X-Men Legends

"Fairly Legendary...."

Comic book characters are the modern folk heroes, capturing the awe of children and fan boys alike. When dealing with a forty year tradition like the X-Men it is important to make a game that lives up to the expectations of generations of fans. X-Men: Legends is a step in the right direction for licensed game development, breaking away from mediocre games based on movies, comics and television. “Legends” is an Action-Role Playing Game that is reminiscent of the Gauntlet-style dungeon crawling while staying true to the comic's action oriented focus. Players unleash a variety of attacks to clobber foes and complete various missions all weaving through the mythos of this comic book series.

Players start off as Wolverine as he is sent to save a relatively new addition to the X-Men series, Magma. Magma (who first appeared in “New Mutants” issue #8 Feb 2004) is being chased by the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, lead by Magneto. The storyline focuses around her joining the X-Men, but expect to play as favorite mutants including Rogue, Storm, Cyclops, Jean Grey and more as they fight to protect the human race. Fans shouldn't be bummed out by the contemporary storyline though, players can unlock a multitude of battle scenarios from plotlines pasts, including retro costumes and corny catchphrases.

The environments in “Legends” are vibrant and lively but not as interesting as the character models. The characters are textured with Cel-Shading, creating a sharp contrast to the terrain. This gives the impression that the heroes were ripped straight out of the comic books and placed into the virtual battlefields.

Game play is simple enough, two attack buttons: one strong, one weak. These are alternated to string attacks into combos. Additionally each character has four unique mutant attacks that utilize their powers in different ways. For example, Iceman may deliver a concentrated beam of cold energy and damage one foe, or he may choose to throw shards of ice in a widespread arc damaging multiple enemies. These abilities can also be used to alter the terrain. When faced with a deep pit blocking the way Iceman can choose to make a bridge of pure ice and pass with ease.

After defeating enemies, players are awarded experience that allows them to unlock more superpowers. Many of these powers come in the form of passive benefits that will make the game easier. These passive abilities include flying, regeneration, increased strength and many others that give your heroes that “Super” status.

Throughout the game players are assigned missions that have multiple objectives. Some of these missions are fairly short; however, many take several hours to complete and several more to root out any secret items. Easter eggs, such as character sketches and comic book covers, can be unlocked and accessed at the X-Men's mansion headquarters. These provide a sense of nostalgia for long time fans and a peek at what has driven this series for newer followers.

X-Men: Legends is a well rounded game that brings the comic books and movies to life. Players can expect to waste 20+ hours as they track the progress of their favorite mutants journey to defeat The Brotherhood. This game provides fun for casual gamers as well as obsessed fans and is definitely worth a rental, if not reserved a place in their collection.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/28/04