God help us, they overclocked Mega Man

Even if Mega Man’s been out of Capcom’s spotlight for a few years now, there’s still been something refreshingly reliable about his presence. Sure, he might get a leaf shield or a throwing saw sometimes depending on which of his machine-kin he’s forced to cull, but by and large, his capabilities are easy to wrap your hand around: He has an arm cannon, and you can charge it. It’s predictable. It’s safe. It’s comfortable.

So what the hell is that?

(Image credit: Capcom)

During last night’s Gamescom Opening Night Live, Capcom released its first glimpse of gameplay for Mega Man: Dual Override, the first entry in the classic Mega Man lineup since 2018. And it’s with the appropriate gravity that I’m forced to report: They’ve gone and overclocked Mega Man.

According to Capcom, Dual Override has Mega Man “overriding his limits and powering up for a new adventure” by using “new Custom Chips to freely modify and enhance your abilities” and an Override system that can “unleash overwhelming power for a limited time.” In other words, someone thought it would be a good idea to crank up the voltage on our sweet android son beyond the recommended manufacturer guidelines.

The results, I’ll admit, seem pretty effective: In the gameplay trailer embedded above, Mega Man’s aftermarket mods can let him shoot a barrage of damaging projectiles, hover over platforming hazards, and dash around enemies for a more advantageous shooting position.

I can’t help but notice, however, that after deploying those modifications, he’s forced to expose his visibly incandescent heatsinks to avoid overheating. There’s even a moment late in the footage where he pulls a Unicorn Gundam and enters Destroy Mode, exposing all his available cooling surfaces to fire a massively overcharged shot that—to his credit—insta-KOs a boss. But it also leaves him sparking and billowing smoke.

This just seems irresponsible during a hardware shortage crisis, is all I’m saying.

We don’t have a precise release date for Mega Man: Dual Override yet, but it’s set to launch sometime in 2027. You can wishlist it on Steam now.

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