (at least for the PS2). Similarly other characters might use a card style attack or a slots style where timing and hitting the right objects will line up three of the same to choose an attack. Other attacks require rapid button pounding or using a Street Fighter Style of pressing the right combination of buttons to get a desired affect. The special attack system is very handy for dealing out massive amounts of damage to finish an enemy off quickly.
There's a lot of meat to the combat because players can equip supplemental weapons and attacks like missiles that they can use (which uses up weapon energy or WE) or equip Force metals to protect against certain types of damage or increase stats. There's also a special mode that can be activated for select number of turns called Hyper mode. This effectively doubles the characters stats and gives them more powerful attacks using a special alter ego form. Finally, players can also utilize a special attack on an enemy when they have done 75% damage called Final Strike. This attacks allows players to unleash a volley of attacks until the special meter disappear, which usually results in an enemy's quick and decisive demise. Combat is a large portion of the game's core gameplay but there are other things you can do to enhance the experience..
Mega Man X: Command Mission also offers a Final Fantasy Tactics style system where retrieved reploids can be used on missions to retrieve items and other goodies from already cleared areas. Much like the mission system in FFT, players don't actually get to see these reploids in action, but it does help the player to retrieve items and other goodies that might otherwise not be available to them.
Players also gain the ability to create force metals using force points they ear in battle - this doesn't happen until the early to mid part of the game's storyline., but it's worth the wait. Players can use the system to create new force metals by combining other force metals. The game present a lot of combinations to do this and figuring out what each one does can be a lot of fun.
Of course no role-playing game would be complete without lots of loot to gather, sell and keep - from junk to high quality goods, players of Mega Man X: Command Mission will have no shortage of goods to sift through and manage as they play this game.
The things we mentioned already serve as the full body of the gameplay, although there are other small activities like unlocking figures and earning extras that are scattered throughout the entire world. Most of these are simple baubles that you can collect and look at in the Sky Room in the game - where all manner of Mega Man goodies can be eye-balled at your leisure. IT might be just eye candy, but it's good stuff if you're a hardcore Mega Man series fan.
Mega Man X: Command Mission is a decent enough game, but it does have a few issues worth noting. For one thing, the storyline isn't exactly Hamlet, and the overall gameplay is way to short – a meticulous player could probably squeeze over 15 hours out of the gameplay. The storyline fits well into the framework of the whole X series, but being a role-playing game it couldn't have hurt to make the game a little deeper in this department. Graphically the game looks good and the sound and music are admirable though not particularly memorable. The game is a little too heavy in the encounter department and using random encounters as much as this game does just isn't a good thing. It's hard to explore an area in a game when every five seconds delivers yet another encounter. Luckily most encounters aren't that hard and escaping a given battle is a pretty straightforward and simple affair.
Overall Mega Man X: Command Mission is a solid game that Blue Bomber fans looking for a change of pace may find enjoyable. Fans of the X series may not be prepared to deal with the turn-based nature of the combat in the game, or the unsettling number of encounters they'll have to endure before the game comes to a climax. If you like turn-based role-playing and love Mega Man to death, then give Mega Man X: Command Mission a closer look.
