X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse

"Glitched, but great?"

X-Men Legends II: Rise Of Apocalypse PS2 Review

Introduction: X-Men Legends II: Rise Of Apocalypse is the sequel to the hit action-rpg released last year. In this version, the X-Men team up with their enemies, the Brotherhood of Mutants, to battle the mutant Apocalypse after an attack on the island of Genosha.

Story 8/10: The story, as mentioned, revolves around Apocalypse's attack on Magneto's island of Genosha, as well as the kidnapping of Professor Charles Xavier and Polaris. The X-Men and Brotherhood must team up to fight Apocalypse and his underlings and rescue their friends. The story isn't extremely deep, but it has a good comic book/science fiction feel. The story is related via in-game dialogue, semi-rendered mission briefings, and a few beautifully done cinematic sequences at key points in the game.

Graphics 8/10: The graphics in this game are pretty good, and show improvement from the previous game in certain respects. The ‘meat-hands' or ‘paws' for hands are now gone, and each finger can clearly be defined. However, they do still seem a little large. The thick black line around the characters has been reduced somewhat, but they still have a distinct comic book feel. Many unlockable character skins make them look even better, although don't expect to see the costumes from the animated series or movies. The backgrounds are larger, with less getting-stuck-in-door problems, and all are well drawn. While many enemies look copied from the previous game and given different names, there are enough original looking ones to keep it from being stale. While there are some arbitrarily bigger bad guys, ‘leaders,' the use of different sizes is well-implemented in the case of fighting certain bosses (you know Apocalypse is going to be big). For the number of moves that can be performed, the move animations are pretty good, although not always fluid looking.

Sound 8/10: You don't really notice the sound all that much, but it picks up pretty good during fights. The music doesn't do anything special, but it doesn't do anything wrong either. Character's moves sound good when being performed and the voice acting is really good for the most part. Non-playable character Beast, by Richard Doyle, is probably the best, with Patrick Stewart's Professor X, John “Bender” DiMaggio's Juggernaut, John Kassir's Deadpool, and Lou Diamond Phillips' Forge earning honorable mentions. P.S.- Dwight Schultz from the A-Team is in it, so you know it's good! There are exceptions, however, such as the voices for Grizzly and Sabretooth. Can I get some growling without overacting? Sheesh. Anyway, the music isn't critical to the game, but the voice acting and dialogue make the sound component of the game shine.

Gameplay 9/10: Characters are easy to use, easy to upgrade, and there's a character for every situation. The game is heavy on the combat, but you never really feel overwhelmed. Each character has nearly a dozen moves they can pick from, and they're almost all useful. Further, you can easily switch in other powers beside your main four with a tap of a directional button. Multiplayer co-op returns for up to four players, and although people appear not to be playing it on-line much, that is an option in this version. The core of the gameplay is intact from the previous game, which was done well. So much feels good about the action that I can easily give it a 9 in this category, but I will mention a few of the gameplay critiques I have.

First of all, and foremost, one problem is that there appears to be a glitch which can halt gameplay altogether. The specifics on the problem are still being discovered, but it may involve the way that you progressed through the game, or it may involve problems with the temporary memory capacity (for more info, see the more programming-savvy guys on the message boards). This glitch can cause the game to freeze, and can make it impossible to progress. While it also appears there may be a solution to this glitch (limiting the number of items in your extra inventory called the ‘Hero Stash'), those not well-informed may become frustrated and decide to return their game.

Second, super power combos have been severely toned down in this game when compared to the last game. For a game emphasizing teamwork, it seems the creators tinkered with something that worked well in the last game and broke it. Third, the ability of flying characters to carry teammates has disappeared for no known reason. While this doesn't really affect the gameplay that much due to the fact teammates don't become separated as easily, it is still missed.

Replayability 10/10: There are so many options in terms of characters, difficulty settings, unlockables, and powers you can spend hours and hours on multiple trips through the game. Single player or multiplayer, on-line or off-line, the choices multiply. This is the most improved area from the previous incarnation of the game, and makes it a definite buy. Even if you wait until it's a greatest hit to buy, this game will surely be a keeper.

Overall Score (not an average) 9/10: I love the action, the customizability, replayability, and voices. The only thing that keeps this game from being a perfect experience is the existence of the previously mentioned glitch. There's nothing more annoying than putting in hours in a game and having it taunt you by freezing up. If the solution to the glitch proves to hold up, this game will avoid becoming a sad story in programming history, and take its rightful place as a truly enjoyable action RPG experience.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/03/05