Gamenikki
Systems
Screens
Summary
pros
- There's something just deliciously wrong about saving the world as the Brotherhood.
- More powers equals greater fun! Or something.
- If ever there was a game that screamed for online play, X-Men Legends was it. Thankfully, they got it right this time around.
cons
- I rather wish the camera were either independently controllable online, or at least static so a random player couldn't make the entire party dizzy with nausea.
- Either there aren't enough of you bastards playing this game on Live, or else Raven splitting the online play based on TV fidelity was a bad idea.
final score
8
The Review
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse
- Number of Players: One to Four (Online)
- Genre: Action/RPG
- Developer: Raven Software
- Publisher: Activision
- ESRB Rating: T
- Online: Yes
- Supports: Xbox Live
I'm often asked how I got started as a game reviewer, and most of the time, when I answer the question, my answer is usually evocative of Dragnet: Just the facts, ma'am. Or sir. Whichever. What I don't tell them is that the seeds probably go back to 1992 or so, when I was 11 years old. I've always been a reader, but at that stage in my life, I had my nose firmly buried inside myriad gaming magazines, torturing myself with articles of games I couldn't play, either because they weren't out yet, or because they were on systems I didn't own.
I remember a Far Side cartoon that showed a couple of parents dreaming of a future for their son that took advantage of his mad princess-saving skillz, and put two and two together. "Man, this would be cool to do." I never really expected it to happen, but I thought, even then, that it might be fun to mess around with video games and call it work.
Of course, here I am over a decade later, and guess what? Not only do I get to call it work, but I get to do the one thing I never thought I could: go to E3. It was at E3 2004 that I first saw X-Men Legends. At its heart, Legends wasn't all that different from a number of other hack-and-slash RPGs on the market, then or now. The crucial difference is that it was the X-Men, and that their abilities manifested as the powers which we've come to associate with the several mutants.
So here we are, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse graces retail shelves everywhere, and I have my coveted online play, plus the very cool twist of being able to include Brotherhood mutants in my party of mayhem. You'd think I'd be a happy camper, right?
The answer is, well...sort of. The online play has some issues with it that keep it from being the slam-dunk feature that I wanted, but on the whole, I'm very happy with Rise of Apocalypse. The core gameplay is improved from its primary iteration, and the online play, while frustrating, is still a welcome addition. It just needs some fine-tuning to really settle in with the rest of the Xbox Live repetoire.
If you've played Legends, the core of the game is essentially unchanged. You have a party of heroes, villains, or some combination thereof. There are hidden bonuses available for assembling particular combinations, and those bonuses stack with those granted by the various pieces of apparel with which you can outfit your party.
There are five acts, with a variety of missions in each act, and there are specials scattered throughout the levels - homing beacons, data discs, Danger Room discs, sketch books, and comic covers - that add to the geek factor in the game. Some of it, like the sketch books and comic book covers, are more for nostalgia value than anything else. Other items, like the homing beacons, will unlock hidden mutants if you collect enough of them and then jump through the subsequent hoops. (Using the hidden X-Men also grants bonuses).
More than a dozen powers attend each mutant, and said powers will generally fall into one of three categories: passive abilities, which are always in play, melee abilities, which will generally use up mutant power, and Xtreme powers, which unleash pent-up mutant fury in one form or another. Some are purely destructive, while others, like Wolverine's Rude Awakening, have alternative value - like raising the dead.
I remember a Far Side cartoon that showed a couple of parents dreaming of a future for their son that took advantage of his mad princess-saving skillz, and put two and two together. "Man, this would be cool to do." I never really expected it to happen, but I thought, even then, that it might be fun to mess around with video games and call it work.
Of course, here I am over a decade later, and guess what? Not only do I get to call it work, but I get to do the one thing I never thought I could: go to E3. It was at E3 2004 that I first saw X-Men Legends. At its heart, Legends wasn't all that different from a number of other hack-and-slash RPGs on the market, then or now. The crucial difference is that it was the X-Men, and that their abilities manifested as the powers which we've come to associate with the several mutants.
"...The online play has some issues with it that keep it from being the slam-dunk feature that I wanted, but on the whole, I'm very happy with Rise of Apocalypse...."
The first words out of my mouth were: "Will it be online?" The Raven representative was vague, and as it turned out, it wasn't playable on Xbox Live, or PS2 Online, much to my disappointment. The game's rapid climb up the sales charts, however, made it clear that there would be a sequel sooner or later, and it was unfathomable that such a sequel might continue to omit online play.So here we are, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse graces retail shelves everywhere, and I have my coveted online play, plus the very cool twist of being able to include Brotherhood mutants in my party of mayhem. You'd think I'd be a happy camper, right?
The answer is, well...sort of. The online play has some issues with it that keep it from being the slam-dunk feature that I wanted, but on the whole, I'm very happy with Rise of Apocalypse. The core gameplay is improved from its primary iteration, and the online play, while frustrating, is still a welcome addition. It just needs some fine-tuning to really settle in with the rest of the Xbox Live repetoire.
If you've played Legends, the core of the game is essentially unchanged. You have a party of heroes, villains, or some combination thereof. There are hidden bonuses available for assembling particular combinations, and those bonuses stack with those granted by the various pieces of apparel with which you can outfit your party.
There are five acts, with a variety of missions in each act, and there are specials scattered throughout the levels - homing beacons, data discs, Danger Room discs, sketch books, and comic covers - that add to the geek factor in the game. Some of it, like the sketch books and comic book covers, are more for nostalgia value than anything else. Other items, like the homing beacons, will unlock hidden mutants if you collect enough of them and then jump through the subsequent hoops. (Using the hidden X-Men also grants bonuses).
More than a dozen powers attend each mutant, and said powers will generally fall into one of three categories: passive abilities, which are always in play, melee abilities, which will generally use up mutant power, and Xtreme powers, which unleash pent-up mutant fury in one form or another. Some are purely destructive, while others, like Wolverine's Rude Awakening, have alternative value - like raising the dead.
Written by: Josh Allen