Mega Man X: Command Mission, known in Japan as , is a 2004 role-playing video game developed by Capcom for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube. The game is a spin-off of the Mega Man X franchise. It was released in Japan on July 29, 2004, with releases in North America and PAL regions following in September and November.
Command Mission takes place in the 23rd century, when a metallic substance called Force Metal is discovered that revolutionizes engineering for Reploids, humanoid androids with human-level intelligence. When an assault on a Force Metal mining island occurs, a Maverick Hunter team led by the veteran hero X is sent out in response. Across the story, X forms a group to stand against the Mavericks, who are trying to use Force Metals. These characters are controlled in encounters involving parties of three characters who can use their own special techniques in order to defeat the enemies.
The game was developed by many of the team members who previously worked on Capcom's Breath of Fire series of role-playing games. According to the producer of Command Mission, a plot-focused role-playing game in the Mega Man X series was created because the series is well known for its action and storyline. In order to flesh out the game, characters were created to aid X and his fellow allies.
Command Mission was met with a mostly average critical response. Reviewers generally praised its battle system, comparing it to other role-playing games, but still felt its true potential was not realized. The plot was the subject of mixed responses for its short length and lack of depth in the supporting characters. Command Mission sold well.
Gameplay
thumb|left|A boss battle in the game in which the player is using X's regular attack to damage the enemy. The bottom left shows the characters' health and the bottom right the order or turns.
Command Mission is a turn-based role-playing video game. Besides common turn-based attacks, the playable characters have access to Hyper Mode which increases their powers for a limited amount of turns. The PlayStation 2 version features an unlockable demo of Mega Man X8.
Plot
Mega Man X: Command Mission takes place during an unspecified year in the 23rd century, where mechanical beings known as Reploids coexist with humans. A substance known as Force Metal is extracted from the debris of a small meteorite, which revolutionizes the field of Reploid Engineering thanks to technology derived from it. An artificial island in the middle of an ocean built for the mining and smelting of Force Metal called Giga City is assaulted by a band of Reploids. Its leader, Epsilon, is branded a criminal Maverick by the government, and a Maverick Hunter team is dispatched by Colonel Redips to Giga City in order to liberate it from the grasp of Epsilon's Rebellion. X, Zero, and a Hunter named Shadow travel to the ruins. However, Shadow betrays the team, and Epsilon's cadre appears and knocks Zero away.
X escapes and finds himself in the resistance team. He encounters the bounty hunter Spider whom he joins forces to gather a resistance team to find Chief R to assist in defeating the minions of the Rebellion Army. The three find new allies, including Steel Massimo, a Reploid who is the successor of the former Massimo who was destroyed by the Rebellion Army; Nana, a navigator who was abducted by Epsilon's forces; Marino, a thief interested in targeting trade secrets; and Cinnamon, a Reploid capable of producing Force Metal. X also reunites with Zero and his other ally, Maverick Hunter Axl, who is searching for somebody who possesses his own copy abilities. Though Zero distrust X's new allies, Spider convinces him to join their cause. During the fight against the Rebellion Army, Spider presumably dies in the process. In another mission, X's forces defeat Epsilon who claims he needed the Metal to stand for his own misinterpreted ideals. After X defeats Epsilon, Colonel Redips' takes the Supra Force Metal and has his forces attack Giga City, killing Chief R. Redips had been manipulating both the Resistance and the Rebellion to obtain the power for himself.
As Redips battles X's forces, he is revealed to be the real Spider, having used the same powers as Axl to spy on the Maverick Hunters across the entire game. Redips overpowers the group, but one of Epsilon's underlings, Ferham, helps the group by removing part of the Force Metal from Redips. With Redips weakened, X's party is able to defeat him. A defeated Redips berates the heroes for their unwillingness to evolve using Supra-Force Metal before dying. Ferham appears holding the Supra-Force Metal and apologizes to X for all the trouble she caused before leaping off the elevator, planning to self-destruct and dying in the process. The elevator then begins to crumble, forcing them to get inside to survive the fall back to Earth. Meanwhile, Ferham destroys the Supra-Force Metal, creating a shower of aurora as it hits the atmosphere. In epilogue narration, it is revealed that, due to Colonel Redips' treason being unveiled to the public, Epsilon was posthumously cleared of his Maverick status, and peace returns to Giga City.
Development and release
thumb|right|The main cast (from left to right): Marino, Axl, Massimo, Cinnamon, X, Spider, and Zero. Besides Axl, the other two returning heroes X and Zero, were given a different characterization while the new cast in order to add more variety.
Mega Man X: Command Mission was announced and presented by producer Koji Nakajima at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2003. Nakajima promised that action fans would still like Mega Mans new direction due to how they would handle the returning characters X and Zero. It was developed by Capcom Production Studio 3 and many of the team members that worked on Mega Man X7 and Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter. Long-time producer and artist Keiji Inafune had always viewed the Mega Man X series in the action genre. He flatly refused when it was requested that he make it into a role-playing game. Kitabayashi considered Command Mission a sequel rather than a side story or the beginning of a new series because the plot is complete at the end of the game.
X's characterization was altered to give him a stronger persona now that he is a more iconic hero and leads several characters. In order to make him more appealing, the protagonist was also redesigned, as the artists found his classic look too plain. Ryuji Higurashi, a veteran artist of the Mega Man X series, acted as the game's chief character designer. Artist Keisuke Mizuno assisted Higurashi in the making of the visuals, most notably the 3D models. Up until its development, the Mega Man series has focused more on male characters on the battlefield, which led to the idea of including more female characters for a change. In regards to the antagonists, the narrative primarily explores the concept of how X and his allies face rebellious mechanical soldiers, Reploids, who become known as Maverick when they start causing crimes. Director Yoshinori Takenaka wanted to include moe elements in the cast and have two villains with different natures: the out-of-control Epsilon and the mastermind behind all, Redips. In Command Mission, the team wanted to make the narrative properly explore the characterization of each Maverick as they have their own reasons for their crimes, most notably due to the concept of Force Metal that the protagonists wield in combat and the overuse that can result in transforming them into Mavericks. The villain antagonist was pointed out by the staff to have his motives play such a role, but the final boss was instead a character who loses himself in the ending.
The game was released in Japan on July 29, 2004. The western port was first released in North America on September 21, 2004, and for PAL regions on November 19, 2004. The game's musical score was composed by Shinya Okada, Yuko Komiyama, and Seiko Kobuchi. A total of 58 tracks were compiled and released on a CD soundtrack by Suleputer in Japan on September 23, 2004. Asami Abe performed both the opening theme, , and the closing theme, "Parts". The game was released in Japan on July 29, 2004; in North America on September 21, 2004; and for PAL regions on November 19, 2004. However, only the GameCube version of the controller arrived with the release of Mega Man X Collection in early 2006, while the PS2 version was canceled.