A member of Magneto’s
Brotherhood sums it up rather succinctly near the game’s onset: “Never thought
I’d see the day the Brotherhood’d be working alongside you X-Pukes!”
Only in the virtual world,
and only when the threat is such that it warrants such an unlikely alliance
between the enemies.
But this has occurred.
Apocalypse has attacked and decimated the Brotherhood’s stronghold on Genosha,
and when Magneto (and company) partner with some X-Men to rescue Professor X,
aka Charles Xavier, the alliance seems cemented.
Not that it does not come
without its problems, but that gives X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse plenty
of personality to go along with strong action and compelling gameplay. Oh, and
Blur Studio has supplied some absolutely amazing CG animation that really spices
up the game and draws players into the world.
Activision recently hosted
an event in San Francisco to show off the latest build of X-Men L2 on multiple
platforms, and the big star of the Xbox showing was the multiplayer gaming.
Those who played the original title will remember fondly how the game allowed
players to jump into the mix by simply plugging in a controller to the Xbox, and
then taking on one of the characters in the four-member team. Well, fans
screamed for online support and Raven Software listened. X-Men 2 comes with full
online support for co-op play.
The game seems bigger,
brighter, and more colorful with deadlier enemies, 16 playable characters, and
close to 100 levels. Of course, some of the levels felt a little short during
the play time, and they are rather linear, but the joy of putting together that
perfect team with some of the X-Men and Brotherhood is just too much fun.
Everyone knows how much attitude Wolverine has; well, compare that to
Juggernaut, who lumbers through as a maelstrom of mayhem within one hulking
body.
The CG work is more than
impressive, and has so many little elements that certainly stand out. Early in
the game, when the Brotherhood and X-Men meet, one of the Brotherhood gets in
Wolverine’s face. The scruffy member of the team responds by extending his claws
between the two, then turns, walks off and retracts all the claws but the middle
one. It is so indicative of his personality that the moment is almost priceless.
Meetings between the two
groups are often interrupted by confrontation of the verbal kind, and it seems
that Professor X and Magneto’s hold on this alliance is tenuous at best.
The X-box control scheme is
perfect and has not changed. Once again players can interrupt the game to level
their avatars or let the game’s AI take care of the minutia through
auto-distribution of drops or leveling points – thereby ensuring almost totally
uninterrupted gameplay. Of course, the X on the ground allows players to swap
out team members, just like in the previous game.
If you liked the first X-Men
Legends title, you will love the second. There is so much more here to immerse
oneself in. If you haven’t played the first, not to worry; you really do not
need to in order to jump into XMLII and have an absolute blast. The control
scheme is simple to understand and use effectively, and the game mechanics are
such that the look, feel and sound of the game shines without detracting from
the gameplay itself.
X-Men Legends II: Rise of
Apocalypse is slated to release September 20 on the Xbox, PC, PlayStation 2,
GameCube and PSP platforms.
