Polygon has revealed Megaman: Maverick Hunter, a project that was underway but never completed. The videos show off a reimagined FPS Megaman, all dark and gritty and full of bullets, cocky one-liners, and awesome destructive finishers.

Awesome if you're into that kind of thing, of course.

This isn't an editorial, of course, so I'll keep opinions to a low: but I would like Eastern developers to know that making a game for the West doesn't automatically equal dark, gritty FPS. I'm not a Megaman superfan at all, but this game footage, no matter what the article's writer says, is not a successful reimagining that takes the franchise into the right direction. It looks more like a simple Gears of War take that reskins the hulking space marines into a less-than-familiar blue super-fighting-robot who can only be described with such 90's phrases as "radical" and "extreme."

Check out the videos in the original article, and let me know whether you agree or disagree (I'll gladly take opposing views, I promise). Of course, DmC has been pretty well-received, and Metroid Prime--as cited in the article--was a successful reimagining of a longtime 2D series. Even Megaman creator Keiji Inafune was said to have embraced the project. But I'd argue that DmC's story and approach was more praised then its sometimes juvenile dialogue, and Metroid Prime didn't give up its core tone when changing genres.

Am I wrong? Do you think a darker, grittier, cockier, bullet-ridden Megaman could save the franchise?