Marvel fans everywhere would agree that X-Men Legends II: the Rise of Apocalypse has some big shoes to fill. The original X-Men Legends showed that everyone’s favorite team of super-powered mutants could be part of an enjoyable video game; something that was becoming difficult to imagine after the last few X-Men titles. The game was a triumph on many levels, both critically and commercially, probably because the overall design of the game was phenomenal. Well planned out dungeons made exploration fun, simple-yet-intuitive combat kept fighting relatively fresh, and great usage of the source material made fan-boys cry out in pleasure as they played through the original.
Almost a year after the release of X-Men Legends the sequel has arrived, and fans are slightly bewildered. X-Men Legends II doesn’t drop the ball by any means, but it’s clearly not as good as its predecessor, and in more ways than one. Every few steps this game takes forward, it seems to take the same number of steps backwards, and in the most bizarre places. X-Men Legends II is a passable, if not great sequel, but it doesn’t quite measure up to the majesty of the original.
"X-Men Legends II is a passable, if not great sequel, but it doesn’t quite measure up to the majesty of the original."
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The Enemy of My Enemy is my Friend
As X-Men Legends II begins, the Brotherhood and the X-Men team-up to rescue Xavier, who was captured and is being held hostage. They’re working together because Magneto and Xavier have entered into a temporary alliance to take on a greater enemy: the ancient mutant known as Apocalypse. As the game progresses it’s apparent that a lot of thought went into the story, probably more-so than the first game.
One of the main selling points of X-Men Legends II is the fact that you can play not just as the X-Men, but also as members of Magento’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Playing as Juggernaut, Toad, the Scarlet Witch, and even Magneto himself holds a certain flair of intrigue; being a bad guy is always fun. In addition to the four Brotherhood members, the roster from the original received several more replacements. The two new comers are Bishop, the mutant from the future, and Sunfire, a Japanese mutant who is currently a member of Alpha Flight. Returning from the first game are Wolverine, Cyclops, Iceman, Storm, Colossus, Jean Grey, Gambit, Rogue, and Nightcrawler, all with expanded move-sets. There are other playable characters, though it would be a shame to reveal them here; play the game if you want to know.
If you don’t see your favorite X-Man in that list, chances are you can’t play as them, but that doesn’t mean they’re not represented in the game. This game has a huge amount of NPC characters, and they’re all going to be characters fans will love to see. As previously revealed, Angel is in the game, and later becomes Archangel for a boss-battle. Beast steals Forge’s job for a little bit, and other characters make appearances as well, such as Sabretooth, Xavier, Omega Red, Mr. Sinister, Lady Deathstrike... the list goes on and on, and I don’t want to give it all away. Just be happy that Magma is noticeably absent.While you can’t complain about the amount of characters, you will be able to complain about some of the voices and dialogue. Marvel comics are known for well written dialogue, but after listening to some of the banter in the cinemas, you’d never know it. This is a fault that didn’t plague the original title. For example, the Wolverine voice is great, but there’s a point in this game that proves even he can’t pull off the word "butthead" in a threatening manner, especially in reference to Juggernaut. While most voices are at least admirable, Sabretooth sounds like a pirate, and the booming, evil voice of Magneto from the first title was replaced with a smarmy, country club sounding one. Even Apocalypse himself could have used a darker tone.
33% More Super Powered!
As I mentioned before, the returning characters from the first title have expanded move-sets. It still controls the same: hold the R-trigger and you’ll be given access to special moves on the face buttons, but for most characters the moves are either changed, or strengthened. Wolverine can do a spinning-slash move, and Storm’s super-attack has changed. All the returning characters have received similar treatments, and the new characters have great powers that mix with X-ceptionally well with the old ones (c’mon, I had to do it).
"Marvel comics are known for well written dialogue, but after listening to some of the banter in the cinemas, you’d never know it."
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There’s a greater depth to expanding the powers of all your character here, which means you’ll have to really pick and choose which powers you want to make stronger. Passive abilities from the first game, like Cyclops’ "Leadership" ability are the type that have seen the greatest increase in amount. While Leadership was pretty worthless, the passive abilities added are more worth your while in Legends II. Some characters might become resistant to certain elements, and others might get attack bonuses.
The equipment has seen some changes as well. Unlike the first game, Legends II has character specific items that actually affect the character they’re equipped with. The Cyclops item for example will add power to his beam attacks. The generic items do pretty much the same thing as they did in the first game, but the names aren’t as standardized, so it’s harder to tell what’s good and what’s not initially. It might have something to do with the menu system taking about three steps backwards from the first games, and after playing for an hour or two you’ll adjust to it, but it never becomes any less annoying.
Teams Have Uniforms for a Reason
One area the original Legends kinda skimped out on was alternate costumes. There were side-missions where your characters had different clothes on, but you couldn’t change to them at any other point in the game. In Legends II there is a huge amount of costumes to choose from, and if you co-ordinate your team correctly, you’ll get a bonus.
If you have any of the old-school characters equipped with their old uniforms, such as Cyclops, Iceman, Magneto, Jean Grey, or Toad in the same team, you’ll get an energy bonus. If you have the members of the New Avengers together, you’ll get some kind of bonus for that as well. There are a lot of combinations to choose from. There are bonuses for putting family members together, and there’s even a bonus for a configuration that would resemble a "double date," so there is plenty of reason to change teammates and costumes; knowing a healthy amount of X-trivia will really help you out here.
Speaking of X-trivia, the trivia game has returned from the first game with a stronger push for difficulty. The questions don’t seem all that harder to me (though I read a lot of X-Men comics), but there is a greater number of questions than there were in the first game and it’s surprising how much you’ll remember when going through them. Answering questions right gets you experience, so again it’s good to know your stuff.
Teams Also Have Members for a Reason
Multiplayer is probably one of the best parts of X-Men Legends II. Like the first title, the experience is seamless. Your friends can put in a controller, jump in with any of the four characters you have out, and jump out whenever they feel like it. You can play up to four people simultaneously on one console, but if you don’t have friends and own the Xbox or PS2 versions, you can take it online and play with three other people as well.
"... knowing a healthy amount of X-trivia will really help you out ..."
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While the AI was a complaint in the first title, they seem to have taken the edge off its stupidity in the sequel. No longer do my characters run off edges into pits when I’m walking across a bridge. It’s not yet perfected, but it’s not awful either. The enemy AI is nothing too special, but it’s capable enough to provide you a challenge for the most part.
Improved AI however doesn’t make for improved graphics. There’s more in the environments, but the whole game seems to move a tad bit slower for it. It’s good they wanted to add more detail, but it’s not good to slow down the title in order to do so. It’s not awful slowdown, but the frames-per-second do slightly drop in action-packed moments.
More of the Same Means More of a Good Thing
X-Men Legends II: the Rise of Apocalypse takes forward strides in the gameplay department, but takes many steps backwards in terms of presentation, in an audio-visual sense and in a menu ease-of-use sense as well. If you can get past the faults, which shouldn’t be too hard, you’ll really enjoy this package; it’s filled with goodies for Marvel fans of all ages.
