ever have I encountered a game that so perfectly caters to its rabid fan base as X-Men Legends. From the moment you start to play, it’s apparent how much the developers care about the characters, the background, and the essence of what has made the X-Men the most beloved superhero group in comic history. But more than that, Legends is a game of phenomenally intense action that manages to maintain its momentum through a surprisingly lengthy story – even with over a dozen playable characters to level-up and enjoy. While several technical issues are apparent, it’s amazing how much you’re willing to forgive when a game is as ridiculously fun as this one is.
So, let’s get those gripes out of the way right off the bat. Dealing with cameras is a tricky business, and you’ll be reminded of that frequently as you try to maneuver Legends’ to your desired angle. There are some mildly contrived missions from time to time, which is unfortunate in a game that purports to be an RPG. Plus, you’ll occasionally encounter confusing objectives, where you won’t be sure where to go next or what to do. Perhaps the most glaring error in the game occurs in the single-player arena, where the ally AI alternates between extremely useful and almost completely ineffective. The more time you spend with the game, the more you notice these glitchy issues, and it holds the game back from the perfection it might otherwise have achieved.
With all that said, I’ll move on to gushing about how everything else redeems those errors and makes you forget them in a mutant-powered optic blast of awesome to the face. Much of the game has you alternating between large, battle-filled missions and smaller role playing sequences where you adopt the role of Magma, who some of you may remember from the original New Mutants series. As a recent addition to the X-crew, Alison can explore the three-level Xavier Mansion, and can eventually join the team on missions, (where she kicks way more ass than you’d expect). Details at the mansion abound – walk into Cyclops’ room and you’ll find a loving note from Jean, while Wolverine’s wall has a Canadian flag signed by the members of Alpha Flight. You can talk to all the X-Men individually, learn their histories, and ask their opinions. You can even work out in the Danger Room, where you can literally spend hours going through the different training programs.
Battle is just as chaotic as you’ve always thought and hoped an X-Men fight would be. Walls explode, enemies are flung high in the air, explosions abound, and mutant powers crackle through the air. The onscreen action is mind-blowing. Every one of the X-Men has been handled with care, making each a worthy and important addition to the squad. While single-player battles allow you to flip between the other AI-controlled characters, the true joy of the game is undoubtedly the multiplayer component, where teamwork and power combinations make for a fantastic time. Leveling-up turns Wolverine from a feral animal into an unstoppable force of nature, just as Storm moves from a wind witch to the all-powerful weather goddess we know her to be.
With surprises galore, I constantly felt myself giggling like an extremely geeky schoolgirl as new characters showed up and storylines unfolded before me. There’s an impressive melding of the different X-universes here, so that someone who has just seen the movies should feel comfortable, but someone who has read every X-Men issue since the ‘60s will be more than content. Almost all of the well-known characters make an appearance, and many of the lesser known allies and foes do as well. With over 20 hours of gameplay, and one of the most enjoyable cooperative multiplayer experiences I’ve had, I couldn’t recommend Legends more highly to fans and newbies alike.