Mega Man X8 (Playstation 2)
Posted by Jenn Cutter at 03:24:09 PM EST on 5.19.2004.

Mega Man X8 begins after the fall out of a battle with Sigma to annihilate the human race, which left the planet in shambles and forced humans to look for a new home. In an effort to rebuild, new Reploids were built to ready the moon for colonization. These next-gen Reploids are far more advanced and have the ability to copy other Reploids. Unfortunately, and very predictably, Sigma corrupted them and turned them on the humans.

Thanks to Rich, our Editor-in-Chief, we have word from Capcom reps that this is the LAST time we'll ever have to worry about Sigma. Ever. That's right folks, when we beat him this time, it'll be for good. I feel the need to throw a party in honour of this momentous occasion; the hot tub is perfect, c'mon in!

Ahem. Moving on...

MMX8 is classic 2D side-scrolling action with occasional shifts of the camera angle to direct the player to doors and hallways along the path. Cel-shaded with great particle effects and highly detailed backgrounds, this is the best-looking PS2 Mega Man game yet. Mega Man X, Zero, and Axl are all playable characters with their own specialties. X has his trusty charge shot ability, Zero excels at short-range combat, and Axl has a spread shot cannon and the ability to hover.

New to the series is Tag Team Action where you can switch characters at any time. Rescue Change allows the standby character to provide backup support when the main character is caught in enemy clutches. The Double Attack can be used when the gauge fills up through defeating regular enemies to unleash a powerful two-player attack. Health gauges for standby characters refill according to how well the main character performs in battle through the Recovery Gauge and a Combo Counter counts how many enemies are defeated in a row, thus increasing the rate that enemies will drop recovery items.

With 12 stages that can be played in any order, players are encouraged to take on "intermission" quests that will have new objectives for already completed stages. There will also be more vehicle-based stages with their own objectives. At the beginning of each stage, players will be asked to pick one of three Navigators. Each will offer a stage strategy, an enemy strategy or story supplements. As a side scrolling shooter with multiple endings, hidden items, and the tag-team abilities, MMX8 looks to be taking the series back in the right direction.