I have always enjoyed Megaman games since the NES days; there was always something very cool about this character. When I got my SNES, I saw that there was a new Megaman game out, called Megaman X. I didn’t know there was any “real” difference between that and the other Megaman games till I finally purchased it. This Megaman series was way better than the regular ones, because of the speed, upgrades, new characters, and even highly secretive “gold upgrade”. I had a blast playing the Megaman X series. Now there is a new Megaman game called Megaman X7, does it hold the essence of the pervious Megaman games, and does it offer anything new? Read on to find out!

The world is in shambles and crime is everywhere, and Irregular Hunter Units have been keeping the peace. Mega Man X swore to obtain world peace but has vanished without a trace. Since his disappearance, the Red Alert Syndicate has replaced the Hunter Units. Zero is called out to an emergency crime scene where he runs into Axl, a teenage Reploid who wants to escape the Red Alert Syndicate and join the Irregular Hunter Units. The problem is that he knows a secret and he is determined not to tell anyone. The Red Alert Syndicate orders Axl to come back, and he tells him “Our Reploid seems to have contacted you Irregular Hunters by mistake. I’m taking him back.”  With those words an all out war begins. Can you handle it?

New to this game, players now have the opportunity to play as three different characters. The first is Mega Man X, who is the leader of Hunter Unit 17. He once upheld the idea that everyone must fight their enemies but he is not so sure of this idealism anymore. Zero is a Class A hunter and leader of the Special Hunter Unit 0, he is X's friend and friendly rival. Axl is the newest character to join this series. He has the ability to mimic enemies’ looks and powers. He was a pawn of the Red Alert Syndicate but now he wants to break free and live his own life.

What is really unique is the game switches between 2D and 3D. This brings a whole new element of strategy while playing. The 2D sections of the game are classic Megaman all the way, but the 3D is something that is left to be desired. There is always plenty of jumping, shooting, and wild explosions players will find scattered through out each level.

Like all Megaman games, players will be in a hub location and gets to choose each mission that they want to take. There is no order that players have to go in, but going through certain levels will be easier with some of the upgrades players get from the end level bosses. Each level has a theme, like one is an “air” theme and another is a “metal” that revolves around the boss’s special ability.

Megaman X7 is rated E for Everyone.

Gameplay: 5.9
The gameplay is where Megaman X7 really falters. The controls in this game are sloppy, meaning that the targeting system is sub par and the characters control is really clunky. One of the most baffling this is that you will not be able to strafe while shooting at an enemy. You will take more damage because this simple command is not available to you. The characters move just like a snail moving through a plate of molasses. Since Megaman and his friends are suppose to be super robots you would figure they would be faster than all of your enemies and be able to move away from incoming fire.

It is really cool that the game switches between 2D and 3D, but the developers forgot one important thing: camera control. When the game switches to 3D players are confined to the camera angle it chooses, there is not moving it at all. At times you might find yourself getting shot at and you can’t get the camera to help you find it. This becomes annoying quickly!

Graphics: 6.0
When players first load up Megaman X7, they will be treated to an awesome anime cut screen. There are other animated cut screens scattered throughout the entire game, and they are visually impressive. All of the levels that the players will transverse look very nice and convey that players are in a gritty future that is war torn. The thing about this game is that it doesn’t seem like it uses the full potential of the Playstation 2. While the levels and character models are nicely detailed, there could have been more to make it look nicer using better particle effects to many other things.

Sound: 6.1
Sound has never been a huge staple of this series. This game contains classic Megaman music and sound effects, but the developers really didn’t add anything new to it. The voice-overs get the job done, but it is nothing special.

Difficulty: Hard
Megaman games have never been easy, and this game continues in that tradition. Players will get extremely frustrated at times with only having three lives. Just like all other games in the series, the enemies that players will encounter are very cheap.

Concept: 6.2
Axl really fits into the Megaman X’s Universe with his ability to copy all of his enemies’ powers. Other than this nothing new is added.

Overall: 6.1
The bottom line is that Megaman X7 is not as fun as previous Megaman titles. It feels like a rushed product that was not ready to be in the hands of gamers. If this game had a little bit more Q/A and overall polish, this would have been a great game; instead we are presented with another sub par game for the Playstation 2.