Over the past 25 years, Capcom's Mega Man has appeared in just about every kind of game there is. Aside from his native genre of action platformers, he's shown up in fighting games like Marvel vs. Capcom, RPGs like Mega Man Legends, the almost mandatory kart racing spectacular, and even dabbled in sports with the classic Mega Man Soccer. The only thing he hasn't done is a first-person shooter, and when you consider that he's a character whose arm turns into a gun in a franchise built entirely around blowing up evil robots and taking their weapons, that seems a little odd.

But as it turns out, there were plans for a Mega Man FPS. Specifically, it would've been a new take on Mega Man X called Maverick Hunter, created by the developers of Metroid Prime with a new design by Iron Man concept artist Adi Granov. Unfortunately, this game never happened.Polygon has the entire story behind the development and cancellation of Maverick Hunter, as well as its chances for the project being revived (short version: don't hold your breath), and notes that it joins other canceled expansions of the Mega Man franchise from recent years. Mega Man Legends 3, Mega Man Online and Mega Man Universe, a platformer that would've finally introduced Goofy Box Art Mega Man into the games, have all gotten the axe in recent years, leaving the franchise to celebrate its 25th anniversary with only the fan-made Mega Man x Street Fighter and the ongoing Archie Comic, both of which are very good.

Still, seeing test footage of Maverick Hunter is an interesting look at what might've been. Like Metroid Prime, the game seems to have preserved core elements of the franchise's platform games, including exploring areas by wall-jumping and dashing and taking enemies' weapons, but it also introduced a few new mechanics. Specifically, X rushing enemies and punching through their torsos in explosive slow-motion finishing moves:



Pretty intense stuff.

The video also shows off Granov's design for X, which, unsurprisingly, bears a resemblance to his work on Iron Man. The glowing red X for his face is a pretty neat touch, though, and at the very least it's a sign that they were moving away from the anime aesthetic of the existing franchise.

Unfortunately for FPS fans, it looks like Maverick Hunter is well and truly dead. As Polygon puts it:

A revival of the Maverick Hunter project - or any Mega Man first-person shooter - seems unlikely at this stage. Capcom senior vice president Christian Svensson said as much last year, telling a fan on the company's forums that a Mega Man first-person shooter "is not a concept I would be comfortable with given the current brand situation.

"It's not something I would advocate," Svensson said.

Still, it's a pretty interesting look at what might've been.

[Click Images To Enlarge]



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