Poor Mega Man, he can't seem to catch a break, and despite generating some heat a few years back with the excellent retro love letter of "Mega Man 9" (and 10), Capcom has done nothing to appease diehard fans of the Blue Bomber. Cancellation after cancellation of future projects such as "Mega Man Legends 3" and "Mega Man Online" provided a bleak outlook and hopes were dashed when Keiji Inafune, the IRL Dr. Light, departed Capcom. In another twist, Polygon has uncovered one more shuttered project to reignite the flailing franchise.
Their in-depth article about Armature Studios' Mega Man X reboot codenamed "Maverick Hunter" is a virtual window into something that could have been. As a developer that spawned from Retro Studios, there are more than a few connections to the fantastic "Metroid Prime" - a game which proved that you could convert a traditional side-scrolling platformer into a first person shooter. Similarly, Armature would take the classic jump-n-shoot gameplay of the X series and update it for "Doom"-space. In a clear effort to appeal to the elusive Western market, Capcom was willing to dismantle my favorite robot and reassemble him into something wholly different. The full story is worth a read as you'll learn a little about what the devs were hoping would launch a new Mega Man game as well as see some shaky pre-alpha proof-of-concept video.
I'm here to tell you why an FPS Mega Man would have been a terrible mistake... while also performing a little armchair game deving. Read More...
