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X-Men
Legends
Score:
8.7 / 10
Pros:
-
Presents a faithfully accurate X-Men history better than any previous
X-Men title
- Plenty of Marvel mutants make an appearance
- In-game character “comic book”-style graphics
-
Plenty of save points to eliminate heavy backtracking
- There are multiplayer options (offline only though), but the game can
be completed without any assistance from other players
Cons:
-
Linear gameplay
- You will have to restart at certain points throughout if you don’t
have a necessary member in your party to advance
- Gameplay that’s more action game than RPG may disappoint those
expecting a true full-fledged RPG
- Timed mission is annoying
- Missions that have Allison exploring the mansion aren’t necessary to
the game’s storyline
- Cut-scene graphics are mediocre
"The sheer number
of playable X-Men is amazing..."
Freedom Force
and City of Heroes have been high-quality superhero-based role-playing
games. But sorely missing was a superhero RPG starring what would seem
like a natural fit, the Marvel and DC realm of comic book characters. On
top of that, both Freedom Force and City of Heroes are PC titles,
leaving those console gamers looking for a good superhero RPG to play
out in the cold. But X-Men Legends, based on the popular mutant group,
not only finally brings one of the two comic book universes to the world
of RPG gaming, it’s a console title, here reviewed on the Xbox.
Although X-Men Legends is a RPG in the same sense that the PC Diablo
series is a RPG (which is to say, it has more hack & slash action
than RPG elements), consolers looking for a good superhero RPG finally
have a choice. And X-Men fans will be downright giddy to play a game
that stars so many of their favorite Marvel superheroes, with plenty of
Marvel villains appearing as well as adversaries in your RPG quest. This
is easily the best X-Men game to ever come out.
This isn’t a game that tries to exploit a license to sell a mediocre
final product. No, the developers worked with former X-Men comic book
writers to craft a game that faithfully follows the history of the X-Men
and presents it in a vibrant gaming world. X-Men Legends doesn’t just
offer a scant few X-Men as playable characters. Instead, there’s a
full roster available, including my favorite superhero of all time,
Wolverine. A new character is also introduced, a young, powerful female
mutant that becomes the superhero Magma during the course of X-Men
Legend’s story. The story is good but familiar to anyone who’s read
the comic book or watched the two X-Men movies, as there’s a U.S. army
general out to rid the world of mutants which infuriates Magneto to try
and rid the world of all the non-mutantkind.
It’s also unfortunately a linear story. Instead of roaming around and
playing missions you want to as many might expect from a RPG, you are
instead led along a straightforward storyline until the very end. The
most annoying RPG-like mission is a timed one that you won’t be able
to complete without multiple attempts and memorizing the quickest path
to the final goal.
The only time there’s any free roaming allowed is back at Professor
X’s mansion, where Magma can explore the many rooms and learn more
about the X-Men by “talking” to them. “Talking” can require a
lot of reading, because conversations can not only be heard, but pop up
on-screen, and the only way to advance the conversation is by scrolling
through the on-screen conversation. Magma’s “missions” can provide
a mini-history lesson on the X-Men and also hint on the upcoming
missions, but beyond that really aren’t relevant to the outcome of the
game.
You’ll play the majority of the game using four characters in a party
with the ability to switch on the fly between them during the game’s
action. All the heroes have mutant powers and defenses that you upgrade
during the game by leveling up with points accumulated by eliminating
enemies, both human and mutants. Early on, the enemy competition can be
tough, but once you start really leveling up to the higher levels and
boosting individual mutant powers and abilities, the game is much
easier. Most areas can be led by one of the stronger X-Men such as
Cyclops, Storm, or Wolverine without much switching to the other party
characters.
Thankfully, there’s plenty of save points throughout the game that
allow you to not only save to avoid major backtracking, but also the
chance to change up your team. That comes in particularly handy, because
many missions require a specific mutant to advance. For instance, on one
mission, without Nightcrawler in your party, you won’t be able to gain
entry into a room that has a computer terminal that opens up a latter
path in the mission. In another area, without Iceman and his ability to
create an ice bridge, the non-flying members of the team cannot advance.
The fighting is pretty intense when you actually get into battles, as
you’ll be attacked by waves of enemies at once, many with different
resistances to your X-Men’s abilities. Some are resistant to psychic
powers, so attacking them with Jean Grey will have little effect. But
unleash a furious Wolvie clawed attack on them and they’ll be sliced
and diced in no time. This is a Teen-rated title, by the way, so even
with Wolverine Ginsuing right and left, there’s no spewing of blood,
just dissipating fallen enemies.
One game X-Men Legends immediately reminded me of in its gameplay style
was Hunter: the Reckoning. X-Men Legends plays the same way with the
same overhead perspective. But X-Men Legends has a much better camera
following you around, eliminating a big frustration that made Hunter:
the Reckoning sometimes hard to play.
And like Hunter: the Reckoning, you can play with up to four players at
once on-screen. Sadly, there is no online multiplayer like City of
Heroes, one feature that could have kept X-Men Legends addicting beyond
the completion of the game’s storyline.
Stylistically, X-Men Legends has a distinct comic book look to the
graphics, which looks good while playing the game, but not as impressive
when it carries over into the more zoomed-in cut-scenes applying the
same visuals. The voice-acting includes “never let anybody but me play
Professor X” Patrick Stewart, with surprising appearances by Ed Asner
and Lou Diamond Phillips and is generally good overall.
While there are less RPG features than straightforward action gaming in
X-Men Legends, the RPG elements that are here should satisfy RPG gamers,
especially if they happen to be big X-Men aficionados. The sheer number
of playable X-Men is amazing, each with their own set of mutant powers
that can be used towards the ultimate cause of restoring peace between
mutants and non-mutants. It’s a bit too linear, there’s no online
multiplayer gameplay, but X-Men Legends is a still a very good action
RPG.
