Mega Man X7



Mega Man X7 is the seventh game in the Mega Man X series, and the first on PlayStation 2. The game brought a return to FMV sequences, yet introduced the X series to 3D graphics. It got some outcry from some fans and critics since it mostly deviated from the traditional 2D flow of Mega Man.

This game also debuts a new Mega Man X character, Axl.

Release Dates
PlayStation 2:


 * Japan: July 17, 2003
 * North America: October 14, 2003
 * Europe: March 5, 2004

PC:


 * South Korea: December 31, 2003

Story
A member of the new Maverick hunting syndicate, Red Alert, flees from the group to join the Maverick Hunters. This member, Axl, is hunted down by Red Alert and is saved by Zero. Back at HQ, Red Alert contacts the Hunters and releases some Mavericks(and send eight members of the red alert to takedown the mavericks), challenging them to see who can defeat more with Axl as the prize.

In-Depth Story
Many years have passed since the Eurasia and Nightmare incidents that left the Earth's surface in ruins and raging with viral outbreaks. Since then, Reploids have worked diligently to clean up the world and make it habitable for humans once again. With the Earth cleaned up once again, humans have repopulated the surface and ushered in a new age of technology. Next Generation Reploids begin to be developed- Reploids which have the ability to copy the DNA of other Reploids and, thus, adapt to their environments. Over time, the Maverick Hunters begins to be seen as an ancient institution that is no longer "with the times," so a faction called the Red Alert Syndicate is created under the command of a Reploid named Red. Yet, when one of their recruits named Axl goes AWOL and defects to the Hunters, Red issues a challenge- they release some mavericks imprisoned by them upon the world and send eight members to the places where the mavericks were, stating that whichever group manages to defeat them is obviously superior. In the end, it is revealed that Sigma is behind the plot, having been drawn to Red Alert after realizing the power of the Next Generation Reploids (such as Axl). Once again, the Hunters face Sigma and in the end he is defeated.

Bosses
Eight Mavericks: Others:
 * Soldier Stonekong
 * Tornado Tonion
 * Splash Warfly
 * Flame Hyenard
 * Ride Boarski
 * Snipe Anteator
 * Wind Crowrang
 * Vanishing Gungaroo
 * Mega Scorpio
 * Mole Bore
 * Red
 * Sigma

Armor
Mega Man X7 returns to the style of armor collecting first featured in the original Mega Man X. Rather than being forced to collect the four pieces of an armor before it can be used, as in Mega Man X5 and Mega Man X6, each piece of the game's armor, the Glide Armor, is received as soon as collected and upgrades one of X's functions, eventually being complete, with four upgraded functions. Absent from this game are the commonly-used Ultimate Armor and Zero Armor.

Trivia

 * Despite this being Mega Man X7, X is not initially playable — Zero and Axl are the starting characters. To unlock X, either beat two Mavericks, or rescue 64 Reploids.
 * Despite the fact that X is only available through rescuing 64 reploids or defeating two mavericks, the back of the case shows X in the intro stage, which is normally impossible considering there are no rescuable reploids there and the player hasn't beaten any bosses.
 * Some of the Mavericks weaknesses are fairly unbalanced as some bosses weapons will do heavy damage to certain mavericks and some will do very little damage at all.
 * This is the first time that shutters don't appear in a Mega Man X game.