Capcom has confirmed that Mega Man 11 will be out on Steam (and other platforms you may have heard of) on October 2, with a new "Double Gear System" that enables more powerful buster shots, the ability to slow time—or, if you dare, both at once.
Both the Speed Gear, which makes the world move much slower relative to Mega Man, and the Power Gear, which boosts regular shoots and enables the Mega Buster to fire two shots at a time, can be switched on and off at will. But using them too much can cause Mega Man to overheat, leaving him unable to use the Double Gears until he cools down. Enabling them both at once is a particularly high-risk maneuver because that mode can't be switched off once activated, and Mega Man will be left very weak for a period after it runs out.
Mega Man will put these abilities to use against eight new Robot Masters, stolen from Dr. Light by the wicked Dr. Wily as part of his plan to... well, I'm not sure what, really, but it's clearly not good. Among those new Masters are Blockman, who can form solid blocks out of thin air and morph into a powerful giant form (and who looks quite a bit like Vincent from The Black Hole), and Fuse Man, a speedy bolt-thrower with a really bad hat.
Defeated Robot Masters will drop special weapons that Mega Man can acquire and equip, and that will change his appearance when in use. A new weapon wheel feature will enable them to be easily changed on the fly, while supporting characters Roll and Auto can turn found bolts into handy upgrades, "giving Mega Man even more versatility for combat than any previous mainline Mega Man title."
Mega Man 11 is available for preorder now on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and "coming soon" to PC. Details are up at megaman.capcom.com.
