Mega Man X5

Plot

• The Enigma is fired and will either succeed and completely destroy Eurasia, or fail and only destroy part of it.
• *If the Enigma succeeds, Eurasia is destroyed, but this releases the Zero Virus.
• *If the Enigma fails, Eurasia's orbit will shift slightly and its impending impact will be delayed. In this scenario, Signas will begin the space shuttle plan, and X and Zero are dispatched to recover the parts.
• Like the Enigma, the shuttle can either succeed or fail.
• *If the shuttle succeeds, 86% of Eurasia is destroyed and Earth is no longer in danger. Zero, who pilots the shuttle, safely returns, but some remains from Eurasia still crash into Earth, devastating its ecosystems and spreading pollution all over the planet.
• *If the shuttle fails, only part of Eurasia is destroyed and crashes into Earth, causing a disaster as most Reploids and humans are wiped out. Zero becomes a Maverick.
• If time runs out, Eurasia crashes into Earth, and the planet barely survives. Zero becomes a Maverick.

• If Zero became a Maverick, he sacrifices himself to save X, and X continues on alone to defeat Sigma.
• If Zero did not become a Maverick, he saves X and himself from Sigma, and both have a chance to confront Sigma.

• If Zero became a Maverick, X defeats Sigma alone, but is badly damaged. Dr. Light appears and repairs him, but deletes all of his memories of Zero.
• If Zero did not become a Maverick, Sigma tries to make the Hunters' victory for naught by taking them both down with him. Zero manages to finish Sigma off, and the endings diverge again depending on the player character.
• *If X defeats Sigma, he inherits Zero's beam saber and continues to fight as a Maverick Hunter. .
• *If Zero defeats Sigma, he reflects on his origin and life, with visions of a blurred Dr. Wily and Iris, before dying.

  Gameplay

• X and Zero can duck.
• X and Zero's shots will not travel through walls.
• Unlike X4, the player can freely switch between both the shooter X and the swordsman Zero when selecting a stage, but the choice of character at the beginning of the game permanently affects the other character.
• *If X is chosen, Zero loses the ability to fire his Z-Buster.
• *If Zero is chosen, X loses his armor from Mega Man X4, called the "Fourth Armor" by the game.
• There are four available armors for X—the Fourth Armor, Falcon Armor, Gaia Armor, and Ultimate Armor.
• *The Falcon and Gaia Armors must be assembled from Dr. Light's upgrade capsules in four parts, but unlike previous Mega Man X series games, X cannot wear the new armors until they are fully assembled. Zero can enter the upgrade capsules to download the data for later use by X, but cannot use the armors himself.
• *The Ultimate Armor is obtained via a cheat code entered at the beginning of the game or from a special capsule that can be found near the end of the game.
• Zero can receive a black armor, either with the use of a cheat code at the beginning of the game, or by entering Dr. Light's Ultimate Armor capsule. Unlike X4, in which it was purely aesthetic, the black armor in X5 will upgrade his defensive and offensive power, increase his weapon energy, and grant him the Shock Buffer, Shot Eraser, and Virus Buster parts even if not previously obtained.
• Sigma Viruses appear in levels which can infect X and Zero:
• *If X is infected, he will enter a state where his health rapidly declines.
• *If Zero is infected, he becomes briefly invincible, with increased attack power.
• Performance during stages will be graded based on completion time, damage taken, and mavericks destroyed, modifying X and Zero's "hunter ranks" which are initially B and SA respectively.
• Mavericks will have a "level" based on the time remaining to destroy the Engima, hunter rank, and number of previous Mavericks defeated. Mavericks of high enough level will grant weapon and life upgrades when defeated, and Mavericks of even higher level will grant special "parts" when defeated that enhance X and Zero's abilities.

  Development

Reception