Mega Man X FPS by ex-Metroid Prime devs, canceled

Capcom reportedly had Armature Studio, a developer composed of Metroid Prime vets, working on an FPS reboot of the Mega Man X series, but canceled it in 2010.

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Capcom's Mega Man series has had a rough couple of years, including various canceled projects. At least one of them was scuttled without ever being announced, though: Maverick Hunter, a gritty first-person shooter reboot of the Mega Man X series. It was being developed by Armature Studio, a new developer composed of Metroid Prime talent.

Polygon reports that the project was only in development for about six months, but in that time Armature built a working prototype and had nailed down the general look and feel of the game. It was scrapped during greenlight meetings in late 2010, just before Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune left Capcom.

The character's armor was to be designed by Adi Granov, the concept artist behind the Iron Man films. Core concepts to the MMX series would have been reimagined, like replacing his X-Buster arm as a transforming handheld gun, and using the dash to finish off dazed enemies. It introduced new wrinkles as well, like the ability to combine weapons taken from enemies. It was to feature a reimagined version of Zero, along with a new human police officer character as a sidekick. The major plot points came from Inafune, but it was to be written by a western scenario writer.

If successful, the game would spawn a trilogy of Maverick Hunter games culminating in a third title starring Zero, as he fights against X, who had grown too powerful and intelligent to be controlled over the course of the series.

In only the last few years, Capcom has canceled Mega Man Legends 3, Mega Man Universe, and Mega Man Online. Scuttling Maverick Hunter brings that count up to four, of the ones we know about. Capcom recently announced a new Mega Man game is in development, but hasn't given any further details.

Hit Polygon for more videos of the canceled game in action.

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  • reply
    April 9, 2013 9:30 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Mega Man X FPS by ex-Metroid Prime devs, canceled.

    Capcom reportedly had Armature Studio, a developer composed of Metroid Prime vets, working on an FPS reboot of the Mega Man X series, but canceled it in 2010.

    • reply
      April 9, 2013 9:46 AM

      Not enough charging blasters and wall kicks for me. :/

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      April 9, 2013 9:48 AM

      that fella in the picture is not mega man. we dont want "reimagined" mega man. we want mega man.

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      April 9, 2013 9:49 AM

      i... well i dont know what to think about that. i mean.... MMX is awesome, but a shooter? with modern gritty white people story? hmmm, I would kill a man for a new MMX game, but I think maybe we dodged a bullet here.

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        April 9, 2013 10:35 AM

        These are the guys behind Metroid Prime, if anyone could do it, they could.

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          April 9, 2013 4:20 PM

          that is the ONLY thing that would have made me not groan for 10 minutes

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      April 9, 2013 9:54 AM

      Maybe I'm in the minority, but I thought that looked great. And I want another Metroid Prime-esque game... =/

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        April 9, 2013 5:15 PM

        You're not alone. I always wanted to see Mega Man look more like a robot and less like a marshmallow peep mated with Super Mario. I guess X is about as big a departure aesthetically as we're ever going to get from this series.

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        April 9, 2013 7:49 PM

        I think the style is a bit lame. It has no place in the megaman franchise. That said, they could have easily maintained the aesthetic of megaman X while staying loyal to the overall aesthetic the series has had.

        This brings me back to that sci-fi Bomberman. Who looks at Bomberman and thinks, "this concept could use a more serious story and atmosphere?" They drop fuse bombs on each other fer chrissakes.

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      April 9, 2013 9:56 AM

      the words FPS Reboot instantly turn my stomach.

      i enjoy a good FPS, too. but...

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        April 9, 2013 10:09 AM

        yup. I feel like these days no genre has the ability to strip away the personality of source material. 12-13 years ago I wouldn't have said that with things like Deus Ex, Battlezone, System Shock, etc - but anymore doesn't seem like anyone does too much with them. It's just like reskinning and moving on.

        I don't feel like RPGs, RTSes, or even driving games do this so much as FPSes do.

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        April 9, 2013 10:12 AM

        Duke3D was an FPS reboot

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          April 9, 2013 10:33 AM

          yes, 17 years ago, also there were like twelve FPS games back then.

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          April 9, 2013 10:34 AM

          reboots werent as lame back then!

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      April 9, 2013 10:30 AM

      For all you old-school Shackers, Jack Mathews is at Armature.

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        April 9, 2013 1:38 PM

        that can only mean one thing: there are tacos at Armature

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      April 9, 2013 10:49 AM

      I could seriously see Mega Man X as an FPS if it were to go the route of Mirror's Edge but with X abilities.

      Imagine being able to dash-jump onto a pillar, kick off toward an enemy, release charged blast at enemies face and then roll land to the next objective.

      for the easily queasy-ed allow for a third person camera

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      April 9, 2013 10:49 AM

      I normally wouldnt of been for this, but I'd give the Metroid Prime vets the benefit of the doubt. Too bad. :(

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      April 9, 2013 3:29 PM

      NOOOOOOO :(

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      April 9, 2013 4:45 PM

      What?!! I feel like my ex just told me she had an abortion :(...........

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        April 9, 2013 5:49 PM

        Relieved?

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          April 9, 2013 7:48 PM

          Hell no. I love Mega Man X.

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            April 9, 2013 8:02 PM

            I was coming more from the "Ex just told me she had an abortion" thing literally. :-p

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            April 9, 2013 8:07 PM

            [deleted]

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              April 10, 2013 1:04 PM

              I guess I should have clarified more. It was like not even knowing my ex was pregnant, and then finding out she had an abortion (which ahs not happened to me, example only). In the same way, I didn't even know about this awesome looking and sounding game, and then I found out Capcom had an abortion :(

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      April 9, 2013 4:49 PM

      fuuuuuuuu

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      April 10, 2013 7:32 PM

      Seriously, this made me want to put listerine in my eyes. and not even just because it's a FPS, but look at it, listen to it. I mean...what the **** is that?!

      I'm actually happy beyond belief that this was cancelled. Da Fuq.

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      April 10, 2013 7:34 PM

      Mega Man's original inspiration was astro boy, not that flipping terminator.

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