Product Description
X-Men: Legends features favourite characters from the powerhouse Marvel franchise in an immersive action RPG. The story begins when the X-Men learn that Magneto, their greatest adversary, has devised a plan to give mutants the power to reign supreme over humans. The X-Men are then forced to battle Magneto to prevent global chaos and stop their foes from imprisoning the human race. In order to save the world from certain destruction, players must build the perfect X-Men team by recruiting new members and deciding how best to upgrade their powers and abilities. Players will need to choose the best combination of heroes to tackle each unique obstacle as they face a threat that could destroy all of mankind.
Gamers can pick their favourite X-Men character and upgrade each character's attributes to create their perfect team. Recruiting from 15 different heroes including Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm and Jean Grey, players gain experience, upgrade their team, characters and unlock new abilities to aid in the quest. X-Men: Legends also features a multi-branching, mission-based storyline that allows for abundant replay value. Players can play solo or cooperatively with up to three friends as they battle evil mutants. Dynamic joining allows new players to become part of the adventure at any time during the game.
Review
Although it was actually the first X-Men film that ushered in the current wave of (mostly) quality superhero films, the best the video game world has ever had to shout about is the Spider-Man games. This could all be about to change though as X-Men: Legends looks to be one of the first games to both do justice to its source and play a decent game at the same time.
Rather than being a simplistic fighting game, X-Men: Legends is actually an action role-playing game cum real-time strategy. The game is viewed from an overhead perspective and you get to take control of a team of four X-Men, chosen from a wider range of the comics best and brightest. You can only control one character at a time though, with the others following along behind and reacting to danger semi-autonomously.
You always have full control of the mood and tactics of all your team members though, being able to set them as passive or aggressive as well as choosing their formation and position in the team. Each level also features multiple extraction points so you can quickly swap new team members into your group and generally you're given as much control over strategy and tactics as you could wish.
It's always nice to see a company trying something a bit different with a license and, although both graphics and gameplay do occasionally appear a little simplistic, X-Men and RPG fans alike should find plenty to enjoy here. -- David Jenkins
