Mega Man X4

by Capcom

Product Details

• ASIN: B000Q9F2CQ
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,530 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesomeness Incarnate, December 17, 2009

By 

Atli Hafsteinsson (Viborg, Denmark) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Mega Man X4 (CD-ROM)

An adventure both action-packed and philosophical, X4 bombards both the mind and senses. During this platformer, which you can play as either X or Zero, you will meet a host of Mavericks of all shapes, sizes and personalities. From Magma Dragoon to Frost Walrus, all battles are not only challenging but very impacting as well, because the bosses have a very strong personality. Their great animation and their near-flawless voice casting underlines this heavily; too bad so many of the voice actors remain unknown. This time, however, the Mavericks' motives aren't as renegade as before. Indeed, they say that the greatest damage is done for the greater good and these Mavericks - and indeed the storyline itself - attest to that.

You'll find that many, many years have passed since the events of X3. Dr Cain has passed away but the Maverick Hunters are nonetheless doing a good job keeping order and a long-standing peace has been established. This peace has allowed Reploid armies to be built, the biggest and most prominent of all being the Repliforce. The Hunters and Repliforce share a close bond for their shared ideals of justice and honour. One day, however, a terrible tragedy turns those friends against each other. The floating Sky Lagoon is sabotaged and comes crashing to the city below it. The carnage is indescribable. Repliforce, who just happened to be in the vicinity, are mistakenly blamed for the crime and labelled as Mavericks. Stung by the insult, Repliforce won't abandon their sense of honour by having the Hunters investigate them and instead take matters into their own hands, deciding to build a new nation of Reploids and an all-Reploid utopia. This independence, however, has the heavy price of peace and the Hunters have no choice but to stop the Repliforce. A deep story which again asks the question; just what makes a Reploid go Maverick? Do the Repliforce become Mavericks, or are they all victims of circumstance? The Maverick virus plot of X3 is abandoned and I must say that I like the exchange, as it gives Reploids the same chance as humans of having their choices determine them. The ending is quite sad, no matter if you play as X or Zero.

Mega Man X4 is bold, daring, impressive. The visual style has taken a big leap forward since X3 - not surprising as Capcom had a bigger range of graphics and sound to work with. This PC version is adapted from the Playstation version and fortuntely it's identical. Sure, the graphics may appear a little pixellated for a PC game but this can hardly count as a flaw rather than a romantic quality. Each stage is so full of luscious detail, it'll make the previous X games seem quite stale in comparison. The Volcano stage is sizzling with fire and atmosphere fitting for it. The Snow Base is chillingly beautiful. The Mavericks themselves are excellent; a very inspiring cast, fantastically-drawn and animated. Their stages and battles have an unmistakable, cinematic feel. The cartoon atmosphere is no longer compromised by graphical limitations. On the contrary, X4 could work as a gorgeous, animated movie.

At the very beginning of the game, you must decide whether to play as X or Zero. They face most of the same challenges, but the perspectives of their storylines are quite different. Zero is close friends with both the Colonel of the Repliforce and his sister Iris and his plot centres on that, along with scenes from his dark past. X's story is more straightforward, though he has the questionable assistance of Double the rookie Hunter. One simple thing, however, sets the two quests apart in terms of gameplay; their weapons. X of course has his X-buster, which he can upgrade by finding Dr Light's capsules. These can be quite tricky to find indeed and occasionally even harder to get - especially the Arm upgrade, which you nonetheless really want if you want to have extra firepower (and you can choose from two forms). You can play through the entire game and not find one of these capsules if you aren't looking for them, so make sure you do. Zero, on the other hand, has ditched his firepower from before and instead focuses on his Z-saber, which is arguably more effective than X's X-buster, plus Zero can do combos. But wait! X of course acquires weapons from the Mavericks he defeats (and this time those weapons are actually quite useful in battles), but what about Zero, who only has the saber? Well, he learns techniques from his foes; techniques which, once you learn them, you can pull off by pressing certain button combinations. These can be improved techniques with the saber or an improved saber altogether but also fire and frost attacks as well as others. It's a very well thought-out concept which the game pulls of well. The keyboard controls in this PC version are simple to use and quickly become second-nature, but you can change them and/or input a joystick in the Options screen should you wish.

Let me delve on the levels themselves a bit more, for they are real treats. The Marine Base takes place almost entirely aboard a Land Chaser, a speeding hoverbike armed with a blaster, whilst chasing Jet Stringray, one of those officers that seem more excited about fighting than saving Repliforce's name. Remember the bipedal walkers from X3? Yes, me too but the two featured here don't require you to activate them first. You'll find yourself destroying most of Slash Beast's military train in one, the other being a blue hovering armour which fires charged energy shots at enemies. Perhaps the game's most unusual level is Cyberspace, where a radar keeps tracking you whilst you avoid floating energy fields; there are no real enemies to blast at all! The quicker you pass through the level's first act, the bigger a reward you get at the end. Each level has two acts, yes. They're understandable splits, because most acts are different in at least look and feel - the Snow Base is a good example. This isn't always the case, of course,

Accompanying you is the stupendous score by Toshihiko Horiyama (who also worked on X3). It's full of energy and zest, yet is always deep and super-melodic. It can include guitar or keyboards and techno, or a pleasing mixture of all. Frost Walrus's first tune (his is the only stage to include two variations) is chilling and frigid. Jet Stingray's tune is super-motivating. The boss battle tune is perhaps one of the most impressive, a truly dynamite track which makes every boss battle feel like a life-and-death situation. There is an indescribable energy to the music, whether more low-key or full of power. Thank goodness you can listen to each track in the Sound Test in the useful and straightforward Options screen.

Should the game feel too overwhelming in one setting, not to worry as you have a choice of six slots of game data (three each in a choice of two windows) where you can save your progress. Even in the PC version of X3, where you could save, your progress once you reach Doppler's lab was lost no matter if you saved after that, but not in X4. Well, you do lose all the extra acquired lives and the stored energy in your energy tanks, but the progress is not lost. Look high and low for three tanks - two energy tanks and one weapon tank (which I personally find useless) - and fill them up with spare energy whenever you can. You're gonna need them in the game's final showdown.

The animated sequences introduced in X3 are back, but fortunately they are of much better quality overall than the often substandard ones of X3 (though without an animated intro for each Maverick, sadly). Unfortunately, X's storyline only gets a handful of these, one of which is quite ludicrous indeed (you'll know which one I'm talking about when you play the game), and he only even appears in one. Zero has more cutscenes, underlining his troubled personality and relationship with the Colonel and Iris. Of course, the dubbing is very bad; some of the actors can barely speak intelligible English, and X is voiced by a woman. These are fleeting flaws, though. Especially Zero's second-last cutscene is quite memorable. This game marks the first time when Zero's past is touched upon for real; who created him and for what purpose? Glaring clues are given to the player throughout his storyline. This, along with the opening screens for each Maverick (where we see his orders and hear his name proudly shouted) and the excellent opening stage the Sky Lagoon (where you're chased by a fantastic Maverick which you then fight) gives the game more the feel of a movie than a game.

Of course, the unofficial star of each Mega Man game is its boss battles, and X4's battles are top-notch. When you enter the lair of each Maverick, an alarm goes off complete with bold, flashing red letters across the screen reading, "WARNING", at which point each Maverick characteristically arrives on the scene - no flying from the ceiling unless it's called for. Magma Dragoon leaps out of lava, while Slash Beast catches up with a speeding train. You chase Jet Stringray for most of the level even before he takes you on! Each Maverick says a few words (through text) to lead into the battle. Almost all of them have a bigger scene for fighting now than before (nobody has those blasted ceilings anymore), giving them plenty of space for their attacks. These battles are tremendous fun and while each boss is very challenging, none of them feel impossible to defeat; finding the appropriate weapon/attack does wonders, but skipping those and defeating each should make you feel quite pleased with yourself. Make no mistake, these Maverick battles are riveting.

FROST WALRUS battle: You enter, the alarm goes off and Frost Walrus emerges with heavy steps. He bangs his chest and exhales sub-zero cooling ice. After a brief exchange of words, he bangs his chest again and jumps out, sliding on his stomach like a bulldozer, roaring. He soon... Read more ›